Early Spring at East Riddlesden

Early spring at our local National Trust property, East Riddlesden Hall...  The daffodils were amazing. 

The gardens are very well cared for. Whether by volunteers or employed gardeners or a mixture of the two, I don't know, but the flowerbeds were weeded and the shrubs and trees pruned neatly.  Spring flowers were starting to bloom. There were some huge snowdrops, lots of hellebores, the pretty blue scilla and, of course, more daffodils and narcissi. 

The ruined Starkie wing was built as an extension to the hall in 1692 but became neglected and unsafe and so it was demolished in 1905. An adventurous mallard was exploring around the other side of the wall from the lake... 'and he went with a quack and a waddle and a quack'.