Woolly says – I’d woken to a beautiful sunny spring day, with buds arriving and leaves starting to fill the tree I was more than slightly excited for our days adventure, a place that was on all of our bucket lists including Alfie the Dog ….yes even he has a bucket list these days although it does seem to include a lot of pet stores.

Eastnor Castle a few miles drive from the town of Ledbury, was built between 1811 and 1820 for the 1st Earl Somers, who employed Robert Smirke, who was later to work at the British Museum, as his architect. Eastnor is a private home and is currently the residence of James Hervey-Bathurst, the grandson of Arthur Somers-Cocks, 6th Baron Somers. The castle is Grade I listed building with the surrounding gardens and parkland designated Grade II.

As we entered the ticket office there was no clue as to what we might find as the castle is cleverly hidden behind it’s wealth of gardens. Jo had decided that we needed to look at the outside areas first in the hope that the panting boy would have done all the business he needed to and wouldn’t embarrass us by needing to go in the interior. We headed along the pathways, passing by humongous giant redwoods that had stood in place for centuries. A flash of colour appeared from time to time from the well established acers and the spring bluebells and primroses.

As we rounded a corner our first glimpse of the castle came into view high above us, it looked spectacular and like something that any fairy tale princess might be rescued from.

The rear elevation looked out over the lake where fisherman sat contemplating their lack of catch.

The bottom terrace was quiet with a small shady area where a dragon was trying extremely hard to squirt water from it’s spout. Taking the steps down the pathway led us to the former ice house a mainstay in all grand properties built in the early part of the 18^th century. The castle inhabitants would have used the frozen ice from the lake, cut and packed into the ice house in the winter months it would last the over the year to come.

Jo and I looked into the lake water and both shuddered at the thought of consuming it with a G and T, the mutt however was less bothered and happily dipped his snout in to get a cooling drink.

We climbed back up the steps and onto the higher terrace where we admired the views before going through the small tunnels at the foot of each tower that led us round to the front of the castle itself. The frontage wasn’t as impressive as it’s rear, having taken the all important snap we headed inside with Alfie the Dog leading the way.

Arriving in the Great Hall it was like a doggy day care outing with pooches of all shapes and sizes, as our boy set about sniffing every butt in sight, I stood gazing around at it’s immense walls and wooden ceiling.

Although huge it had a warm and cosy feel to it and I could have happily curled up on the squishy sofas for an afternoon nap.

Through an archway we arrived in an area filled with suits of armour, with suits for all sizes including horses and children, it seems strange to think of children wearing something like that and sad that they might well have fought in wars long since gone.

Next door was the incredible dining room with a ceiling that could be stared at for hours, decorated in the 1860’s by the 3^rd Earl it depicts the family shields, being on the shorter side it was difficult to make out the details but the overall effect was wonderful.

Even better was to come as we entered the Gothic Drawing room which had been completed in 1850, the ceiling alone was worth seeing not to mention the incredibly well preserved tapestries that lined the walls. Above the fireplace was a painted family tree reminiscent of the Blacks family tree in Harry Potter.

The Octagon room seemed tiny in comparison and much plainer.

The Long Library was exactly that and would have made an excellent place for practicing my skateboarding techniques. With it’ beautiful ceiling and book lined walls it would make a wonderful place to retreat to in the cold winter months. Set in the middle of the room was the castles Steinway, one of the first baby grand piano’s to have been made in America after the Steinway company moved there from Hamburg, Germany in 1904.

The Billiards room seemed tiny although given the size of the playing table which took up nearly all the floor space that wasn’t surprising.

We climbed up the red carpeted steps passing some sizable tapestries, with the panting beast nearly dragging Jo upwards in his eagerness to see more.

We’d arrived on the first floor and a large number of bedrooms and suites with some looking almost 21^st century in design whilst others retained the elegance of by gone years.

As Jo hummed and haared over the sleeping arrangements I stood transfixed by the wonderful chapel that I had discovered, vibrant read walls with gold leaf decoration made it rich in colour and atmosphere. It even had its own stained-glass windows.

A passageway gave us a better view of the Grand Hall below us and the detailing of the plastered cornices.

Passing onwards we entered a bedroom with incredible red wallpaper decorated with golden Fleur de Lis, with its boxed toilet and commode.

Another bedroom presented us with a ceiling of the sky adorned with its own gulls circling overhead, I would spend my night worrying that they might poop on me!

With the interior seen we made our way back out into the glorious sunshine well pleased with what we had seen and even better with no need to apologise for any doggy accidents.