Saturday 24 December

The day started bright and at times sunny, but during the afternoon cloudcover increased. As I type this, at around 4.45pm, it's getting dark but still dry. After lunch, we went out for a stroll round the Castle Country Park, where it was all quiet and covered up for winter. The water features in particular have to be protected against the destructive force of freezing water. These were installed in the 18th century, and are quite vulnerable. During the summer, the Country Park is very busy - but not now.