Arundel

 It had been planned for a few weeks. Arundel Castle holds its annual tulip festival at this time of year. The weather, however, was looking a bit threatening. Forecasts, however, suggested that the rain would hold off until the early afternoon.

We met up with Cousteau-cub at the gates of the castle. Urban-cub and Ellie were originally due to join us. Ellie had banged her head yesterday and was still a little under the weather so they stayed at home. As we bought our tickets we were warned that the tulips were not yet at their best and it might be several more days before they peaked. We decided to go ahead anyway.

We strolled, slowly, through the walled gardens passing the imposing walls of the Castle itself. Trees were in blossom and painted splashes of colour against the grass and granite backdrop.

Once in the walled garden, we were surprised that it was quite quiet and it wasn't too difficult to take pictures of features.

Whilst the tulips may not be out yet, we still had a wonderful sweep of white daffodils circling the lawn and carpeting the area in front of the Cathedral.

We wandered back and forth, examining the views from every possible aspect. It really is a lovely spot and well worth the entrance fee.

Leaving the walled gardens we visited the Fitzalan Chapel. This private chapel is where the Fitzalan-Howard ancestors have been interred since the 1500s. It was the first time we had explored the chapel and was quite intriguing.

We strolled back towards the Castle and made our way up to the restaurant for a coffee and snack. As we left, it was starting to spit with rain. We headed back to the cars and returned home. As we got in, the heavens opened. We had timed it to perfection.