Thorpe Perrow Through the Seasons
Thorpe Perrow is located close to the village of Snape between the market towns of Bedale and Masham in North Yorkshire bordering the Dales National Park and the North Yorkshire Moors.
The Thorpe Perrow estate was bought by Sir William Ropner in 1927. His son Colonel Sir Leonard Ropner, was 32 years old when the Estate was bought and it was very soon afterwards that the planning and planting of the Arboretum began. Sir Leonard had a distinguished career in the Royal Artillery during and after the 1st World war.
In 1923 he stood for Parliament and won the seat in Sedgfield in County Durham.
Where his love of trees came from nobody knows. Sir Leonard Ropner died in 1977 and it was his son Sir John and his wife Niki who took up the challenge to re invigorate the eighty five acre estate and develop it into what we see today. After Sir John’s death in 2016 the management and running of the estate was taken over by his son Sir Henry and his wife Natasha ably supported by a team of curators and volunteers.
Today the Arboretum is home to some of the largest and rarest trees and shrubs in England, including five National Collections. There is a Bird of Prey Centre and Mammal Centre too, with flying demonstrations at certain times of the day as well as giving you the opportunity to get close to the animals.
It is a wonderful place to visit no matter what time of year.
The Tea room serves a wide selection of food and homemade cakes and is a real pleasure to visit, with the option of sitting inside or outside depending on the weather and it is dog friendly too.