The secrets of fine dining at Hazlewood Castle

Today was the day we'd booked our foodie experience at Hazlewood Castle, about 12 miles down the road at Tadcaster. The temperature overnight had reached -8C, but once off the side roads near the B&B the main roads were clear by the time we were setting out.

Although we'd allowed ourselves plenty of time, what we hadn't bargained for was that once at the castle gates, the driveway leading to the main entrance, which seemed to go on for ever, was thick with snow - not ideal when you're in a car which hasn't exactly proved itself good on ice! Fortunately there were no cars coming in the opposite direction and we eventually found the ice-sheet of a car park, bang on time.

As it happens we were only the second couple to arrive and there were three other parties still to make it through the snow, so we relaxed in the restaurant with coffee and biscuits while we waited.

First on the agenda was a tour of the castle, and our guide for the tour certainly knew his stuff as he explained the history of the place through numerous stories going back to the 12th century. A hall at Hazlewood was mentioned in the Domesday Book in 1086, listed as belonging to Sir Mauger the Vavasour. (Vavasour is derived form vassal, or tenant, and meant a tenant of a tenant: Mauger was the tenant of Duke of Northumberland who was a tenant or vassal of the King).

As a Saxon, Mauger didn't have a surname, but as Norman customs became established, the name Vavasour became the family name.

By 1290, the Vavasours were granted permission by the King to convert the hall into a fortified castle, and as a result their title was upgraded to Baron, as only Barons were permitted to live in castles.

The Vavasours stayed at Hazlewood for nearly 900 years until 1908, when large mortgage debts forced the family to sell up and emigrate to New Zealand, where their descendants developed a vineyard now best known for a fine Pinot Noir. Since then the castle has been a maternity hospital, a monastery and finally, in 1997, a luxury hotel.

It was clear during our tour that the owners in the last 100 years had an eccentric eye for a bargain, so most of the architecture and fittings throughout have at some point been reclaimed from other halls and mansions rather than being original to the castle. This included the wallpaper in some of the rooms (salvaged after the Great Exhibition), a Tudor ceiling and a panelled wall that originated in Belgium.


After the tour, we enjoyed a fine two course lunch before heading down to the kitchens to learn how the dishes are made. The class was thoroughly enjoyable with some seemingly easy dishes explained to us, plus a demonstration of sugar spinning to finish where we could have a go ourselves if we wanted to (it proved harder than it seemed, so this was one we declined).

The day thoroughly enjoyable, the only slight disappointment was that the regular head chef wasn't there, and his stand in was very nervous and a little forgetful.

Crossing the Arctic... to Betty's Tea Rooms!

Earlier in the year Carole had bought me a 'Red Letter' experience (a day's food tasting at Hazlewood Castle, Tadcaster) and we'd booked it some time ago thinking a short break in nearby Harrogate would be great, where we could do a little Christmas shopping and relax.

Unfortunately we hadn't bargained for the weather recently, which has been even more severe over the border into Yorkshire.


The journey was a little hairy but once there even though very cold the sun was out and the next few days were set fair. The centre of Harrogate was beautiful in the snow yet bitter cold, but we had an extra treat in store as we'd booked at the famous Betty's Tea Rooms for afternoon tea.

Here we put the cold to one side to enjoy a leisurely afternoon of sandwiches, cakes and pastries, lashings of tea and even a glass of mulled wine - pure bliss!

Gaynah's film star 40th

Carole became good friends with Gaynah after sitting next to her at work for several months, until Gaynah left to go and work as a project manager in the NHS. Since then they've kept in touch and tonight we were invited to celebrate her 40th birthday with a 'film premiere' theme at Bradshaw, a local cricket club in Bolton.

The weather recently has been awful, with exceptionally cold temperatures and a mix of snow and heavy frosts - very unusual so early in the winter - and it meant that many of Gaynah's guests sadly couldn't make it. But despite the icy roads we ventured out, though the approach to the club and the parking area around the side was absolutely lethal!




We dressed as if attending a film premiere, me in my dinner suit and Carole in a posh frock, and many of the other guests were in costume including Jack Sparrow, James Bond, the Blues Brothers, Inspector Cluseau, Cruella Deville and a couple of St Trinians girls too :-) Gaynah herself was dressed as Marilyn Monroe, and even recreated the scene over the air vent whilst making her speech!

Though the weather made the night more difficult, we had a great time catching up with a good friend - happy birthday Gaynah!

The official photographer

It's been a daunting and exhausting experience, but at the same time a privilege to have been Gail and Barry's photographer at their wedding today. Carole's been a good friend of Gails for many years so I was happy to volunteer to take some photos of the day, though as the wedding drew nearer it had become a slightly bigger occasion than first planned, increasing the pressure on me - the 'official photographer!'

Their wedding at Bolton's register office Mere Hall, and then afterwards at The Last Drop was a wonderful occasion, and even the threat of rain passed during the service, allowing me the opportunity to take photos outside, which made my task so much easier.



By the time the staff at the Last Drop were ready to call us through for the wedding breakfast, I'd every photo I'd wanted to take and could finally relax, enjoy the meal and a well earned drink (or two!).

Update 11/11: I've now finished all the editing work and Barry and Gail are delighted with the end results, all of which can be seen on my Flickr website. Any feedback would be most welcome.

An is-shoe to resolve before we decorate!

The en-suite's all finished but it's made the bedroom look out of place, so our next project is to decorate by painting the walls and woodwork and then seeing if I can remember how to wallpaper.

But first we need to empty the room - and moving Carole's wardrobes isn't straightforward once we've seen how many pairs of shoes she has!

Our new en-suite is complete!

Over the last week we've had our en-suite room stripped out and replaced with new, more modern fittings including shower, cubicle, sink and toilet.

The new rainfall shower is totally fantastic, we now have a heated towel rail instead of the radiator, spotlights instead of the old light fitting and the black and white tiles on the walls and floor complete the look.

We're absolutely delighted with the result, once again Chris our plumber has done a first class job for us.

Blackpool's Illuminations

Judging by the thousands of people on the promenade at Blackpool this weekend it seemed as if most families in Lancashire had made the same decision as us by making the most of the fine weather this weekend to take a trip to the Fylde coast to see the famous illuminations.

These days the illuminations still emphasise tradition and a sense of the past, as they've retained their old fashioned character even though most of the displays have modern themes.

Having made the same trip many times over the years the illuminations always bring back memories of walking along the front, usually along the stretch between the Tower and the northern end of the lights, finishing up with a bag of chips at one of the many fish and chip shops at Bispham.

The chip shops are still there, though much larger and more commercialised than back in the 70s, but still just as busy.

We'd eaten our traditional fish & chips a little earlier in the evening at Lytham before driving through Blackpool as the sun was setting behind a bank of cloud out to sea. The lights hadn't yet come on, though by the time we'd found a space to park at Bispham and get back to the sea front, the lights were on and the crowds were out in force. At first we wanted to catch a tram into Blackpool so that we could walk back, but the queues at the tram station meant there'd be a long wait.

Instead we walked towards the centre, past the larger displays which have always been on show at this end of town. As we walked, a few of the special illuminated trams trundled past just as they had years earlier, though a few of the ones I remember as a child didn't seem to be there any more.

Having walked as far as we could, we waited for a tram to take us back, but after five had gone straight past because they were full, it seemed that we'd have to find the energy to retrace our steps. Luckily we'd only walked back to the next stop before another one came which had some seats available, so we could at least travel back to the car a little more comfortably.

Return to the Fire Station

After our camera club's visit to the Fire Station a few weeks ago, the guys there were pleased with the photos we'd shared with them, so they invited us back to photograph another practice session, this time using cutting equipment to get into a car and complete a rescue.

Unfortunately the light in the evening at this time of year isn't strong enough to allow a fast enough shutter speed to freeze the action, and flash photography was a non-starter as the firemen's reflective uniforms bounced the light from the flash straight back into the camera lens.

Fortunately I'd brought my tripod along and put it to good use, but even upping the ISO setting wasn't enough to avoid motion blur as the firemen set to work taking the roof off the car.


Gradually I realised that the best solution was to accept there would be movement and actually slow the shutter down some more to emphasise the effect. This produced this one shot of the men working furiously around the car which I was quite pleased with.

Getting ready for wedding photography

It's just over a month to Gail and Barry's wedding, and I'm responsible for the 'official' photographs! With the big day drawing nearer, I wanted to take a look at the two venues: Mere Hall, the Register Office for Bolton, where the wedding will be held, and the Last Drop Hotel, which would host the reception, so we'd planned a visit followed by some lunch with the happy couple.

I wanted to get a feel for the two places just to understand where I could possibly take photos, and we started by looking at Mere Hall. The only problem was the rain - it was bucketing down! Not to be deterred, I did have a quick walk round, taking a handful of snaps, before diving for shelter back in the car.

Mere Hall is a fabulous location, a large and impressive green space set in the middle of Bolton's urban sprawl. The hall itself was built by a local businessman in the late 1700s on what was at the time known as Mere Hill, then open countryside. At that time its grounds covered several acres, much of which has long since been built upon as the town grew around it. In 1890, Bolton's MP, J. P. Thomasson, bought the hall and its surviving grounds for the town as a public park, art gallery and museum, and it was converted to a Register Office in 1996.

The Last Drop by contrast is now one of Bolton's top hotels, set in acres of land on the hills on the outskirts of town. It doesn't have such an impressive history though, being previously a collection of farm buildings. The buildings were tastefully converted into a leisure complex in the 1960s, and it now includes a pub, craft shops and a restaurant as well as the hotel.










Despite the driving rain we had a look at the grounds to see where the best photos could be taken, though if the weather turns out as bad on the day itself then we'll need an indoor alternative.

Fortunately the room Gail and Barry have booked was open and kitted out for a wedding fair taking place whilst we were there, so we could get an impression of how the room would look on the day. For now though, we're all crossing our fingers for some fine weather on the day.

A lazy Saturday

With a week away from work to look forward to, today could be a day to relax and do nothing in particular. Erin, the cat from next door, had similar thoughts and decided to catch up on some zzz's in the conservatory.

The blog's been neglected recently as at the moment I'm without my camera and main lens - the lens has developed a fault which is currently being fixed and the camera's having its sensor cleaned at the same time. It won't keep us in all week and I do have a pocket camera in the meantime, so hopefully there'll be more photos to post over the next few days.