Armed with a well deserved glass of wine in one hand and yet another deadline in the other, I feel ready to tackle this issue’s column…

It’s the dreaded 6 week holiday, a time feared and dreaded by most working parents. Except teachers, as they have the holiday too so are able to take care of their own kids. That’s not a dig by the way, teachers work really hard and I am full of admiration and respect for anyone who goes into teaching and does it well. But how do you entertain your kids for that long? Get other people to take care of them? Well you may have to rely on family and friends, but if you do get enough time off from work to enjoy the odd day out can I thoroughly recommend Harewood House www.harewood.org. I recently went there with Adam O’Neill who does our ‘drivetime’ show here on Capital and we had a marvellous time exploring the house and gardens. Unfortunately, we forgot to go below the house to check out how the other half lived, which I will do on my return. It’s wonderful place and has plenty going on; a grand historical house, kids play areas, a lake, bird garden, including penguins and flamingos. My favourite part is the specialist gardens, especially the Himalayan garden and Cascade.

Its beauty is overwhelming and I could have stayed there for hours blissfully dreaming the day away, but my son was more interested in climbing and going on the zip wire. Entrance prices vary as you can purchase a ticket for the grounds only or a full ticket which includes a tour of the house. It’s well worth a visit. Staying on a garden and outdoor tip – have you checked out the gardens at Roundhay Park? The winning canal lock garden from Chelsea fl ower show is on display alongside a couple of other previous garden entries. The canal gardens by Tropical World have been massively improved since my last visit and these gardens are free to have a gander. There is a small fee to go into Tropical World, which is great on a wet, cold day as it is reminiscent of a tropical climate. The park itself is excellent to yomp around with lots of open space, woodland, lakes and a folly in the form of small castle. Go on, get out there and have some fresh air.

Buy this month’s City Dweller to read more from Jo Jo!

Check out this month’s edition of Living North to read more about Harewood’s award-winning Gardens…

The feature focuses on our Walled Garden and recent developments to see it restored to it’s former glory.

An evocative place, tucked away beyond the lake at Harewood, the Walled Garden is a true hidden gem with a secret doorway into a paradise of cultivation!

You can sample the delights of the Walled Garden in our Courtyard Cafe and Terrace Tea Rooms – check out the menu next time you visit Harewood!

Produce is also available for sale in the Courtyard Shop… bettroot, broad beans, cauliflowers and fennel are all good right now!

Read more about the award-winning Gardens at Harewood here…

Behind the Scenes at the foundry with our photographer Colin Davison…

‘Very dusty and quite dangerous!’ were the first words Colin used to describe his experience of the foundry where two new Antony Gormley pieces are being made for Harewood…

The foundry process is only one part of the production, done one at a time, the piece is prepared ready at the studio, made from polystyrene blocks carefully and precisely cut and assembled to plan, then sprayed with a ceramic coating to create a shell of sorts around the polystyrene.

The piece is then buried in hard-packed sand, this is called ‘ramming’. A day or two later, ‘blowback’ sparks fly as the hot iron is ‘poured’, the sand acts as a barrier to contain the hot metal once the polystyrene has burned away… and then it is all left to cool completely…

A couple of days later the piece must be ‘knocked out’ and excavated from 2 tons of sand, it’s a strange and gruesome sight, black with ash and rough around the edges… the piece is then ready to go to the studio to be ‘fettled’, essentially cleaned up ready for oxidising and then on to Harewood ready for the exhibition!

A specially commissioned film documenting the process of the two pieces being made will be shown alongside the exhibition at Harewood, including an exclusive interview with Antony Gormley himself… don’t miss the show this summer!

Find out more about the exhibition and visiting Harewood on our website here… www.harewood.org/gormley

At last night’s private view to launch Harewood’s Epstein exhibition Finding Adam, Diane Howse (Viscountess Lascelles) announced that sculptor Antony Gormley will be showing two new pieces of work in the Terrace Gallery later this summer.

Our current exhibition ‘Finding Adam’ explores the epic journey of Sir Jacob Epstein’s magnificent alabaster sculpture Adam from his origins in Epstein’s studio in London to Harewood House in Yorkshire, via Blackpool, New York, Cape Town and the Edinburgh Festival, as well as celebrating his return from cleaning and exhibiting at the Royal Academy of Arts in London.

“Adam and Epstein are a very hard act to follow,” said artist/curator Diane Howse. “I knew of Antony’s relationship to Epstein’s work and all of us here are huge fans of Antony, so we’re thrilled to have two pieces by him in the Terrace Gallery later this summer. It’s very much in keeping with our policy of showing the best of contemporary art alongside our historic collections, something my father-in-law Lord Harewood set in motion when he brought Adam here in the 1970’s. Yorkshire is rapidly becoming the place to see modern sculpture: the Yorkshire Sculpture Park and the Henry Moore Institute are well-established of course and they are about to be joined by the Hepworth Gallery in Wakefield, which opens later this month. We’re proud to be playing our part in this celebration, not only with the Epstein exhibition, but also by showing work by one of Britain’s finest living artists.”

Antony Gormley adds: “I am delighted to have the opportunity to show two works at Harewood House, long associated with ‘Adam’, Epstein’s powerful evocation of masculine yearning carved from a massive block of English alabaster.

My material is iron. Smelted and cast in Wednesbury, it also engages with the block but uses the language of architecture to interpret the male human body as an unstable space made up of individual cells fused and propped together. The room in which the works will be shown is supported by four stone columns that make you aware of the load path of the building. I hope that these two works, in which columns and masses describe an unsteady vertical stack twisting through 90 degrees, will allow the viewer to think about his or her own body as a vertical tower.”

Antony Gormley’s installation will open to the public in the Terrace Gallery at Harewood on Saturday 13th August and will run till 30th October.

You can read more about the forthcoming Gormley exhibition on our webpage here… www.harewood.org/gormley

The giant mushrooms have arrived, stallholders are setting up in the sunshine and the children’s funfair is ready to go! We’re all set for a fantastic Easter at Harewood and an extravaganza of all things Alice…

It’s been a busy week setting up for the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party event and Head Gardener Trevor Nicholson has even created our very own rabbit hole for the White Rabbit! You can see it in the West Garden at Harewood if you visit anytime this Bank Holiday weekend…

Jam tart making, easter trails, tea service displays, rabbit biscuit decorating, story telling shows, hotch-potch paint-a-pot, performing arts and craft activities will mean there’s something to keep everyone entertained…

Enjoy!

Visit our website to see what’s on, book tickets online and read more about Harewood…