Castle Howard Fountain.

Atlas Fountain – Castle Howard.

The Fountain and pond date from 1850: designed by William Andrews Nesfield with the sculpted figures carved in Portland stone by John Thomas.

Traction engine No3.

Another fine old workhorse.

Traction engines.

Visited a traction engine show at Castle Howard a couple of days ago, unfortunately the weather was dull and damp (in fact there was a veritable deluge a few hours after I made these) such is UK weather.

Castle Howard – Nth Yorkshire.

Castle Howard between rain showers, its been a very wet May.

From that well-known encyclopædia:-

Building of Castle Howard began in 1699 and took over 100 years to complete to a design by Sir John Vanbrugh for the 3rd Earl of Carlisle. The site was that of the ruined Henderskelfe Castle, which had come into the Howard family in 1566 through the marriage of Thomas, 4th Duke of Norfolk to Elizabeth Leyburne, widow of Thomas, 4th Baron Dacre. For the Duke of Norfolk’s son Lord William Howard had married his step-sister Elizabeth Dacre, the daughter of the 4th Baron Dacre who brought with her the sizeable estates of Henderskelfe and Naworth Castle as well.
The house is surrounded by a large estate which, at the time of the 7th Earl of Carlisle, covered over 13,000 acres and included the villages of Welburn, Bulmer, Slingsby, Terrington and Coneysthorpe.The estate was served by its own railway station, Castle Howard, from 1845 to the 1950s.

Gate detail No2.

Nature at its most delicate No2.

Nature at its most delicate.

Driffield Canal.

Just to show that summer is on its way here in Driffield.

Gate detail.

Post with Ivy.

A fence post with ivy.

Abandoned buildings – Castle Howard Estate No3.

The third section of the abandoned buildings on the Castle Howard Estate.

As can be seen from the dull & overcast sky; the weather has not been kind, but it is nice being able to get away and spend some time in the area. Infact will probably spend the next couple of months going back & fore as there is a lot going on for spring and early summer. The Castle Howard house, grounds, gardens & several events are not to be missed.

Abandoned buildings – Castle Howard Estate No2.

Another abandoned building on the Castle Howard Estate.
An interesting building opposite the one in the previous post.
Left to slowly deteriorate and if it wasn’t for the robust construction and intact roof, would surely soon be beyond reclamation.

Abandoned buildings – Castle Howard Estate.

Derelict buildings on the Castle Howard Estate North Yorkshire.
A rather dull & overcast day, but at least it was not raining.

Mission chapel of Coneysthorpe: Nth Yorkshire.

The small mission chapel of Coneysthorpe: erected in 1835, a building of stone, with a small turret that contains one bell.

Forgotten Chair – Coneysthorpe Nth Yorkshire.

Forgotten Chair – Coneysthorpe village Nth Yorkshire.
Part of the Castle Howard Estate.

Omani Dates.

From my Oman files.

Fossil records show the date palm has existed for at least 50 million years.
Dates have been found on a number of neolithic sites, which would suggest that they were being eaten as much as 7,000 to 8,000 years ago.
They provide a range of essential nutrients, and are a good source of dietary potassium. The sugar content of ripe dates is about 80%; the rest consists of protein, fibre, and trace elements that include boron, cobalt, copper, fluorine, magnesium, manganese, selenium, and zinc.
Oman has more than 250 varieties of dates, and each region of the country will tell you theirs are the best. But I think of all, it has to be the ‘Khalas’, found in the Sharqiya and Dhahirah region, also Al Rostaq. The fruit is bright yellow, oval-shaped, and usually eaten fresh or half-dry.
Dates and qahwah arabiyya (coffee) is a fundamental part of Omani hospitality; even the poorest family will offer coffee & dates when one visits.

Omani banana tree.

Back to Oman from my files of 2016, even if only as a reminder of what it was like without constant rain.

Siver Birch plantation.

Silver Birch plantation.

Tree & scrubland.

Tree with tussock grass: Somerset.

Another from Stanton Drew.

Stanton Drew Stone Circles – Standing stone.

Catkins.

Catkins – diffused & brown toned.

Stanton Drew Stone Circles – Early morning.

Stanton Drew Stone Circles – Early morning mist as moon goes down.

Winter tree No2 – Somerset.

I cheated with this one, flipped it horizontally because I preferred the big tree on the left & the road curving in from the right.

Winter tree – Somerset.

Another winter tree.

It may still look rather cold, but it was not all fog & rain. In fact most of the day was very nice for the time of year.
Not sure exactly where this was, we had been travelling back and fore trying to catch the murmuration of starlings.

Another tree in fog.

My obsession with trees & fog continues – on this walk I managed to drop a lens cap. Could I find it? not a chance, rather annoying because it was the only thing keeping the front of the lens dry in all the fog. At least it was a cheap item to replace (a free one from my daughter 🙂 ) not like the time I lost my Nikon DK-17M magnifying eyepiece from the Nikon F4, that was rather costly.
If you have never tried one of these, I would recommend getting one, especially if using manual focus lenses; it gives a 1.2x magnification, making the viewfinder appear much larger, without causing problems for the dioptre adjustment.