Castle Howard Autumn/Winter 2015 (Issue 58)

Twilight Visits This Christmas Pages2

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Castle Howard Newsletter - Autumn/Winter 2015

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CHRISTMAS TWILIGHT VISITS The house as dusk falls

This Christmas the house will once again be transformed with traditional decorations, flickering candles and roaring fires and this year we’re opening our doors for longer. In the High South rooms giant illuminated spirals will create a unique festive installation. The house is open from Saturday 21 November to Wednesday 23 December, with last entry extended to 5pm at weekends and shops remaining open until 6pm. Special twilight openings on Friday 18, Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 December are the perfect time to visit the house with last admission at 7pm and the shops open until 8pm. See the interiors sparkle with candlelight and feel the warmth of log fires as the cold winter nights

draw in. Walk the drive that glitters with thousands of lights which adorn the Christmas trees before making your way into the lavish interiors that look truly magnificent as twilight falls. On the North Front a soaring 30ft Christmas tree handpicked by the family from the estate will shimmer in the darkness. Gather around for traditional carols led by a local choir before meeting the reindeer and joining Father Christmas on a parade back to the courtyard. For an extra special twilight visit why not book an Audience with Father Christmas at 5pm or 6pm. In the Chapel, all are invited to attend a carol service at 9.45am on Tuesday 22 December and a service at 10.30am on Christmas Day.

FESTIVE FEASTS & TREATS The Crimson Dining Room table set for Christmas dinner

Our farm shop will be jam-packed with festive fare to indulge in this Christmas. From our deli counter filled with cheese, cooked meat and antipasti to artisan breads, chutneys and local tipples. Put together a hamper of goodies for the perfect present and pre-order deli favourites for your Boxing Day supper. At the butchery, enjoy the finest locally and estate reared meat including turkey, ham, beef and game. Preorder your favourite cuts, for a scrumptious Christmas Day dinner. Pick up farm shop and butchery order forms in store or download from the website. The NSPCC Fair returns on Friday 6 & Saturday 7 November for a unique festive shopping experience; you can also enjoy 20% off lights, decorations & artificial trees in the Garden Centre from Thursday 5 to Sunday 8 November.

www.castlehoward.co.uk

Castle Howard Newsletter - Autumn/Winter 2015

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BE MORE BAILEY In July this year we welcomed back competitors of all abilities to take part in our annual triathlon, from children’s distances to adult sprints, intermediates and professional triathletes. This year one competitor stood out from the rest and has gained national and international recognition following his outstanding and inspirational performance. Eight year old Bailey Matthews from Doncaster suffers from Cerebral Palsy and took on the extraordinary challenge of completing his first triathlon. He was cheered over the line after tackling a 100m lake swim, 4,000m cycle and 1,300m run and the crowd roared as Bailey stepped away from his walking support to finish the last 20 Bailey Matthews metres of the race unaided. Since completing the race Bailey has gone on to appear in national and international publications as well as on BBC and ITV breakfast news and has become a viral sensation online with his catchphrase #BeMoreBailey being tweeted thousands of times. At the end of September Bailey’s incredible bravery and determination were recognised when he was awarded the Most Courageous Child of the Year award at the ITV Pride of Britain awards. He was presented with his award by athletes including Tom Daley, Rebecca Adlington, Greg Rutherford and Victoria Pendleton and went on to meet David Beckham backstage. Well done Bailey!

40 YEARS ON THE ESTATE This September, our forestry manager, Nick Cooke, celebrated 40 years since he first came to work on the estate in 1975, he recalls his first impressions: “I was a student of Environmental Science at Bradford University, on a four year course with a one year placement. One of the options was a post working in Ray Wood on the Castle Howard Estate, I must admit to never having heard of the place but it sounded good so I applied and was called to interview. To say I was “gobsmacked” would be quite an understatement - the impression CH made on me has never left me and in fact grows stronger. I was interviewed by the Agent of the day - Ian Duncan. He peered at me over his glasses and though obviously unimpressed with what he saw he offered me the placement and so began my lifetime’s work on this wonderful Estate. Having bought myself a second-hand bike in Malton I cycled down to the Estate Yard in

The Tree Nursery

Coneysthorpe for my first morning’s work. There were ten woodmen then and as I cycled in they all stood and stared at me; I was a typical student of the day with long curly hair and an appalling dress sense. I introduced myself to the foreman and became, though not straight away, one of the gang. Earlier this year we said goodbye to George Carr as he retired after 40 years working in our Building Services team. George would like to thank everyone who has made working at Castle Howard such a pleasure including the Howard family.

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Castle Howard Newsletter - Autumn/Winter 2015

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THE PYRAMID The Pyramid before and after restoration

One of our most mysterious follies, the Pyramid, has been returned to its original condition following 18 months of restoration work thanks to funding from Historic England and the Country Houses Foundation. Taking over a year to complete the project has cost in excess of £135,000. The work which has been carried out by Ebor Stone Company from Tollerton near York, is the latest in an ongoing programme of restoration and conservation which has recently included the Stray Walls The extensive work undertaken on the Pyramid included replacing most of the vermiculated ashlar,

a worm hole effect hand-carved into the stone at the base of the structure, removing rusted iron cramps and repairing damaged and cracked stones. The top of the Pyramid was rebuilt to produce a sharp apex, and the façades were re-mortared and cleaned. Inside, a colossal bust of Lord William Howard, the 3rd Earl’s great, great, great, grandfather and founder of the Carlisle branch of the Howard family, resides on a stone plinth. A marble plaque on the north face of the Pyramid, dedicating the monument to Lord William has been cleaned and re-carved.

THE AVENUE

The Avenue in winter

Our programme of restoration to the trees lining our grand processional approach is about to begin. The 800 lime trees which make up the central section of the Avenue are an important feature of our landscape and now require intervention to secure their future and to remove the Avenue from the English Heritage at Risk Register. This vital restoration work has been made possible thanks to substantial grant aid through a

Higher Level Stewardship scheme supported by Natural England. Of the trees which make up the central section of the Avenue, only 60 will be felled with a further 200 having some form of tree surgery. The look of the Avenue will then be re-established through the planting of over 300 new trees. Further information about the restoration work will be available via our website and on information boards at the stable courtyard.

www.castlehoward.co.uk

Castle Howard Newsletter - Autumn/Winter 2015

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KABOOM

The firework display at Kaboom

Celebrate Halloween and bonfire night in sparkling showstopping style with a dazzling firework spectacular set against the backdrop of an illuminated Castle Howard and synchronized to a special ‘Bond’ movie theme track on Saturday 31 October. Celebrating the return of super spy James Bond to UK cinemas in the new film ‘Spectre’, the firework show is set to a stirring medley of Bond theme tunes. It is the centre-piece of a movie themed event which celebrates the best of Halloween and bonfire night. Enjoy an exclusive outdoor cinema screening of the 1985 classic Back to the Future, Halloween ‘Chills and Thrills’ activities, including spooky storytelling and pumpkin carving as well as fire-glow jugglers and a traditional steam organ. A vintage fun-fair and a range of bonfire night food and treats will add to the evening extravaganza before fireworks light up the night sky Tickets cost £15.00 for adults and £10.00 for children. Gates open at 4.30pm and fireworks start at 8.00pm.

ILLUMINATING YORK The Atlas Fountain bathed in light

PUMPKIN CARVING Half term Halloween activities

See the house facades and Atlas Fountain bathed in light as part of our Illuminating York fringe event on Friday 30 October. In the house our elegant interiors will flicker with the light of candles and roaring log fires will add a warm glow to each of the rooms. Outside take the opportunity to walk the south parterre as darkness falls and lights wash the house and fountain with colour. Included in admission, last entry to the house is at 7pm, house gift shop & Fitzroy room restaurant open until 8pm.

Make your way down to the adventure playground this October half term and enjoy creepy crafts and pumpkin carving at our drop-in Halloween make and do sessions on the way. Let out your creative side and create the spookiest mask you can and carve out a ghoulish face or spooky pattern on one of our pumpkins. For little ones these creepy templates to colour and marker pens to decorate a pumpkin in a suitable scary style. From 11am to 4pm; a small additional charge applies.

www.castlehoward.co.uk

Castle Howard Newsletter - Autumn/Winter 2015

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FILMING THE FAUN

The fallen faun statue is reinstated

A statue on the south parterre which was damaged earlier this year when a tree branch knocked it from its plinth has been returned to its rightful place after months of restoration work. The ‘Faun with Kid’ statue has spent the past few months being lovingly repaired by Michael Major at his nearby workshop and the damage to the stone plinth has been carefully restored by our building services team. The statue was reinstated at the end of September and was filmed for a new

More 4 documentary series which will air in 2016. The series, presented by property guru Phil Spencer, will focus on the building of some of England's finest stately homes and delve into our wealth of archive material in order to build a picture of how the house came into being. The hour long episode will see Phil and other specialists examine archive material, explore the estate and meet some of the people who help keep Castle Howard running today.

DOWN BY THE LAKE

GUEST PASSES

Part-exchange your tourer for a lakeside lodge

Share Castle Howard with friends

Our Lakeside Holiday Park residents have enjoyed another glorious summer down by the Great Lake and raised a fantastic £550 for the Yorkshire Air Ambulance at their recent annual Garden Party. For those of you thinking about investing in a home from home our Holiday Park has a range of new and pre-owned lodges available to buy and offers part exchange on existing tourers, motorhomes or caravans. Our site is the perfect base from which to explore the Howardian Hills and Castle Howard as well as the rest of Ryedale and the North York Moors.

As an Annual Pass holder you are helping to support Castle Howard as we continue to invest in our future and conserve and restore our buildings, monuments and landscape. As part of this membership you receive a number of benefits and incentives including unlimited visits, discounts in our gift shops and exclusive events. Please remember that if you have bought a guest pass as part of your dual or family membership, your guest must visit with the named card holder. If you would like to change you guest pass to a named pass please contact Visitor Services.

www.castlehoward.co.uk

Castle Howard Newsletter - Autumn/Winter 2015

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WINTER GARDENS

The walled garden under a layer of snow

Winter time in the gardens and grounds at Castle Howard proves to be just as busy as other months. There are always numerous, essential horticultural tasks to be carried out. This time of year is a perfect opportunity for us to reflect on the past 12 months, to look back and have an assessment of our successes and failures, what we could improve upon in our potager, for example. Should we direct sow certain crops as the soil warms up, should we sow in our greenhouse and nurture our seedlings into young plants ready for planting directly once frosts have passed next May? It is a wonderful time of year for us to take stock and make plans. We will begin redesigning the vegetable garden, making sure that we don’t replant the same crops in the same areas. Prior planning and preparation in this way is essential. In other areas, the garden is apparently sleeping during these cold, dark and short winter days. We have been dutifully cutting back all the herbaceous perennial foliage along the borders and where required we aim to lift, divide and redistribute the overcrowded growth amongst these perennial plants. The new shoots of life will reappear next spring but until then we have ensured that that borders are tidy and weed and debris free which ensures disease prevention as much as possible. Maintaining good garden hygiene is very important. At this time of year it is also paramount that we improve soil quality, large areas of bare soil makes it easier for us to add well rotted manure. Ideally we would add a good layer of quality mulch; we like to refer to it as 'black gold'. Some areas of our walled garden become very compacted over the summer months so this is the time that we dig over and add goodness, essential to getting air back into the soil and giving birds easier access to any soil pests. Frost can also penetrate the ground to further break it down for a better plant friendly structure next year. The grounds become less labour intensive in terms of grass cutting but we begin turfing jobs in earnest at this time, such as relaying vast areas of new turf and redefining and tidying all of our well worn paths and grassy areas. Christmas time at Castle Howard is magical and it is with great enjoyment, albeit Herculean effort, that we in the garden team deck the grounds with lovely trees and lights as well as contributing to the dressing of the house with garlands, wreaths and Christmas trees. As you can see, there is always plenty going on in the gardens no matter what time of year. Keep a look out for us all over winter, we will be out and about! Oh, and a Merry Christmas and all good tidings for a prosperous new year. Julia Kirkman, Gardener

www.castlehoward.co.uk

Castle Howard Newsletter - Autumn/Winter 2015

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IMPROVING THE PLAYGROUND We know our adventure playground is hugely popular with our younger visitors and we are always looking at ways in which we can offer more. With this in mind, we have put together a survey so you can tell us what you like about the current playground and what else you’d like to see. The survey is available to complete via the Castle Howard website.

The playground

CHRISTMAS & NEW YEAR OPENING Courtyard Shops, Café & Farm Shop Garden Centre

House (Last Entry)

Fitzroy & House Shop

Gardens & Playground

Coffee Shop

Boathouse Café

21 & 22 Nov

11am - 5pm

10.30am - 6pm

10am - 6pm

10am - 6pm

9am- 6pm 9am - 6pm 11am - 4pm

23 - 27 Nov

11am - 4pm

10.30am - 5pm

10am - 5pm

10am - 5pm

9am - 5pm 9am - 5pm

28 & 29 Nov

11am - 5pm

10.30am - 6pm

10am - 6pm

10am - 6pm

9am - 6pm 9am - 6pm 11am - 4pm

30 Nov - 4 Dec 11am - 4pm

10.30am - 5pm

10am - 5pm

10am - 5pm

9am - 5pm 9am - 5pm

CLOSED

CLOSED

5 & 6 Dec

11am - 5pm

10.30am - 6pm

10am - 6pm

10am - 6pm

9am - 6pm 9am - 6pm 11am - 4pm

7 - 11 Dec

11am - 4pm

10.30am - 5pm

10am - 5pm

10am - 5pm

9am - 5pm 9am - 5pm

12 & 13 Dec

11am - 5pm

10.30am - 6pm

10am - 6pm

10am - 6pm

9am - 6pm 9am - 6pm 11am - 4pm

14 - 17 Dec

11am - 4pm

10.30am - 5pm

10am - 5pm

10am - 5pm

9am - 5pm 9am -5pm

CLOSED

18 Dec

11am - 7pm

10.30am - 8pm

10am - 8pm

10am - 8pm

9am - 8pm 9am - 8pm

CLOSED

19 & 20 Dec

11am - 7pm

10.30am - 8pm

10am - 8pm

10am - 8pm

9am - 8pm 9am - 8pm 11am - 4pm

21 - 23 Dec

11am - 4pm

10.30am - 5pm

10am - 5pm

10am - 5pm

9am - 5pm 9am - 5pm

CLOSED

24 Dec

CLOSED

CLOSED

10am - 4pm

10am - 4pm

9am - 4pm 9am - 4pm

CLOSED

25 Dec

CLOSED

CLOSED

CLOSED

CLOSED

CLOSED

CLOSED

CLOSED

26 Dec

CLOSED

CLOSED

10am - 4pm

CLOSED

CLOSED

10am 3pm

CLOSED

27 Dec

CLOSED

CLOSED

10am - 4pm

10am - 4pm

9am - 5pm 9am - 5pm 11am - 4pm

28 - 30 Dec

CLOSED

CLOSED

10am - 4pm

10am - 4pm

9am - 5pm 9am - 5pm

CLOSED

31 Dec

CLOSED

CLOSED

10am - 4pm

10am - 4pm

9am - 4pm 9am - 4pm

CLOSED

1 Jan

CLOSED

CLOSED

10am - 4pm

CLOSED

2 & 3 Jan

CLOSED

CLOSED

10am - 4pm

10am - 4pm

CLOSED

10am 3pm

CLOSED

CLOSED

9am - 5pm 9am - 5pm 11am - 4pm

From Monday 4 January the grounds, stable courtyard and garden centre will be open daily from 10am to 4pm. The house reopens on Saturday 19 March. Check the website for full details of 2016 opening times. If you would rather receive this newsletter via email please contact [email protected] with your name, postal address and preferred email address and we will update our records. Editor: Hannah Cooke, Castle Howard Estate Ltd, York YO60 7DA Telephone: 01653 648444, Email: [email protected]

www.castlehoward.co.uk