Pocklington on Tuesday

On Tuesday morning Emily and I left home at 6am for our trip up to York. We had a good run and made it to Ali and Rob's house in Pocklington (approx. 25 mins from York) by about 10.45am. Yay for Satnavs!! After unpacking the car and unwinding for a bit we headed out to Burnby Hall Gardens for lunch. The gardens were the inspiration of Major Percy Stewart who left the gardens in trust for the people of Pocklington. After lunch we had a look through the Stewart museum which gives you a glimpse into Major Stewart's life and travels. In the garden there are two lakes which hold one of the largest collections of water lillies, in a natural setting, in Europe and are beautiful to walk around.

There was also a woodland garden with a couple of wooden scultures. Robbie had fun showing us around as he had been here on a school trip already.

One of the water lillies

After Burnby Hall Gardens we headed out to see Robbie's school which is in Warter (situated on one of the highest points in the Downs - Ali was telling me this leads to her receiving texts from the school whenever it looks like there is likely to be a lot of snow as the school can become cut off and the roads are difficult to get up.) We also stopped off at the Madhyamaka Kadampa Buddhist Centre which is in a beautiful peaceful setting. We walked around the main house and had a look at the view but, unfortunately, the tea rooms are closed on a Tuesday so we didn't get to have tea and cake.

An old church next to the retreat.

We had a lovely meal in the evening and by 9.15pm, my head was nodding and eyes closing even as Ali talked to me :) so I headed off to bed. We had a busy day to look forward to on Wednesday.

xx