Clouds

"I've looked at clouds from both sides now...."  was the line that came into my head when I thought about posting this photo, another shot of the lake at Harewood.  Isn't it interesting how deeply those songs we listened to in our youth become embedded in our brains? I haven't listened to Joni Mitchell for years now, but still the lyrics - from "Both Sides Now" - are there waiting to leap into my consciousness.

"Still somehow it's clouds' illusions I recall; I really don't know clouds at all."

(Hmm, isn't it interesting as well that sometimes what you end up blogging about is a complete surprise - even to you!)

For the song on a video, click here.
For more photos around the Harewood Estate, click the Harewood label below.

For more interesting and varied offerings on the theme of 'Weekend Reflections', please leap over to James's 'Newtown Daily Photo'.

Lake at Harewood

The gardens at Harewood House were originally laid out by Lancelot 'Capability' Brown in the mid-18th century.  One of the best known English landscape architects, his skill and vision was sought after by the landed gentry of the time.  He swept away the formal English garden style in favour of huge naturalistic landscapes of sweeping grass, clumps and scatterings of trees and serpentine lakes.  It was a style that became very fashionable and many of his gardens remain today... though if you didn't think about it, you might assume that many of the grand estates that he designed - Harewood, Blenheim Palace, Warwick Castle - had always looked like that.  The style fell out of fashion after Brown's death but gained recognition again in the 20th century.

Statue of Orpheus

This magnificent bronze figure on Harewood's Terrace is 'Orpheus' by Astrid Zydower (1930-2005). Added in 1984 when the original statue in this location collapsed, it forms part of a wonderful collection of 20th century art amassed by the present Earl.  Harewood also hosts an ongoing series of exhibitions of contemporary artwork.

Harewood House itself is a Georgian mansion finished in 1771.  Edwin Lascelles, who commissioned it, employed the finest craftsmen in the country - architect Robert Carr, interior designer Robert Adam, furniture maker Thomas Chippendale and garden designer Lancelot (Capability) Brown. (No expense spared!)

The Terrace (also seen on my photo of the House two days ago) was built in the 1840s by Charles Barry (who was the architect of the Houses of Parliament in London).  It is rated one of the most beautiful formal Victorian gardens in England, with fountains, statues and formal flower beds edged with clipped box hedges.  It has lovely views over the surrounding countryside and the lake. (See Paul's blog, Leeds Daily Photo)

As a complete contrast to the stunning bronze above, I also loved this smaller statue in the same garden:

Harewood Bird Garden

Harewood Bird Garden, in the grounds of Harewood House, is home to over 90 species of exotic and endangered birds, including these colourful Chilean flamingos, busily preening.  It is closely involved in conservation work in the UK and abroad.  One of the success stories has been the re-introduction of Red Kites into lowland Yorkshire.  First released on the Harewood Estate in 1999, there are now more than 300 birds in the area.  They are a wonderful sight soaring around the grounds (see Leeds Daily Photo for a picture of one).

The Bird Garden has a collection of penguins too, and daily feeding time is a sure-fire hit with little children - my daughter used to love going to watch them.  They are such sweet comical little things.

Harewood House

It's time to catch up with some more of my excursions over the summer..... one trip I made was to Harewood House, a stately home situated just north of Leeds.  They call it 'a St Petersburg palace on a Yorkshire hill' and it does have some of that kind of grandeur.  Harewood is the home of the 7th Earl and Countess of Harewood.  The present Earl, George Lascelles, (b.1923) is the Queen's cousin.  The house was built in the mid-18th century by Edwin Lascelles, whose wealth came from sugar plantations and the slave trade, and it has been in the Lascelles family ever since.  Such a significant house has inevitably had a very interesting history.  The present Earl's mother was Princess Mary (1897-1965), great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria and daughter of King George V, who married Lord Lascelles and lived here from 1930 until she died.

The house sits in a huge estate which is managed very effectively, marketed as an attractive destination for tourists and family days-out and as a venue for conferences, shows and receptions.  It has beautiful gardens and a long-established Bird Garden (a collection of exotic and threatened species of bird).