Developing a Severe Case of Bathroom Envy at Castle Howard

Be prepared for a serious case of bathroom envy when you see these beautiful bathrooms at Castle Howard.

I must say I do like a nice bathroom. I’m not remotely a bath person – it’s showers all the way – but I really think there must be another me existing in a parallel universe who loves a good bath. How else can I explain the dreamy lust for luxury I get when I see a gorgeous picture of a bathroom. Especially if it’s got a full-drawn bath full of foamy bubbles. I imagine myself sinking into it, my book propped up alongside a candle and a glass of wine on one of those wooden rack things that stretch across the bath, relaxed and ready to soak and chill for an hour or two …

… then I remember I get bored in a bath after about a minute, the bubbles get in my eyes and up my nose, my book gets soggy, the candle goes out with the first splash and I’m not a particular fan of wine. Plus I’m very aware that I’m sitting in what is basically a big bowl of my own dirty water.

So the parallel universe theory is the only one that makes sense.

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Exploring Wharram Percy – Yorkshire’s village of the living dead

Wharram Percy is a long abandoned village in the beautiful Yorkshire Wolds. A few years ago scientists discovered a grisly past …

I’d never heard of Wharram Percy. At least not until I spotted a guide book for it in the English Heritage shop at Pickering Castle. A quick flick through – abandoned village, not too far away, a steep sometimes slippery track to get to it (so best visited on a dry sunny day like today), zombies – and I was sold. I was with the friend I’d visited the abandoned village of Tyneham with at Easter and he didn’t take much convincing to change our afternoon plans and head to Wharram Percy instead.

(And yes, I did say zombies, it wasn’t a typo)

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Exploring Castle Howard – Yorkshire’s fabulous historic home

From sculptors to suffragists, from boat rides to Brideshead Revisited, and from Pellegrini murals to pizza, Castle Howard has a bit of everything to make it a fabulous day out.

Whilst in Dorset at Easter a friend and I took out Historic Houses membership. Sitting that evening in our Premier Inn room we excitedly researched what other interesting places were covered by our membership. The big one that stood out was Castle Howard. It’s a bit of a great old English houses bucket list item. It’s somewhere neither of us had been, though we both wanted to visit. And it’s expensive.

And so we planned a trip to North Yorkshire. We looked at dates and timings and booked a Premier Inn in nearby Pickering for the Saturday evening. Fast forward a couple of months and it was almost time for our trip. I was doing some last minute checking and discovered … that although Castle Howard is part of the Historic Houses scheme, members still have to pay to visit. Eek!

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Exploring Brownsea Island – home of the Scouting movement

The nature, the wildlife, the history, the views, the swing and the pasties. There’s plenty to keep you occupied on Brownsea Island.

Brownsea Island has been on my wish list since I was about 10 and joined the Girl Guides. I read ‘Scouting for Boys’ – Robert Baden-Powell’s handbook to the Scouting movement he began – and learnt that it all started with a camp at Brownsea Island off the coast of Dorset. I was immediately hooked on the idea of visiting this island for myself (maybe it’s where I got my fascination for islands from?) but for some reason it took me well over forty years to do so.

After waiting so long and with my anticipation levels going through the roof, would it live up to my expectations?

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Swanage – a cute little town I really want to explore properly

I really need to spend more time in Swanage. Here’s my to-do list for next time I visit.

I didn’t realise that there were so many things to do in Swanage.

After a fabulous day exploring Studland Bay from Sandbanks to Old Harry Rocks, we drove round the next bay to the small coastal town of Swanage for the last hour or so of the day before everything closed for Easter.

As the shops were all closing in the next hour, we hit those first. I found an independent bookshop – always the sign of a good town – with a decent local books section. I ended up buying a couple on the local area.

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Exploring Studland Bay from Sandbanks to Old Harry Rocks

White sand beaches, blue sea, dramatic rock formations, an unusual ferry, ice-creams and folklore – is there any better way to spend a beautiful day in Dorset?

Easter Saturday was a gorgeous sunny and warm day; perfect for exploring the beautiful beaches of Dorset’s Studland Bay. Starting from the Sandbanks ferry we hopped across to the Isle of Purbeck and spent the whole day dipping in and out of the different beaches until we got to Old Harry Rocks at the the Southern tip of Studland Bay.

But before I tell you all about it, a bit geography. Have a look at the map below.

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Exploring the World’s Biggest Tank Museum

Visit the world’s largest collection of tanks at the Tank Museum in Dorset.

There are over 300 tanks at the Tank Museum in Dorset making it not just the largest museum dedicated to tanks, but the largest collection of tanks in the world.

So you know even before you visit, that you’re going to see an awful lot of tanks. I’d been warned to allow a whole day. Fortunately they have a very nice cafe so it was easy to take a couple of breaks. I even got to try to my first piece of Dorset Apple Cake in the cafe here.

Looking towards the entrance of the Tank Museum in Dorset Exploring the World's Biggest Tank Museum www.invertedsheep.com
The Tank Museum in Bovington, Dorset
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Visiting Mary Shelley’s Grave

Mary Shelley’s grave is in a beautiful churchyard in Bournemouth. Don’t let the tranquillity fool you though – there’s some gory history to be found here.

Did you know that Mary Shelley, author of the novel, Frankenstein, is buried in Bournemouth? I found this out when doing some research for my trip to Dorset. I was going to be at a conference in Bournemouth, but always want to make time to see a few things even when I’m somewhere for work reasons. On one of the days, I had an early breakfast and on the way to the conference centre made a detour to the graveyard at St Peter’s Church.

www.invertedsheep.com Visiting Mary Shelley's Grave. Exterior of the church.
St Peter’s Church
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An Afternoon at the Russell-Cotes Museum

OMG!!! is what I have to say about Bournemouth’s Russell-Cotes Museum. And I’m not a person who says OMG.

Bournemouth’s Russell-Cotes Museum was such a lovely surprise. I’d put it on my list of things to do whilst I was in Bournemouth just because it was a thing to do. I didn’t know what to expect from it, but fortunately that has never stopped me wanting to explore somewhere new. I knew it was a museum and I knew it was in an old house, both things I like, so I was expecting to enjoy it. What I wasn’t expecting was to be so completely wowed by it.

An Afternoon at the Russell-Cotes Museum. www.invertedsheep.com. Image of large turreted house. The house is cream coloured and has lots of bay windows and balconies. It is seen across a lush garden.
This is the entrance way – what a fabulous first-view it is!

I walked round with eyes wide, jaw on the floor, and finger clicking away on my phone taking a zillion pictures. None of which really do it justice because it’s one of those places you have to see with your own eyes to believe.

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Is Bournemouth Oceanarium Worth a Visit?

Bournemouth Oceanarium has more than just fish. It’s got sharks, crocs, penguins, otters and a very friendly turtle. But is Bournemouth Oceanarium worth a visit? Read on to find out.

At Easter I spent 5 days at a conference in Bournemouth. I arrived a few hours ahead of time on the Sunday and wandered down to the seafront. After a stroll to stretch my legs after a long drive I thought I’d make the most of my spare hours by popping into the Oceanarium.

It was surprisingly expensive for what looked like a small aquarium – I can’t remember exactly what I paid, but I’ve just checked their website and it’s currently £16 to pay on the door – so I did hesitate, but then decided to go for it anyway.

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