Sunday in the Park

It's been a while since my last post. We were on another adventure and spent 9 days in the Pacific Northwest on a riverboat cruise on the Snake and Columbia Rivers. The trip was wonderful with so many amazing sights and, of course, some will be shared in future posts after a few more on the September UK travels.

There's been a lot of catching up to do the past few days, everyday things like laundry, sorting through collected mail, grocery shopping and repacking. There's one more adventure in our whirlwind fall travel season. It starts next weekend and goes for a week. Destination reveal at the end of this post.

Since it was a beautiful fall weekend in Nashua, NH, we went for a long Sunday walk in nearby Mine Falls Park. This 325-acre park is located in downtown Nashua within walking distance of our mill apartment. The name dates from the 18th century, when low-quality lead was supposedly mined from islands below the falls.

Since this was our first walk in the park this season, we weren't expecting to see a lot of color. That said, it was surprising to see how much color remained, even if not as spectacular as earlier in the season. It made for a pleasant outing on a warm late fall morning.

Luckily, I managed a shot of this bridge when no one was walking across it. The tree next to it was in striking shades of yellow and orange.

The vibrant colors made for some wonderful reflections in the river water.

While at first glance, this may also look like a reflection. It wasn't viewed this way. Instead, the top image was flipped to create the illusion of an identical reflection.

It wasn't too surprising to see find a few scattered wildflowers still in bloom as the weather hasn't been too cold, yet, with some daytime highs in the 60s, overnight lows in the 40s.

These two milkweed plants were ready to disperse their seeds and with a bit of wind they were on their way.

Several dead trees were surrounded by a multitude of reflecting colors.

Many areas were covered with downed leaves providing a soft and colorful walking path.

Since the next time we take a walk in Mine Falls park, it will most likely be in winter weather, this was a very enjoyable outing.

These next photos will showcase more of the beauty of fall here in New England. 

And, now the travel reveal. We're leaving on a jet plane this weekend — destination Iceland on a tour through the Hudson, NH senior center of which we're members. Yes, we're all  hoping to see the elusive Northern Lights.

All good things come to an end and this will be our final long-distance trip of 2026, aside from family holiday visits. (But, we already have a couple of trips planned for 2027.)

Friday Funnies

Animal crackers are not what they were years ago as far as price goes, but at least they're no longer caged on the box artwork.

In 1902, Nabisco (the National Biscuit Company) introduced Barnum's Animals.The crackers snack was based on P.T. Barnum’s popular circus and featured a colorful red and yellow box with illustrated animals in cages like train cars used to transport them. Before this, crackers were typically sold unpackaged in bulk from barrels or large tins.

Barnum’s crackers were cut in over 53 animal shapes. Over the years, children have bitten heads off lions, tigers, camels, kangaroos, zebras, elephants, sheep, tigers, camels, rhinos, hippos, zebras, bears, giraffes and more. While the exact animals in a box varies, rabbits nave never been included as they are not circus animals. The monkey was the only animal wearing any clothing, a pair of pants, but no reason was ever given.

Original 1902 Barnum's Animal crackers box

Back then, a box of animal crackers originally cost 5 cents. In the 1960s to 1970, individual or multi-box deals were commonly priced around two boxes for 25 cents before climbing to a dollar or more in later decades. In the late 20th (1970-1999) to early 21st century (2001-2020), single 2.13 oz boxes were in the $1.50 to $2.50 range. Prices have changed and now, a single box can go for $3 or more.

Recent price of a single box at a local CVS store

Did you know that Nabisco originally intended for the string to be used for hanging the box as an ornament on a Christmas tree? children could hang the empty box as a decoration after it was emptied. It later became a convenient way for them to tote their snacks. Around 8,000 miles of string is used annually for the boxes; over 40 million boxes are produced each year.

Animals are now uncaged on boxes

After 116 years, Nabisco uncaged the animals in 2018. They’re no longer shown behind bars in cages, but pictured roaming in grass. That change came after PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) pressured the company citing cruelty inflicted on circus animals.

Now you know a lot more about what may have been one of your favorite childhood snacks. I know they were one of mine.

Thanks for your comments on recent posts about our Yorkshire Dales trip. There's more to come in future posts. However, I'm taking a blog break for the next couple of weeks as we’re now on a(nother) adventure cruising the Snake and Columbia Rivers on an American Cruise Lines riverboat cruise.

Enjoy Your Weekend, Everyone

Fall is proving to be our long-distance travel season

Bolton Was Always a Castle

Bolton Castle has always been a castle, unlike Castle Howard in the previous post.

Bolton Castle in Wensleydale, North Yorkshire, England

Bolton Castle is a 14th-century castle located in Wensleydale, Yorkshire, England and the nearby village of Castle Bolton takes its name from the castle. Bolton is a Grade I listed building and a Scheduled Ancient Monument which signifies structures of exceptional architectural or historic interest that receive the highest level of statutory protection in the UK.

Bolton is considered to be one of England's best preserved medieval castles. Despite being damaged in the English Civil War (1642-1651), much of it survived. It's never been sold and remains in the ownership of Scrope family descendants.

Bolton Castle was built between 1378 and 1399 by Sir Richard le Scrope, 1st Baron of Bolton. The Scropes were one of the oldest established Norman families in Britain and by the 14th century they were very powerful and extremely wealthy. A license to build the castle was granted in July 1379. The cost of construction is believed to have been about $25,000 in current U.S. dollars. 

In 1536, John, 8th Baron Scrope supported the Pilgrimage of Grace rebellion against the religious reforms of King Henry VIII. Scrope fled to Skipton pursued by the King's men. In retribution, the king ordered Bolton Castle to be torched, causing extensive damage. Within a few years, some of the damage had been repaired and Sir John regained his seat in Parliament.

Restored bed chamber of Lord Scrope

After the 1630 death of Emanuel Scrope, 1st Earl of Sunderland, without any legitimate children, Bolton Castle was inherited by Mary, the eldest of his three illegitimate daughters. 

Bolton is a prime example of a quadrangular castle and features four rectangular corner towers. While typical of the period, its rectangular towers don't extend far beyond the curtain walls. (A curtain wall is the main defensive perimeter wall of a medieval castle that encloses the inner courtyard, running continuously between projecting towers.) The physical footprint of Bolton Castle measures about 187 feet by 131 feet.

The castle was built with defense in mind. It has opening that enabled objects to be dropped onto attackers below. Private apartments were on the upper floors. 

As interesting as the castle’s history is to explore, its interior is not easily accessible for those with mobility issues due to its spiral stairways and uneven surfaces.

Internal access doors were protected by a heavy, vertical-sliding grating or gate made of wood, iron, or a combination to block the entrance of the castle. 

Members of our tour group in Mary Queen of Scots bedroom

Bolton Castle was considered an appropriate location for Mary, Queen of Scots to be imprisoned after her defeat at the Battle of Langside in 1568. It is believed that Mary, along with her retinue of 51 knights, servants and ladies-in-waiting stayed in apartments in the south-west tower. According to available information, Mary was allowed to wander the grounds, and she often went hunting and also learned to speak English while confined to the castle grounds. It seems like she didn’t have too difficult a confinement at Bolton.

Restored great hall. Bolton Castle

While a great deal of the castle remains in ruins, several rooms have been restored as period pieces with interesting features. These rooms include old kitchens, dungeon, nursery, armory and great chamber. Of course, these restorations have helped make the castle more attractive as a tourist destination.

Bolton Castle hedge maze

The property has extensive grounds with a maze, herb garden, wild flower meadow, rose garden and a vineyard. The surrounding Bolton Estate historically spanned thousands of acres. Past estate records noted upwards of 12,000 to 15,000 acres of moorland, woodland and agricultural lands.

Thomas Peter Algar Orde-Powlett and wife, Kate, owners of Bolton Castle

The castle is currently owned by Thomas Peter Algar Orde-Powlett, 9th Baron of Bolton, who inherited after the June 2023 death of his father, Harry Orde-Powlett. Unlike Castle Howard in the previous post it's not lived in by family members at the current time; however, they do live on the estate in other housing.

And, like Castle Howard, Bolton Castle has been used as a filming location for various movies and TV shows, including Ivanhoe, Elizabeth, Anne Boleyn, Heartbeat and All Creatures Great and Small.

Like so many these ancient structures, Bolton Castle is foremost a tourist attraction and is also occasionally rented out for events like weddings. It's open from April to October. However, annual visitor numbers for Bolton Castle are not publicly published by the estate or national databases. It’s a privately owned and commercial heritage site.

A Man’s Home is His Castle

Even though the word castle is in the post title, this building is not actually a castle; however it is a home.

Castle Howard, Henderskelfe, North Yorkshire, England

Despite its name, Castle Howard was built as a grand 18th-century English Baroque country home, not a true medieval fortress or castle. But, it was built on the site of the older and ruined Henderskelfe Castle, a medieval fortress that came into the Howard family line in 1577 through marriage.

A castle isn't a castle when it's built for status, comfort, or show, not military defense. Many 18th to 20th-century stately houses were built with crenellations (notched walls), towers, or battlements to look medieval, without any real military capability.

Full scale model of Castle Howard

Castle Howard is located in Henderskelfe, North Yorkshire, 15 miles north of York. It's been the home of the Carlisle branch of the Howard family for more than 300 years passed down through generations and has always been a private residence recognized for its dramatic Baroque architecture, richly layered interiors and world-class art collections. 

Baroque is a dramatic and highly ornate style of Western art, architecture, and music that flourished from the early 1600s until the 1750s. Originating in Rome, the style was heavily promoted by the Catholic Church to inspire awe and emotional devotion. European monarchs used its grand scale to showcase their power. 

Charles Howard

Charles Howard, 3rd Earl of Carlisle had it built as a status symbol. He wanted a magnificent palace-like estate to assert his family's prominence and prestige in the British aristocracy and to showcase the wealth, power and political ambition of the Howard family. Construction began in 1699 and took over 100 years to complete and spanned the lifetimes of three Earls. 

John Vanbrugh

As a member of London's fashionable Kit-Cat Club, a prominent early 18th-century English dining and political club in London, Howard commissioned his friend, and fellow club member, playwright John Vanbrugh, an amateur architect.

Vanbrugh, who had never built anything before, recruited English architect Nicholas Hawksmoor, a leading supporter of the English Baroque style of architecture in the late-17th and early 18th centuries to assist in construction. It began in 1699, but took over 100 years to complete and spanned the lifetimes of three Earls. The central block and dome were done by 1706. The central block and dome were finished by 1706. The exterior was largely finished by 1725 before the deaths of the architect and the 3rd Earl.

Vanbrugh and Hawksmoor created a Baroque masterpiece that included England's first-ever masonry dome on a country house (destroyed in a 1940 fire and later reconstructed). Work began in 1699 and spanned over a century until 1811. Later additions, like the Palladian West Wing, were designed by Sir Thomas Robinson.

The dome gave the exterior a unique silhouette. On the interior the dome’s height added to the openness of the Great Hall with columns, carvings, frescoes and connecting spaces. Exterior facades contained coats of arms and statuary. 

The 3rd Earl also commissioned a vast landscape featuring monuments, lakes and formal gardens in the surrounding Yorkshire countryside.

The mansion spans thousands of square feet with 145 rooms. The entire estate spans nearly 9,000 acres and features over 200 listed structures, formal gardens and lakes covering over 1,000 acres in addition to a separate 120-acre tree arboretum. 

Built from east to west, the house took shape in under 10 years. By 1725, when an engraving of the house appeared in The British Architect, most of the exterior structure was complete and its interiors opulently finished.

When Vanbrugh died in 1726 the house was incomplete; it lacked a west wing as attention was focused on landscaping the gardens.

The long gallery at castle Howard

It was unfinished when the 3rd Earl died in 1738. The house was completed by Carlisle’s son-in-law Sir Thomas Robinson in 1801-11 with the addition of the long gallery. 

The final appearance of the house bears only a partial resemblance to the idealized view. Instead of two identical wings the house has two wings that don't match for an asymmetrical appearance.

1940s fire at castle Howard collapsed the dome

In November 1940, a major blaze erupted at Castle Howard during WW II while the house was being used as  girl's school. Fanned by strong winds, the fire destroyed 20 rooms in the basement and upper levels and gutted the dome, which collapsed into the Great Hall as the largest architectural loss. Nearly a third of the building was left open and exposed parts of the building received a temporary roof and new windows.

Through the efforts of George Howard, 9th Earl of Carlisle and his daughter, Lady Cecilia, the restoration of Castle Howard was completed to restore it as a family home and major heritage attraction. 

The iconic 70-foot-high dome was completely renovated after 20 years. The dome is Castle Howard’s defining architectural element. 

From 1960 to 1962 the dome was rebuilt and redecorated. Once again it remans the most striking features of the house.

In 1981, the Garden Hall was rebuilt in conjunction with the filming of Brideshead Revisited. Restoration work and maintenance is ongoing throughout the estate, ranging from masonry and roofing projects, the gardens, lakes and waterways, to smaller objects like statues, paintings, books and textiles.

Castle Howard is owned by the family company Castle Howard Estate Limited. It's  managed and lived in by the Hon. Nicholas Howard (great-grandson of the 9th Earl of Carlisle) and his wife, Victoria. The total market value of Castle Howard is not publicly documented. 

Nicholas and Victoria Howard

The Howard family fortune, anchored by the estate and its world-class art collection, is estimated to be at least 100 million U.S. dollars. 

Castle Howard may look somewhat familiar as it's been used as a filming location in films and TV shows. The Netflix series, Bridgerton (2020) used the house and grounds as Clyvedon Castle, the country home of the Duke of Hastings. Both the iconic 1981 TV series and 2008 feature film of Brideshead Revisited used Castle Howard as the Marchmain family home, Brideshead. The 2013 BBC mystery, Death Comes to Pemberly, used interior and exterior locations. The 2015 TV series, Victoria, used the house as a stand-in for Kensington Palace.

The house is open for tours from spring to autumn and decorated each winter for Christmas. It attracts over 250,000 visitors a year. 

Another post this week will be about an actual castle we visited on this tour.