Marsh-Mel-O's Adventures: UK Roadtrip - Harewood House and Leeds

6th October

This morning we headed out of York to Harewood House, one of the ten of the foremost historic homes in the country a collection called the Treasure Houses of England. Designed by architects John Carr and Robert Adam, it was built between 1759 and 1771 for wealthy plantation owner Edwin Lascelles, 1st Baron Harewood.

The gardens and landscape were designed by Lancelot "Capability" Brown and spans 1,000 acres (400 ha) at Harewood. The gardens and landscape are full of variety, with plants from all over the world.

The Bird Garden at Harewood House has a small collection of exotic Bird species, of which more than 5 are listed as vulnerable or endangered by the IUCN. Birds that can be seen in the garden include Humboldt penguins, Chilean flamingos, Duyvenbode's lories and macaws.

With the vast grounds, as well as the House itself; including the State Rooms and Below the Stairs, it took us the better part of the morning to explore the whole place. Once we had finished though, we piled back into the car and headed into Leeds.

South of York, Leeds is the next major city. Bigger than York, it was definitely more confusing to drive through! We wandered the streets in the heart of Leeds, but a little unimpressed we shortly departed to head back to York. On our way we stopped to pick up some fish and chips for dinner. We rejected the mushy peas though!