dreams for plans

Today our Philosophical Approaches to Conservation class went on a field trip, yay! My first foray out of York--pathetic, I know, but c'est la vie for a broke grad student. We went to Hellifield Peel in the Yorkshire Dales, an ancient fortress (a "peel" means a tower house) dating from the Middle Ages that has been recently restored from utter ruin into a gorgeous B&B.

We were taken around the interior and exterior of the castle by Francis Shaw, the owner of the house, who is also an architect. It's a really inspiring story actually--the peel was falling down and it was only a matter of time before it was going to be lost. Francis bought and restored it with his family's entire savings, and fulfilled a childhood dream of owning a real castle. He now lives there with his wife and young daughters... can you even imagine growing up in a castle? Beyond amazing.

We were greeted by green grass and grazing sheep...


Front exterior, Hellifield Peel.


I didn't take too many pictures inside, because we were all crowded in and there wasn't much space. But this is an amazing sixteenth-century bed.


And another... the textiles in the house were gorgeous!


Stained glass in this room! Coat of arms.


This is quite possibly the coolest coat of arms ever. A heart pierced with crossed arrows. Got the Dent one beat for sure.


The bathrooms were amazing.


Love.


Their backyard. NBD.


Side with garden.


Side and rear view.


Same exact view, but I just love it.


Lovely.


Dusk in Yorkshire is unbelievably gorgeous.


They have a cat.


She likes the garden, too.


We took a walk up the hill.


The view from above.


I felt like Mr. Darcy was going to ride up on his horse or something.


And the sun sets over Yorkshire (before four o'clock, I might add)...
xx