A couple of years ago at Easter, the bloke and I had a long weekend away in Yorkshire. One of the attractions that we went to visit was Ripley Castle, located near the town of Ripley near Harrogate. The town and castle were constructed by the Ingleby family, and the castle is privately-owned by the family who live in part of the castle. The castle was built as a stately home and is currently used as one today. The castle is open to the public for private tours at selected times/dates, and the grounds can also be explored.
When we arrived at the castle, we parked in the village area, which is quite small. The gatehouse was the first part of the castle, and I am pretty sure that there was a shop located here where items and tickets could be purchased.
Inside the gate, we saw the grand house (or castle) in front of us. The courtyard is only small.
We had a little bit of time before our tour began, so we had a wander around the grounds. We walked down to the lake and across a bridge above a small dam. The daffodils were in full bloom, and we had such a lovely warm day for our visit.
I would love to have this view and these walks every day. I saw some of the family who lived in the castle out walking their dogs.
When our tour was about ready to begin, we headed to the castle and waited. The tour groups are quite packed, and I believe that there were thirty of us on the tour. We learned about the history of the castle and the family, including the more colourful ancestors and how the village came to be built. We were also shown a stained-glass window of importance with the family crests of marriages added to it; this was damaged in a storm but pieced together.
After our guided tour, we wandered out to the gardens to see the spring flowers in bloom, and we also had a wander into the Victorian greenhouse (palm house) where we saw plants that like tropical weather and cacti.
One of the floral displays in the garden area has the Ripley symbol and the year 2000.
The village of Ripley is also known for its ice cream. This is across the road from the castle, and we walked over to get an ice cream. It proves to be very popular in this area, and we also noticed a couple of other outlets (one in Harrogate) that sell this ice cream.
Have you ever visited Ripley Castle?
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