My Days Out Blog – Page 47 – Author Kim J Cowie's travel blog

Tyntesfield, Somerset

National Trust
An impressive Victorian estate and one of the NT’s more high-profile acquisitions, Tyntesfield is deep in the Somerset countryside. Besides the house and chapel there are gardens and miscellaneous out-buildings, with the inevitable restaurant, shop, café and visitor centre. When acquired, the house was a time-warp and stuffed with period objects. When I visited, the formal rooms were quite impressive, and the service and other rooms that were opened were full of miscellaneous stuff. The Chapel is next to the house but had a separate entrance, which was also used to give access to some rooms in the upper part of the house.

Update: Sept 2014.
Since my last visit, the NT visitor’s entrance has been moved to the service yard, a few more formal and service rooms have been opened on the ground floor, and the upper floor has been opened for visitors. The tour now exits via the Chapel. (My old guidebook shows the Billiard Room, Mrs Gibbs’ Room, and the Old Servants’ Hall as accessible, but they are not on the 2014 tour.)
The central hall, Library, Dining room and Drawing Room are impressively decorated in Victorian style and fully furnished.
Upstairs, approx ten rooms can be visited. These are less impressive than the downstairs rooms, but still interesting, and some are still filled with undisplayed stuff.
The Chapel is the size of a smaller church, and an impressive and colourful example of Victoriana.
In the house, it’s amusing to note that an analog Mitsubishi TV belonging to the last owner has become a NT exhibit. 🙂

Toddington Manor, Beds.

Private – non current.
The manor has a long history, and parts date from the Tudor period. The building used to be much bigger (see Wikipedia).
The gardens were open to the public on limited dates, and when I went a few years ago a tractor collection and other agricultural things were also on display. The gardens (with lake) are quite worth seeing. The house is not open to the public.
Toddington Manor is of special interest to me as until recently it was owned by Sir Neville Bowman-Shaw, who was the MD of Boss Trucks Ltd, where I used to work, and which went bust in 1994. I lost my job, while Sir Neville continued to lord it over Toddington Manor.
The estate was sold, asking price £6.5M. The tractor collection was apparently sold at auction.
The estate agent’s brochure gave a surprising amount of detail.

Stoke Park Pavilions, Northants.

Privately Owned
The two pavilions date from the 1620’s, and with parts of a curving colonade are all that is left of a large house with wings. One pavilion contained a chapel, the other a library. They are among the earliest examples of Palladian architecture in England. These are attractive buildings. Access is limited to a few days in August, and requires payment of a small fee. I remember having to drive down a long narrow lane avoiding the paintball site, waiting till the opening time, and knocking at the door of the keyholder’s cottage, and I think I was the sole visitor that afternoon. On the second visit (Aug 2012) it was open and there were other visitors and a friendly gardener. You can go inside the left-hand (ballroom) pavilion.
Various buildings from the original estate exist, under separate ownership and converted for residential use.
Pavilion L is now a wedding venue.

Cutty Sark, Greenwich, London

Forget it for 2011 – it’s under restoration, complicated by a serious fire, and even if you are outside the site you can’t see anything. For the curious, there is a restoration website.
In 2002 I visited the original Cutty Sark, and found it a most interesting visit. While the planking is timber, the ribs are of iron, and looked surprisingly small in section. What you will be able to see next year will be jolly fine, but it will be heavily restored.

Royal Observatory, Greenwich

An interesting visit for astronomy buffs, as there are displays of historic instruments and the original buildings. There is now an admission charge, to the considerable annoyance of visitors who just want to be photographed standing on the Greenwich Meridian.
If you are in or around the park at noon GMT or 1pm Summer Time, watch the ball on top of the Observatory, which is slowly raised and then suddenly dropped at exactly noon GMT. It’s a traditional time signal to shipping in the Thames.
There are several other places to visit in and around the Greenwich Park, and some of those are free. (National Maritime Museum, Queens House, Royal Naval College, Rangers’ House, etc)

Ascott, Bucks

National Trust
This is one of the NT properties nearest to my house, but prior to May 2012, I’d only been there twice in 27 years. The building was a Jacobean farmhouse remodelled towards the end of the 19th century for the de Rothschilds. Inside is a collection of paintings, fine furniture and porcelain. Outside are gardens.
Ascott is perhaps of more specialist interest than some of the other NT properties. The house, which looks Tudor but was actually built in the nineteenth century, is of no particular interest. The interior was last remodelled in the 1930’s, when a redundant wing was also demolished. The de Rothschilds, who still use the house, own some of the contents. The contents include fine paintings by Hogarth, Gainsborough, Andrea del Sarto and Stubbs. There is also a little-known Turner, and many paintings by Dutch masters. The Porcelain Room and adjacent rooms house a large collection of Chinese porcelain.

The gardens are rather fine and include an unusual topiary sundial, an impressive Venus Fountain, and a lake. The gardens are best visited by proceeding clockwise, starting at the near end of the house.

I confess that on two previous visits I didn’t find Ascott particularly interesting. Garden buffs should enjoy the gardens. If you are interested in painting or ceramics, then visit the collections. The house is near a main road and parking is free. There is no tea-room or shop.
While I was in the house I noted an older gentleman with an upper-class accent talking about an art sale he had visited. I later realised that he looked rather like the photo of Sir Evelyn de Rothschild in the guidebook…

Audley End, Essex

English Heritage
In contrast to many EH properties, Audley End is complete and fully furnished. The house origins date from the period of Henry VIII, when Audley was three times its present size, but the present appearance of the house, inside and out, dates from the 19th century. Noted occupants include Henrietta Howard, later a royal mistress and occupant of Marble Hill House, Richmond. The contents, including pictures and a natural history collection, are well worth seeing. Note that most of the best stuff is on the first floor, so that on our last family visit my sister and I saw a lot more items than did my late mother, who was in her wheelchair and preferred to wait below. Apart from the house, there is the Service Wing, with re-enactments of servant life, The Stable Block, with horses, the Walled Garden, the Gardens with artificial lake, and extensive parkland. The gardens behind the house are worth a walk-around.
Recent revisit: August 2018, nurseries now open on upper floor.
Suggested visit time: at least a half day – there’s plenty to see and do.

Boarstall Duck Decoy, Bucks

Small End of Duck Decoy — End of one duck decoy

The Decoy – a kind of funnelled duck trap – is next to a lake with a nature reserve walk. There is also a hut with an explanatory display. The warden lives in a cottage on-site. The first time I went, I didn’t see much of the actual traps, as it was rather windy that day, and because of “Elf ‘n Safety” I was not permitted to walk round the trail in case I was hit by a falling branch.
The second time, in May 2012, I was able to walk around the lake and see the curving funnel-shaped decoy nets placed over curving lake inlets.
Visiting dates are somewhat restricted.

Boarstall Tower, Bucks

Boarstall Tower - front — Boarstall Tower front

National Trust.
A 14th century moated gatehouse tower, once part of a fortified manor house. The tower is fairly small but quite interesting, and there are some views from the roof. The gardens are attractive.
Restricted opening – see NT guidebook or website. Worth a visit if you are in the area.
The Boarstall Duck decoy is nearby, and it’s possible to visit both the same afternoon.

Boscastle, Devon

Much of the land in and around Boscastle is owned by the National Trust.
The village is of course famous for nearly becoming an ex-village during a disastrous flood a few years ago. At the village centre you can visit a small museum of the disaster and look at the new bridge and flood prevention works. It’s worth making an effort to tramp further afield, as there are interesting walks down to the harbour mouth (both sides), or if you can find a paper walk guide, you can walk around some hilly old streets looking at old buildings of interest. The harbour largely dries out at low tide.

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