With the weather turning for the worse, we jumped up at the first sign of a non-rainy day, threw our big coats on and jumped in the car to have a little trip to look at the local Wentworth follies.  I talked about the follies on THIS blog post a while back, but hadn't really had a chance to check them out until now.
I love autumn.  The colours, the leaves - everything is a photographer's dream. 

The first stop was Hoober Stand.

Hoober Stand is a pyramidal tower that stands just shy of a hundred feet on a little hill at roughly 157 metres above sea level.  Construction was completed in 1748 and was to commemorate the quashing of the 1745 Jacobite Rebellion.
And it looks awesome. 
I love pyramids and angled buildings.  Shooting this from the side reminds me of one of my favourite buildings in New York - the Flatiron Building.  The setting where it sits is also quite nice.  My kids love the woods and there was a nice little bit of woodland here for them to go crazy in.

Next stop - Needle's Eye.

The Needle is just down the road from Hoober.  A quick 150 yard walk up the footpath from the roadside brings you right to it.  It looks pretty bizarre, a sandstone pyramid just sitting at the top of a little rise on it's own. 
I do love a pyramid though!
The story behind this one is a little vague.  It was apparently built in the mid-18th Century for the Marquis of Rockingham to win a bet that he could drive a horse and carriage through the eye of a needle.  Measurements confirm that it would have been possible - so that brings a little bit of merit to the story.  Rich folk have far too much time and money on their hands if you ask me!
There's also a little part that made my missus get a good case of the goosebumps - along one side of the pyramid are a grouping of musketball holes at head and torso height, suggesting that this may once have been a site of an execution by firing squad.

Next stop - Keppel's Column. 
On the way we happened across a field of Highland cows, so obviously had to stop for a few snaps.  A snorting big shaggy cow is a pretty awesome sight when it's a foot away from you.  I'm glad there was a gate in the way!


The Column is a 115 foot tower built to commemorate the the acquittal of the court-martialled Admiral Augustus Keppel after the Battle of Ushant.
The tower sits on another hill, not quite as high as Hoober, but still a pretty good viewpoint.
The tower is in a bit of a sorry state.  Not open to the public anymore, but it still stands tall and impressive on the rise. 
This one is basically 'park at the side and take a photo'.  The kids didn't even get out of the car.


And that's the follies!  Here are a couple of snaps.

Gear used:  Fujifilm X70 with the WCLX70 fitted.

The sun was shining this morning, so we jumped in the car and headed down the road to Wentworth Woodhouse.

Wentworth Woodhouse is the largest privately owned house in the UK.  It's a pretty impressive view at over 600 feet long on the frontage of the East Wing.
But, unless you want to pay for a private tour, you'll be looking at that front from a fair old distance from the footpath that runs down alongside the house and into Wentworth Park.
That's fine by me - I like to look at stuff.  And this is definitely a place where you can only look at stuff.  The first thing that you see when you enter the grounds are lots of 'don't' signs.  Keep off, no entry, private, keep out...  That's all fair enough, as it's private grounds, but why keep off the grass?  My kids just wanna run round trees, pick sticks up and roll down hills!
Anyway, enough moaning.
The first thing you see when you walk in (after passing the cool little gatehouse) is the eyesore that is the old college campus on the left.  Forget that and look to the right and look at the awesome old stable block and courtyard.  This is still used today, but looks like a place that time forgot - and, I do love abandoned stuff, so it's right up my street!  The gates were closed today though, so we didn't get chance to have a nosey inside.  Just a bit further down on the left is a little gravestone.  This marks the resting place of the racehorse 'Whistlejacket' - a horse of Charles Watson-Wentworth (AKA The Marquess of Rockingham, Lord Rockingham and the Prime Minister of Great Britain!).  There is also apparently a large painting of the horse in the house. 
Carrying on down the path and you soon see the main house on the right.  Also, the impressive Roman-looking cenotaph of the Rockingham Mausoleum can be seen peeping through the trees further down the path and to your left.  There are 3 other follies around the estate - I think a little tour of them all may be in order!

We walked through and wound our way down to a couple of lakes in the middle of the grounds - one a fishing pond and the other with the terrible name of Dog Kennel Pond.  The kids didn't care what they were called - they happily threw stones in the water, waved twigs around and enjoyed the fresh air.  Although, it was getting a bit nippy at this point! 
Me and the missus strolled hand in hand while they played.  Although, I did get told off for holding the wrong hand - apparently getting steps to count on your fitbit is more important than a bit of romance!

All in all, a nice bit of family time. 

And, if you want to get married here then give me a shout - it would be awesome!

More info on the house HERE and the Mausoleum HERE. 

Some snaps.