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.
Category: South-east
Location
Boarstall Tower, Bucks
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.
Chastleton House, Oxfordshire
A Jacobean country house, left almost unchanged by its increasingly impoverished owners, and preserved as a time-warp site by the NT. There is no shop or tea-room. Externally, it’s an attractive building, and the contents are also of interest. The gardens include some unusual topiary. Admission is by timed ticket, and there is a cap on daily visitor numbers.
Imperial War Museum Duxford, Cambs.
This is a major aviation museum. If you want to know what aircraft they have, you can check the website, which makes you search a database to check the collection. You’ll find that it has many British and American aircraft from WW2 and the post-war period. The American hangar is dominated by a B-52. The museum also has a B-29 Superfortress and a B-17, an Avro Vulcan, etc. Aircraft exhibits fill several hangars. There are also regular flying days. You should plan for an all-day visit.
Duxford Chapel
English Heritage
A small but complete and attractive 14-th century chapel.
Worth a visit if you’re in the area. It’s sited just off a main road. Open at any reasonable time.
Forest Centre, Marston Moretaine, Beds
This area was used for brick clay extraction, and the land is now being reclaimed by planting parts as forest, and establishing nature reserves. In the Forest Centre building is an exhibition that makes a noble effort to get the public interested in forestry and forest products, and also a café. Nearby is a wetlands reserve which can be visited, for a fee. There are also walks around the lakes, and watersports on Stewartby Lake.
If you are interested in the Great Outdoors and our feathered friends, you should have a great time here. I’d recommend taking advantage of all available navigational aids, as the ground is flat and there are screens of small trees, so it’s often hard to see where anything is, where you are, or which big square lake you are looking at.
For car-free access there is a railway station at Millbrook, a healthy 20 minutes brisk walk distant.
Old Gorhambury House, Herts
This was once an immense Elizabethan mansion, but was largely dismantled when the present Gorhambury House was built, the remains being left as a ready-made romantic ruin in the grounds.
Though the site can be visited at any reasonable time, access is awkward, as it is in the middle of a private estate and only foot access is permitted. I got to it by parking on the A4147 near the M1 & M10, and near the entry to Beechtree Lane, and making the vexatiously long walk along the permitted path to the house. (The other end of the “Gorhambury Walk” permitted path is at the Roman Amphitheatre in St Albans). If you visit Gorhambury House by car (on a Thursday afternoon only, via St. Albans) you can reach the old house by a much shorter but still significant walk, starting from the gardens at the rear. You might need directions, as there is no clear line of sight between the old and new houses, the view being blocked by trees. The ruins don’t show up well on an aerial view, but it looks like if you start at the back of the mansion you should walk away from it bearing slightly to your left. The drive continues past the old house, but the roadway is very narrow, and there is nowhere to park.
Is it worth it? Once you get there, it’s quite an interesting historic ruin, but won’t detain you for long.
Houghton House, Bedfordshire
English Heritage
The shell of a once imposing 17th century mansion, which was stripped by its owners when no longer required. The site commands some fine views (possibly why they built there). Parking is nearby, at the end of a long access roadway. An interesting visit, but probably won’t detain you very long. A free audio guide can be downloaded from the English Heritage website.
Milton Keynes Museum, Bucks
A local museum, devoted to the history and development of the locality. It is located in a Victorian farmhouse and outbuildings. The museum is run by volunteers. An interesting museum of its type.
Stondon Motor Museum, Beds.
A large and diverse collection of motor vehicles, from 1900 to 1990. Well worth a look if you are interested in viewing a large car collection.
They also have a full size replica of Captain Cook’s exploration ship “Endeavor”. The replica, designed to “enable children today the unique experience of seeing life as it was on these primitive ships”, is constructed of sheet plywood, and does not replicate the full hull depth. So if you are expecting a replica of authentic frame and plank construction, looking ready to put to sea, this isn’t it.