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Welcome to Holker Hall & Gardens

Visitor Information

How to Get to Holker

    By Car： Follow brown signs an A590 from J36, M6. Approximate travel times: Windermere-20 minutes, Kendal-25 minutes, Lancaster-45 minutes, Manchester-1 hour 30 minutes.

    By Rail: The nearest station is Cark-in-Cartmel with trains to Carnforth, Lancaster Preston for connections to major cities & airports.

Opening Times

    Sunday-Friday (closed on Saturday)11:00 am-4:00 pm,30^th March-2nd November.

Admission Charges

Special Events

Producers' Market    13th April

    Join us to taste a variety of fresh local food and drinks. Meet the producers and get some excellent recipe ideas.

Holker Garden Festival    30th May

    The event celebrate its 22^nd anniversary with a great show of the very best of gardening, making it one of the most popular events in gardening.

National Garden Day    28th August

    Holker once again opens its gardens in aid of the disadvantaged. For just a small donation you can take a tour with our garden guide.

Winter Market    8th November

    This is an event for all the family. Wander among a variety of shops selling gifs while enjoying a live music show and nice street entertainment.

    Body language is the quiet, secret and most powerful language of all! It speaks1 than words. According to specialists, our bodies send out more 2than we realize. In fact, non-verbal communication（非言语交际）takes up about 50%of what we really 3. And body language is particularly 4 when we attempt to communicate across cultures. Indeed, what is called body language is so 5 a part of us that it's actually often unnoticed. And misunderstandings happen as a result of it.6, different societies treat the 7 between people differently. Northern Europeans usually do not like having 8 contact（接触）even with friends, certainly not with9. People from Latin American countries, 10, touch each other quite a lot. Therefore, it's possible that in 11, it may look like a Latino（拉丁美洲人）is 12a Norwegian（挪威人）all over the room. The Latino, trying to express friendship, will keep moving 13. The Norwegian, very probably seeing this as rudeness, will keep 14 which the Latino will in return regard as 15.

    Clearly, a great deal is going on when people 16. And only a part of it is in the words themselves. And when partners are from 17 cultures, there's a strong possibility of 18 But whatever the situation, the best 19 is to obey the Golden Rule: treat others as you would like to be20.

    Sydney has a huge bus system(系统). No buses accept cash, and a ticket needs to be bought ahead of time. The buses often run at busy hours and regularly(有规律地) during the day. The Sydney Explorer bus provides air-conditioned service and stops at 27 tourist attractions. Its partner, the Bondi Explorer, stops at 19 attractions. Tickets allow holders to jump on and off as they please, and they are valid(有效的) for one or two days. It's an easy way to see the city and the surroundings.

    Sydney's train service runs throughout the central city area and the surroundings. Tickets can be bought from machines that operate 24 hours a day or from ticket offices. The monorail(单轨铁路) travels through central Sydney. It is the most excellent way to gain a good view of the whole city. The monorail runs every three to five minutes, and it takes 15 minutes to complete its journey.

    Sydney is built around a harbor, and the Parramatta River has a large ferry（渡轮）system. It serves the area around the harbor. These include Taronga Zoo, Darling Harbor, Rose Bay, the North Shore, Cockatoo Island and Sydney Olympic Park. The ferries have operated for more than 135 years and 14 million passengers take the ferries each year.

    Water taxis can transport passengers to specific locations(地点), and offer guided tours of waterways. They also offer special services that some visitors may enjoy. The tickets sell for 20 AUD (Australian dollars)for a day or 57 AUD for a week. It is strange, isn't it?

    The associates I hired in my bicycle and lawn mower shop like myself were never perfect; however, they were excellent. Working with them as they improved taught me new ways to show forgiveness, understanding, and patience.

    One day the placement officer asked me to interview a young man who was having trouble finding a job. He told me that David was a little shy, did not talk much and was afraid to go on with interviews. He requested that I give David an interview just for practice. He plainly told David that I had no positions open at the time and the interview was just for practice.

    When David came in for the interview, he hardly said a word. I told him what we did at the bicycle shop and showed him around. I told David to keep showing up because the number one thing an employer wanted in an associate was dependability. David was very quiet (he was evaluated as a slow learner in school).Every ten days or so, for weeks after the interview, David walked into the bicycle shop and stood by the front door. He never said a word, just stood by the door.

    One day, shortly before Christmas, a large truck came to the shop, packed with 250 new bicycles. It had to be unloaded right away or the driver would leave. It was raining. Some of my workers (without physical limitations) chose not to brave the weather to get into work, so I was short-handed. It seemed everything was going wrong and on top of it, David came in the front door and just stood there. I looked at him and shouted,“Well, all right! Fill out a time card and help me unload this truck!”

    David worked for my bicycle shop for eighteen years. He came to work every day thirty minutes early. He could talk; however, he rarely chose to. He drove my truck and made deliveries. The customers would praise David, saying,“He doesn't talk, but he really shows you how to operate a lawn mower!”

    For Chinese, it's a time for dragon boat racing and Zongzi (粽子). But across the Yellow Sea, South Korea, wrestling (摔跤) and swing play are the highlights. However, both events go by the same name—the Dragon Boat Festival—which falls on May5 of the lunar calendar.

    One festival, two cultures: does one nation have the right to call its own? It has been reported that South Korea will apply (申请) to the United Nations Educational, Social and Cultural Organization (UNESCO联合国教科文组织) to make the celebration its cultural heritage (文化遗产). If successful, people from other countries may see the Dragon Festival as a Korean creation.

    As the birthplace of the yearly event more than 2, 000 years ago, China is not happy with the situation. "It would be a shame if another country successfully made a traditional Chinese festival part of its own cultural heritage ahead of China," said Zhou Heping, deputy culture minister. The Ministry of Culture is even thinking of making its own application to UNESCO, covering all traditional Chinese festivals, including the Dragon Boat event.

    Over the years, the Dragon Boat Festival has spread throughout the world. In Japan and Viet Nam, as well as South Korea, the festival has mixed with and become part of local culture. With this in mind, some experts say that it is meaningless to argue about which country the festival belongs to. "No one can deny that it came from China," said Long Haiqing, an expert from Hunan Province. "But if all the countries involved can protect culture heritage together, they will all benefit."

    Much older than the Great Wall, Stonehenge is one of the world's most fascinating (迷人的), but least understood historical sites (遗址). Every year, thousands of tourists come to admire Stonehenge's beauty and to wonder about how and why it was built.

    Stonehenge was produced by a culture that left no written records. Though there are many guesses, it is still a mystery why stone-age man moved such heavy stones over 380 kilometers from where they were made.

    At that time, people had only basic wooden tools. To move the stones they probably used tree trunks (树干) to roll them along.

    Some historians believe that Stonehenge was a temple, the site of ancient sacrifice(祭祀). Others believe it was perhaps a giant sundial (日冕) to tell the time. Stonehenge could have been a burial ground(墓地) from its earliest beginnings, because human bone dating from as early as 3000 BC was found there. Whatever its ancient use was, the stones have always been a source of fascination for British people. One record from 1135 said the great stones were carried to England by giant magical creatures!

    In modern times Stonehenge has become a huge hit with tourists. When Stonehenge was first opened to the public it was possible to walk among and even climb on the stones, but the stones were circled with ropes in 1977 as a result of serious erosion(侵蚀). Visitors are no longer allowed to touch the stones, but are able to walk around from a short distance away. What's more, visitors can make special bookings to get into the stones throughout the year.