title Shadow the Snow Leopard at Ickworth House, Horringer - 4th January 2026 intro With the boys once again plugged directly into their devices, we decide to leave them to it and head off to visit Ickworth House, as we hadn't been for ages. After a walk down to the Earl's Summer House and lake, followed by a snack in the café and a poke around the shop, we discover that the house is open and it's the last day of Shadow the Snow Leopard: A Christmas Story for Ickworth. This turns out to be a delightful presentation of a story written especially for the National Trust, inspired by the snow leopard that features in the Hervey family crest. The story spans two floors of the house as well as the stumpery outside (which we later find we should have done first) and which finishes with all the animals of Ickworth tucked up in bed, asleep. imgp5769 The Ickworth pond has frozen imgp5773 Isobel finds a nice piece of ice with grass on it imgp5775 It's amazingly blue sky over the church imgp5777 A moorhen walks on the frozen lake imgp5778 Isobel watches the wildlife for a bit imgp5780 The walled garden of Ickworth imgp5781 There's a good view of the rotunda from on the hill imgp5787 Lost gloves have been stuck into a bench imgp5788 Plant name tags made out of the old rotunda tiles imgp5790 The restoration of the Earl's Summer House goes on imgp5791 Isobel in the church of St. Mary imgp5792 A window made from fragments of mediaeval glass imgp5795 Bare trees in a winter sky imgp5797 A snow leopard's tail hangs out of a travel case imgp5798 There's a queue in the café imgp5800 Deer and Christmas trees in the house lobby imgp5803 Shadow the Snow Leopard reads his story imgp5805 Paper birds hang from the roof of the lobby imgp5806 A Christmas table in Ickworth House imgp5809 A grotesque ceramic Chinese pug imgp5811 A giant Christmas tree in the library imgp5813 Crows play chess in the library imgp5815 A piano plays God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen imgp5816 Tits and sparrows stand on piano music imgp5817 There's a pyramid of champagne glasses imgp5819 In Ickworth's drawing room imgp5821 Statue head dude has got a party hat on imgp5824 All the animals are tucked up in bed imgp5828 Isobel roams the upstairs balcony imgp5830 One of the flying birds-on-a-string imgp5832 A dog walks around with a rather absurd coat imgp5837 Dried allium heads hang around in the stumpery imgp5839 A giant stump in the stumpery imgp5840 There's a blackboard full of messages imgp5841 A rabbit made of of tiny willow withies imgp5842 Isobel walks on stumps to avoid the "lava" imgp5845 We walk back through the orangery imgp5848 Isobel browses the second hand books in the basement imgp5850 It's a first visit to the upstairs bit