Sizergh Castle

Today's the day ........................ for a rendez-vous

Will wanted to test out the new gears on his bike - and as it was such a lovely, mild spring day - we agreed to meet up at Sizergh Castle just to the south of Kendal.

Sizergh has been associated with the Strickland family since the early 13th centuary. Prominent as Catholic royalists throughout the 17th century, the Stricklands went into exile in 1688 with the court of James II at Saint-Germain in France. They returned to Sizergh by the early 18th Century as impoverished Jacobites, but thanks to the careful efforts of Winifred, Lady Strickland, they were able to afford a few baroque-style alterations to the house. Sir Gerald Strickland, along with his second wife Margaret Hulton, installed the famous rock garden which was laid out in 1926-8. In 1931 the estate transferred to Lord Strickland's daughter Mary and her husband Henry Hornyold. They and their son Lt-Cdr Thomas Hornyold-Strickland gave the house to the National Trust in 1950.

And as everyone knows, the National Trust are famous for their wonderful scones.  So that was another reason why Sizergh makes a very good place to have a rendez-vous ..................................