East Riddlesden Hall

A friend and I had a wander along the canal path and ended up visiting the National Trust property, East Riddlesden Hall, a 17th century manor house. I've always liked it. It is small enough to feel cosy and to get a feel for how a relatively ordinary, though well-to-do, merchant family lived in the past. The Murgatroyds were staunch Royalists and there are Royalist symbols in the stonework on and in the house. It has been altered many times over the years and all that is left of one wing is just the front wall punctuated by windows. The small gardens are attractive too, with a large duckpond at the front and beds of unusual herbs that were grown for culinary and medicinal use and to make dye. The hall is reputed to be haunted but it always feels a warm and friendly place to me.