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The next day, we drove just over an hour to Alnwick Castle in Northumberland.  The cost for both the Castle and the Gardens was under £24.00. And you can also validate your castle ticket to be able to return numerous times within one year.

This was the entrance.They were getting ready for lots of activities ! This is a good place to take children – so much for them to do !

While walking around, we found this, The Downton Abbey Christmas Special in 2014 was filmed here. The state rooms are even dressed with props to show and it was really nice. Again, you are not allowed to take photos. Which I do think is a shame, as you can show how amazing some of these historic places are.

This is from Alnwick Pinterest page and its was my favourite room there. The library.

Before too long, we left the castle and made our way to the gardens.

This was our view when we arrived. The Grand Cascade. The Duchess commissioned Jacques and Peter Wirtz, to design a formal garden set around a cascading fountain – somewhere where children could have fun.  Two hundred and fifty thousand gallons of water are stored underneath the ground and seven thousand gallons of water cascade over twenty one weirs in one minute, water is also propelled through one hundred and sixty two jets and can reach six metres high. And to the side of the cascades is the Poison Garden which I was looking forward to.

Many of the plants chosen for the poison garden have Biblical or Shakespearean references.  Stories, legends and myths come from the power of plants.   Many of the plants in the poison garden are well known to us and some are very poisonous indeed, for example, three leaves of a foxglove can kill a person.

This is the plant known as the khat plant – which is made into the drug mephedrone, or meow meow. I was surprised how dangerous so many plants are. I do have some of them in my garden.