With so many mundane buildings in existence, I really value the sight of an architectural…read moremasterpiece. There are plenty in Leeds to admire. A particular example of beauty gets regularly overlooked, due to its secretive location. The Bourse does not have the brazenness of the Town Hall or the City Library, it does not audaciously stand on a major street, waiting for its inevitable plaudits. Instead, this building is well ensconced, shyly peeking out onto Boar Lane. When I ask people if they are familiar with its captivating ergonomics, a blank stare is often my answer. With the appearance of a colossal wall of magic mirrors, it is highlighted beautifully with fairy lights, held aloft by manicured box trees. Have a sneaky glimpse when you are next passing, to marvel at its form.

It's really beautiful, but the abbey was closed for the set-up of the beer festival this weekend in…read moreSeptember. It was still a beautiful sunny day and was able to walk around and take some photos that didn't include beer/food tents and blue porta potty's. There's a river nearby with some benches and it's across from the museum. You are able to take the A1 Flyer bus from the City Centre to this well preserved monastery.

So, last night i went to a showing of 'the innocents' at the magnificent kirkstall abbey…read more It was part of the first gothic film festival. The abbey was all decked out in mood lighting with whispy ethereal mist blowing through the cloisters. There was various 'props' adding to the effect, and within the abbey you could sit and listen to ghost stories. The film itself was a classic b&w, tame by todays standards but seen in the dark open abbey ruins was a brilliant experience.

My favourite Barrelman moment was when he wore a scarf and bobble-hat for Light Night 2010, what a…read morejoker!

Huge big English pile from another Era set in magnificent grounds that are well maintained…read more Still I'm at an age where these places hold very little interest for me unless there's something real special or unique such as Highclere Castle and its Egyptian heritage display. As best as I understand it this place is now used for arts, culture, music, food and other activities and accessible to the great unwashed whose ancestors likely paid with their labour so the gentry could live comfortably from the toil of others.

The first thing I recommend anyone does before they think of visiting Harewood House, is to plan…read moreplan plan your visit. For starters pick your season, there are many; early season, main season and low season. Prices vary for each, in fact they vary massively. In low season adult tickets are £5 but in the high season they inflate to £13, I believe they've just lowered them from the previous rate, but still an eight pound difference depending on your time of year is a hefty one. Also in the early season with the low prices, certain things are not open on the full ticket, like the stately homes, which quite frankly sucks. I see this as a cheat in to forcing people to visit in high season with high prices. But all that unpleasantness aside, Harewood House is the beautiful combination of the spectacular, the picturesque, the decadent and the historical. The many many state rooms are steeped in history and should you care to find out, there is all the information you could require to know. Depending on your season and your ticket you can visit the below the stairs area with servants quarters and kitchen type areas. If it's a beautiful day then the Harewood grounds are well worthy of exploration. 100 Acres of beauty and garden art easily take a chunk of the day away, and it's difficult to fit everything in all on one day. The sculpture garden changes depending on the featured artist, but the works range from the small to the imposing and all are excellent to gawp at in awe and jealousy. The Himalayan Garden is sheer spectacle and beauty with Asian influences visible everywhere. The Terrace is what many have described as breathtaking, and with so many colours and historical restorations it really is. Children seem to go wacky over the penguins and flamingos in the Bird Garden, and maybe it's the sheer shock of penguins wandering around in a stately home that is hard to bend the brain around, but it's all charming and lovely. Speaking of kids and big kids, the adventure playground, when it's open is awesome, and I believe it's been voted the best in Yorkshire, so it's almost certain to be worthy of a dip in. It is a fascinating day out should you be willing to fork out the entry fee. Paying for one isn't too bad, but if there are multiples in your collective, then it can work out expensive. Students can go free on Wednesdays which is a score point, and should be taken advantage of.

This area is beautiful. We walked around the area and there's just so much to see. Even the free…read morearea is iconic. The little river that runs behind the temple is so pretty. It's worth going in the actual grounds- such an experience me and my family will never forget. I got postcards and read about each room on the grounds. Very nice staff work there in the gift shop a well.

Had a nice family day out and we decided we would go here…read more We went up to Leeds and then had to catch the Bus 19 which took us up between Temple Newsam house and the golf grounds, we then had to walk about 10 minutes to get to the actual place. Walking up to it you're surrounded by green and then there are a load of tree's that seperate so you can walk through them towards the house and grounds, it was like something out of a postcard. When we actually got to the grounds we were stumped on where to go first! Do we go into Temple Newsam House OR do we head towards their little farm OR do we wonder around their 1500 acres of woodlands, fields etc!? Spoilt for choice We started off with the house itself. Prices for a family tickets (2 adults & up to 3 children) are: Temple Newsam House: £9.50 Home Farm: £8.70 Joint Ticket: £15.50 The house is magnificent! You are asked not to take photo's. This is because of the flash as the light and heat can damage pictures etc, it can cause a chemical reaction. I did take a few pictures, but made sure my flash was OFF as not to damage anything. You have a choice of walking around the house reading bits and bobs, or you can use these handheld blocks where you punch in the number per room and a recording will guide you through the room and explain. There are also children's versions of this. We all got confused by it so we opted out lol. Had a little laugh as there is a picture of a man near the picture gallery and he was a spitting image of my father - didn't take a photo of this. Despite it being so big and perhaps a bit dull for children, our children loved it and were full of questions that we tried to answer. They were excited about going into different rooms and their favourite room was the 'nannys room' where they had modern toys for children to play with. We then headed towards the farm. I will be honest with you, I didn't like the farm as much as I would have normally - perhaps it was because of the weather? I would have liked it to have been a farm where we could feed the animals too because places such as the barns with cows, they only had 1 large bucket of this protien stuff which meant that only the biggest cows had managed to get to it (would YOU try and squeeze inbetween 2 fully grown cows!?) and so the younger smaller ones had no chance - perhaps later in the day they would?? :( . One was even eating the straw on the ground which was covered in 'you know what', so I didn't like that bit. The highlight of the farm was that we saw piglets being born! That was amazing! The grounds are huge! As I've already said, all of this is within 1500 acres of land and they have woodlands you can explore which we didn't have time to get to, so it's deffinately an all day trip or perhaps even 2 days. I would go again, although I wouldn't pay for the farm again.

My kids and I thoroughly enjoyed the grounds. There's so much to see, including a pond with water…read morefowl, and an old mansion that looks right out of a book! There are so many green fields, I wish I were a native, so I could bring my dogs out here to run.

Roundhay Park is an enormous old park just outside the centre of Leeds. It has been a public park…read moresince 1871 and sprawls across 700 acres including parklands, lakes, woodland, greens and carefully landscaped gardens. It also contains canal gardens and Tropical World, a favourite among primary school children across Leeds thanks to its butterfly house and aquariums. The park itself is beautiful and a perfect place to lose a few hours wandering on a sunny afternoon, to take a picnic, go for a run or walk the dogs. There are events held in the park across the year (including the recent, and new for 2016, North Leeds Food Festival - if they run it again this one is well worth looking out for). Other spots worth investigating are the cricket oval and tennis courts as well as the Monet Garden, which was inspired by Claude Monet's garden at Giverny. That said, just exploring the park aimlessly is likely to bring you across so many interesting and beautiful spots that it almost seems a shame to visit with a particular goal in mind. Especially if you're likely to have many opportunities for return visits.

Towering 160m above both what was once the old-money village of Alderly Edge (now a mecca for…read morePremiership footballers and Wags) and the Cheshire Plain in general, the edge has some of the best views of anywhere in the area thanks to the dramatic edge - a steep cliff-like drop. The edge has historic associations with, somewhat incongruously, mining and wizardry, but these days it's a great place to go for a walk with either the kids, the dog, visitors or even a solitary stroll. There are car parks at both the foot of the edge and the top (the latter is the main one) giving the option of a quick trip to the edge itself and back or a longer, more demanding up-and-down walk.

Helmsley Castle is a ruin overlooking the market town of Helmsley. It was built in the 12th…read morecentury. The entrance and gift shop are just off one of the town parking lots and a short walk from the main lot. It isn't a huge site but it is nice to visit. You can actually walk inside the remnants of the castle. There are both an audio tour and a guide book available. If you are up for a walk, there is a scenic walk from Helmsley Castle to Rievaulx Abbey. The abbey is definitely worth a visit, whether you walk or drive. I reccomend both.

This castle is in the centre of helmlsey and has a car park next to it. English heritage has…read morerecently upgraded the visitors centre here and there is now more information about the castle. There is a good shop here as well The walk onto the castle is guarded by statues of soilders and is impressive. There is a tower left but the main part of the castle remaning is the manor house inside the elizabethen house are displays of how castle life would have been A good castle to have a walk around though it probably wont take more than half an hour

Review 500! Wowzers…read more I'm chuffed that it's this local landmark, as we walked up to Peel Monument on what was probably the loveliest, sunniest first day of Spring that I can remember. Occupying a prominent position on Holcome Hill, you can see the monument from miles around and it serves as a beacon for walkers or those of us that just enjoying getting up to it "because it's there". It's a memorial to Sir Robert Peel, born in Bury, who twice served as Prime Minister and is regarded as the father of the modern British police. On a clear day, which we were lucky coincided with our visit, you can look out across the Greater Manchester landscape to the towns, villages and moorlands beyond. Sit down on the grass and take it all in. There are public footpaths leading up to it from Ramsbottom; we didn't need a map as you could see it above you most of the time. Alternatively, there are lanes you can park on further up the hill as it's a bit of a climb, but definitely worth visiting.