Belsay Hall, castle & gardens

After working the weekend, we had a day out to Belsay Hall today with my nanna & mam. This is a photograph of Belsay castle, built in 1614 this was originally the fortified home on the estate that was gradually extended over time. By 1806 such fortifications were no longer needed and so the new Belsay Hall was built as the family's new home, leaving the castle empty. The new Belsay Hall is classic Greek revival style but I now also empty inside. Today was a special 1940s event and we had a talk about how the family let soldiers use the Hall during WWII. My favourite talk of the day was about 40s "Make do and mend fashion" and my nanna told me about when her brother came back from the war with a parachute which they used to make underwear as it was made of silk and it was difficult to buy underwear at war time, some people apparently knitted bras! Another memory she had was of ladies making their legs brown with gravy and drawing a black line down the back of their legs to give the impression that they had stockings on.

The gardens at Belsay are really beautiful and we had a slow wander around and then sat in the sun admiring the flowers. I think I will take advance of my extra photo today to blip some flowers :)