Day 26 Wimpole Hall, Cambridgeshire

Wimpole Hall, Cambridgeshire

Only about half an hour's drive from Susan's place is (yet) another lovely stately home run by the National Trust, so open to the public. John was set to outline the history:

It seems the area has been inhabited since around 1000 BC at least, but other than being mentioned in the Domesday Book historical accounts seem to start in 1428, when the Chichely family bought the estate. They demolished the manor house and started the current house we see today.  That was finished in 1650 so presmably the manor house was not knocked down immediately.

In 1686 the owner, who had supported the Royalists in the Civil War, had to sell up to clear his debts.  Over the next few centuries ownership passed through a number of families, all of whom made improvements and expanded both house and garden. 

In 1937 Captain and Mrs Bambridge first rented the estate and then purchased it in 1942. Mrs Bambridge was the only surving child of Rudyard Kipling and used much his fortune to refurbish the house. It was requisitioned in WW2.  When she died childless in 1976 she bequeathed the eattde to the National Trust.

A very imposing Wimpole Hall ... 150 rooms with 30 live-in servants to maintain it in its day

The old rectory now houses a dining area for visitors to the Estate

On site family church and mausoleum

Barb on the balcony entrance to the house
Lost in the enormity!

The entrance foyer has a glass cupola similar to
(but not as grand as) the one we saw at Castle Howard

Every fireplace and ceiling is ornate with family portraits in abundance

A magnificent tiled floor to the great room

A simple ladies sitting room

This pianist was playing Mozart on a grand piano in the great room

The dining room

The dining room has expansive views out over the parterre garden

Just a little ole parterre garden ....

The family chapel within the house had wall and
ceiling murals that took three years to paint

The housekeeper's and butler's sitting room ... much more cosy

Dry store pantry

The gardens are very extensive
And yes, it was very cold!

Butler's kitchen

This folly was built in the 1750s to resemble a castle ruin ...
who doesn't need one of those in their back yard?

The orchard gardens

So pretty

Part of the estate has rape seed (canola) growing, there is also a
Home Farm that has rare breeds of horses sheep and pigs

After traipsing around the house and gardens we headed to Cambridge to do a bit of shopping. As usual, we parked at the Park and Ride station at Trumpington and took the bus in to town.  At Marks and Spencers we managed to find the cotton pyjamas that Susan wanted (John Lewis was a little excessive in prices) and also got a pair of shoes for Barb at Clarkes. Then it was off to Waitrose to find ingredients for dinner tomorrow night, when we entertain Susan's friend Christine who'll be staying overnight.

Day 24-25 Sutton Hoo, Suffolk

 Sutton Hoo, Suffolk

A few nights ago Susan and Barb had watched "The Dig", a movie starring Ralph Fiennes. This was about the archeological dig which discovered the remains of an Anglo-saxon ship, a king and treasure in a burial mound on a private property in Suffolk, owned by one Edith Pretty.

When Barb realised it was quite near here - c'mon only a ninety minute drive - of course we had to go! You have to pre-book tickets as it's such a popular place to visit and they only allow so many in at a time. We booked for the 10 to 10.30 slot. Getting there was quite entertaining (John's description - Barb preferred "scary") as we found not one but two road closures on "B" roads, one re-directed route tried to take us down a single lane "C" road. Barb was alarmed, so we back-tracked and eventually found another way (Barb means that the GPS happily redirected us down a road that started promisingly and suddenly wanted to become a barely single width overgrown dirt track.  Outback Australia eat your heart out!). When we arrived there were two coaches about to disgorge their elderly passengers, so we were there in the nick of time.

An artistic sculpture reproduction of the king's burial helmet

John inspecting a full-size steel sculpture of the boat
in which the king was buried . It was surprisingly BIG!

These wenches dressed in Anglo-saxon garb were doing traditional crafts of the time

The Tramner family home (the last private owners of the site) with a field of bluebells

John with a carved boat prow reproduction

The Suffolk countryside is so darn pretty!

Barb in front of Tramner house

Edith Pretty, who had archeological credentials of her own

Her son Richard Pretty was only nine when the
boat was discovered on the property

Basil Brown, the self taught local historian with a passion for
archeology who Edith commissioned to explore the burial mounds

The windows of Mrs Pretty's office look out over the site of the mounds

Hayricks and Suffolk black sheep in the surrounding fields

Burial mounds with gorse obscuring the huge metal viewing tower in the background

Bus load of tourists with their very informative guide

Yes, we climbed all the way to the top of the viewing tower
It swayed ever so slightly at the top

You can see all the mounds from above

Views of the nearby town of Woodbridge

The last part of the tour (apart from the ubiquitous gift shop)
was a museum containing replicas of many items found on site. 

King's helmet

Shield of the king

We very much enjoyed our time at Sutton Hoo. Both interesting for its archeological significance and the location, which was very picturesque too. Rather than risk the museum cafe with the multitudes of visitors, we drove over to nearby Orford (about ten miles away) to have lunch there. Barb had spotted that Orford had a castle and musum there. Who could resist? Oh dear:

This is the picture of Orford castle that Barb expected to see

This was the reality today ... a castle shrouded
in scaffolding. And nowhere to park!

We managed to find a park near the village church

And declined to go into the famous seafood restaurant.
(John won't eat fish or any seafood. Miserable so and so)

Happily we discovered that the inside of the castle tower was open to the public
and was free with our English Heritage passes .... the day just got better

We had to negotiate some dodgy spiral stairs with just a rope for a railing

Each level revealed archeological displays and was really interesting

Some antiquities dated back to the bronze
age .... axe heads etc ... all found locally

The castle itself has a very interesting history

John enjoyed seeing the river Alde and it's fishing boats.
Memories of a well spent youth!

A picturesque shingle beach

One of the fishing huts had been converted to a very nice tea-room. The loacls sat outside (it was b...cold outside!) We chose sitting in the inside cosy warmth. Great food and hot chocolate!

A thoroughly enjoyable day .... until taking a wrong turn on the way back.
Oh well ... can't be perfect (Hrrmph - I was left in no doubt!)

After such a big day out on Wednesday, we spent the next day at home with Susan. Barb tackled a mountain of washing and the subsequent ironing. John tackled a number of small chores that Susan had saved up for him. Changing light bulbs, jetwashing outdoor furniture etc.

Feeling virtuous ... we can venture out exploring again tomorrow.