Tag Archives: National Trust

The Lure of a Country House Library

I was inspired by an Instagram post I read recently from a fellow-author. She said she was warming up with a cup of coffee at the Dorchester Curiosity Centre in Dorset, while waiting for her MOT to be done, and ‘contemplating how cover design has developed over the decades’. She was looking at an entireContinue reading “The Lure of a Country House Library”

Rescued Maori Meeting House in the Grounds of an English Stately Home

I was fascinated to see this Maori meeting house in the grounds of Clandon Park, Surrey. It immediately attracted me as I loved learning about the Maori culture in New Zealand during my November 2019 visit. I discovered that the original meeting house, Hinemihi, had been sited in an area of New Zealand’s North IslandContinue reading “Rescued Maori Meeting House in the Grounds of an English Stately Home”

Cornwall mini series Part 7: Trerice

This is the seventh in a series of short reflections on places in north Cornwall. There will be few words, and mainly images. Trerice is an Elizabethan manor house set in well-kept gardens, not far from St Columb Major (where we were staying when we visited). It is at Newlyn East, near Newquay. It isContinue reading “Cornwall mini series Part 7: Trerice”

Spring is Starting to Win… at Baddesley Clinton

A few photos from Baddesley Clinton, one of my favourite National Trust properties, a short drive from my home in Warwick.

Springtime Beauty at Dunham Massey, National Trust

A few images from Dunham Massey, a National Trust property in Cheshire. These were taken on 19th February – just at that time of the year for us in England where the spring flowers are arriving, heralds of joy and new hope. 

For Love of the Sea and the East Sussex Coastline

Living in the Midlands, one of the things I most miss is being near the sea. Brought up in Kent, as a child I often went on family trips to Rye and Camber Sands in east Sussex. To experience the beauty and vastness of the sea is  a magical thing in childhood. I have continued toContinue reading “For Love of the Sea and the East Sussex Coastline”

Faded Splendour, Unfinished Grand Schemes, Unfulfilled Dreams

I visited a National Trust property a few days ago – Lyveden New Bield near Oundle in the heart of the Northamptonshire countryside. This is an unusual property in that it was build by an Elizabethan gentleman who left it unfinished. And it hasn’t fallen down, or been looted, or demolished, or built over, in theContinue reading “Faded Splendour, Unfinished Grand Schemes, Unfulfilled Dreams”