The next day of Ike’s adventure with Heather and Mark was also wet and raining, but undeterred they set off for Kendal. They were able to complete an Adventure Lab in Kendal, the virtual question style geocaches. Among the points to spot, in order to answer the questions in Kendal, were the old Police Yard, which had paintings on the wall of the ginnel.
Also the Chocolate shop and the signpost showing how far it was to Scafell Pike. They also visited the Peter Rabbit and Friends Shop! Ike thought it was wonderful.
Then it was off to Sizergh Castle, the Castle and Gardens is a stately home and garden about 4 miles south of Kendal. Located in historic Westmorland, the castle is a grade 1 listed building. While remaining the home of the Hornyold-Strickland family, the castle with its garden and estate is in the care of the National Trust.
The earliest part of the building is a tower of fourteenth or fifteenth century date. Some of the early furnishings date from the time of Walter Strickland (1516–1569) who married Alice Tempest in 1560. She made inventories of the house after her husband’s death. These mention three oak armchairs and three chests still in the house. There are oak-panelled interiors, including the Inlaid Chamber, where the panelling is inlaid with floral and geometric patterns in pale poplar and dark bog-oak.
The contents of the Inlaid Chamber were sold to the Victoria & Albert Museum in the 1890s and it was displayed as a reconstructed period room. It was sold to cover gambling debts from a member of the family! The return of the panelling to its original location at Sizergh was advocated by an authority on England’s country houses. The panelling returned in 1999 under a long-term loan. In 2017 it was reported that transfer of ownership to the National Trust had been made formal. As it was pouring with rain when we arrived, we saw only the inside of the Castle this time, apparently the gardens are beautiful but they were too wet for Ike’s paws! The inside of the castle was pretty busy, no doubt a lot of other people decided it was a good place to shelter from the rain, so Ike had to ride in Heather’s pocket and peek out! But he did manage to sneak out and get a couple of photos when no one was looking!
Then it was tea and cake at the lovely cafe in the barn, sitting inside the covered shelter.
As we drove away, Ike looked back and saw a beautiful rainbow over the castle! What a fantastic last view. Also on the way home, the sun shine a little and he saw a lovely view of Cumbria.
This is the certificate the adventurers received for solving the adventure-lab geo-cache:
