Wimpole Estate & Farm at Easter

Spring has well and truly sprung at Wimpole Estate and Farm, we spent the day there on the Easter Monday, the house was all done up with Easter eggs, lambs and goats were gambolling and the daffodils were turning their faces to the sun.

Colchester day trip (part 2)

More pictures to show you from my day trip to Colchester. The sky was conveniently blue and the sun was shining, so I'm pretty happy with how these photos turned out:-

Colchester Castle

I've taken some annual leave this week, so we popped over to nearby Colchester for a wander and a look around the castle. Of course, it's school half term at the moment so it was pretty busy.

Stowe- part 2

A lot later than I originally planned, here is the second part of my visit to Stowe. (first part here)

I thought he most logical thing to do was to split the photos into two- the first part is mainly trees and autumnal landscape.  This post is about the follies that are scattered around around the grounds. For those of you who don't know, a folly is a fanciful structure, built to be primarily decorative and to be an ornamental part of a large garden or estate. Some follies can however also be practical, a place to rest, take tea or even to sleep if they are far from the main house. 

St Pancras

Ok, St. Pancras is just a train station, but it really is stunning! Therefore this small post is justified. It is grade 1 listed building, which was opened in 1868.

Hatchlands

Hatchlands is just up the road from Clandon (see pictures from my trip here) so we paid it a quick visit whilst we were in the area.

Unfortunately, just like Clandon, photographs are forbidden inside the property, so I only have a few pictures to show you.

Clandon Park

We want to get as much use of possible out of our National Trust membership before the properties close for the winter, so this bank holiday we took a trip over to Clandon Park over in Guilford.

Harwick Hall (old hall)

This is my final post about my trip to Hardwick Hall, I did warn you I took to many photos! (part 1, part 2, part 3)

more pictures after the jump:-

Hardwick Hall (inside)

The interior of Harwick Hall is just as grand as the outside. Some National Trust properties I've been to are pretty much empty on the inside with the furnishing and paintings been sold to private collectors, but Hardwick has plenty of things to look at.

More pictures under the jump:-

To see my photo from the outside of Hardwick see here, and for the gardens see here

Hardwick Hall, outside

I visited Harwick Hall when I went up to Derbyshire and it was the highlight of my trip. We went an hour before closing and realised we'd made a mistake, because it's absolutely huge, so the next day we came back and saw it properly. 

If you are thinking of a visit, be aware satnav will try and lead you the wrong way, it's best to get so far and then look out for the brown signs and follow them. 

I took so many pictures at Harwick, so I think I'm going to split them over 4 posts. First up is my photos from the outside:-

Sudbury Hall

I still have loads of pictures left from my trip up to Derbyshire to show you (see my pictures from Canons Asby and Calke Abbey)

Canons Ashby

Owned by the Drydan family, Cannons Ashby was built in approximately 1550, and underwent significant remodelling in 1590s, 1630s and 1700 to reflect changes in style and taste.

As we visited on Thursday, unfortunately the house was closed, but we still had an informative talk about the history of the house and played a game of croquet.

Petworth (outside)

The day before my 26th birthday I quickly ordered a new National Trust young person membership, as they are a fraction of the price of adult membership, but only available up to the age of 25. This sneakiness means I'll be able to enjoy plenty more day trips on the cheap.

On Saturday we went on a 2 hour journey over to Petworth over in West Sussex.

Petworth is a huge 17th century manor house set in 700 acre deer park. It was owned by the Percy family then the Seymours and finally the Wyndham family before been given to the National Trust to avoid death duties (though some of house is still occupied by the Wyndhams)

more pictures after the cut:-

Canterbury Cathedral, inside

As promised, here is my second post on Canterbury Cathedral (the first can be read here).

The building is even more impressive on the inside. 

Canterbury Cathedral

I first went to Canterbury Cathedral when I was 11 with a school trip, so it's been a while. I think I appreciated it more this time, plus I could still remember some Thomas Becket facts to impress (bore) my parents with.

As usual, I'm splitting my visit over two posts, first up is my photos from the outside.

Ightham House (inside)

More pics from my visit to Ightham Mote. If you're looking for something to do this weekend, I'd highly recommend a trip to Ightham. 

The only criticism I have is the cafe is right near to the car park, I think they're missing a trick with this because many people won't bother popping in for a drink as they'll think they might as well wait till they get home.  

Cambridge

This weekend we took a quick jaunt over to Cambridge. We were really lucky with the weather, it was perfect to have a stroll around and look at all the beautiful architecture of the university colleges.

King's College 

King's college 

King's College 

If you're in the area, there is a really tasty vegetarian/ vegan restaurant opposite King's, called Rainbow cafe. It is reasonably priced and has loads of options. All the food is freshly prepared on site using in season ingredients. I had Latvian Potato Bake, which tasted like proper comfort food, the only disappointed was the side salad, which was a bit too basic. For pudding I had lavender and chocolate vegan cheesecake, which was delicately flavoured and creamy. I'd also recommend the ginger beer.

Ranibow cafe, don't be put off by the slightly dodgy alleyway, it's a gem

Pembroke College 

A lot of the colleges charge an entrance fee, but Pembroke College allows visitors to stroll around the quad for free. It's my sisters old college, so I've stayed in one of the rooms when I visited in her first year, the buildings are stunning, but I remember her room was draughty and noisy.

Pembroke college