England Day 7

Wednesday October 3

We watched the weather forecast on the TV and it was supposed to be not so good in the morning and clearing later in the afternoon. So we decided to go and see a National Trust Estate first and then play golf later.

Dave drove us to Lanhydrock near Bodmin.

Here is a link for interesting information!

From the car park we had to walk a little. The estate was a surprise … huge! The “house” was started by Sir Richard Robartes and (because he died) finished by his son John about 1651. There was a disastrous fire in 1881 and it was rebuilt with every Victorian convenience to meet the needs of a large family.

The granite gatehouse is the first impressive thing you see (more later about it).

Sir Richard Robartes (painted by C. Janssen) This and the next picture were hanging in the entrance and of course were taken for the lovely lace they are wearing.

 Frances, wife of Sir Richard Robartes

From there we entered the dining room. We found out later that the table was laid like it would have been for the visit in 1950 of King George VI, Queen Elizabeth (later the Queen Mother) and Princess Margaret. More royal info: 1846 Queen Victoria paid an unexpected visit to Lanhydrock but the family was out!

A side table in the dining room with libations.

Another credenza there with an exotic centerpiece, a camel beside a palm tree made of Cornish tin. It seems important because it was especially mentioned. But I of course was interested in the lace.

Next to the dining room is the serving room where food and plates were kept hot and the napkins were ironed.

All over the house were special tables with hand-on things for children. Here you could try to fold napkins and learn the proper arrangement for the silverware.

Ah, yes, the kitchen. First thing you see is the very impressive roasting spits.

James, Dave and Kate are discussing it here. Dave is an expert since he roasts a pig every year for a boy scout event in their town.

There were excellent explanations laying around everywhere and I took a picture of the picture showing the fire being used.

More of the kitchen.

They even had an interesting recipe laying on the table. 

The scullery

This was interesting too. A cabinet on casters which could be rolled in front of the fire to keep the food hot until it was time to serve. It had a metal back and sides which could be folded out.

A slicer for cucumbers?

The bakery room. The walls were painted blue to deter flies

After the pastry room and the pantry we came to the meat larder. Unfortunately I could not take a picture without other visitors.

 Look at this large chopping block.

Right next to it the icebox with fishes.

The dairy was for storage only. It had a marble slab with a genius cooling system from a spring up the hill.

 The billiard room was very impressive too and definitely a “man cave”.

 Yes, lots of evidence around everywhere that they liked to hunt.

Captain Tommy’s bedroom. Thomas Agar-Robartes, the heir to the estate, died in WWI age 35. See the riding britches in the stretcher?

His room was one of many which had the same clever idea of hanging pictures as the King in Hampton Court. Here are all brass rods fastened around along the ceiling to hang the pictures.

The nursery. I hope not all those toys were out at the same time. But there were 10 children!

Is this the same bananagram game we played last night? (more about that later)

Even a special room for the children should they be sick.

This photo for Sarah: look at all those medicines!

An even better example of the picture hanging way

The drawing room was very friendly and inviting and huge with several different areas

Next came the morning room with two very large 17th century tapestries on the walls, one English and one Flemish.

There was another hands-on learning table explaining that (based on mid-18th century cost) today one square meter of tapestry would cost approximately 26,500 English pounds to make.

After that we entered the Long Gallery which luckily survived the great fire in 1881. It was very impressive. At the far end was a Steinway piano and somebody just happened to be playing some very lovely music on it so we had a sit-down for just a little while.

You can visit all-together 50 rooms (the written guide says). There is so much to see including the overflow storage room in the attic. There is a lot of history and family information but it is time to leave. This is the view towards the gate house but we turn left just after the house.

A view of the formal garden and a few steps to the Parish Church right next to the back of the house.

It was interesting that the entry and the altar were decorated with fruits and veggies.

After the church we went all around the back and found a tea room in the old stables. We had a lovely pot of tea and half a sandwich each.
Now we could leave but not before we went up the stairs in the gate house. Here is the view towards the house. It was explained that the ladies liked to spend time in here to have lunch and watch when a hunt was going on (forgot to take a picture out the other side which is a huge park).

Back to the car. Hope we make it without getting wet.

Back at the cabin we have a short rest and soon decide to do that last round of golf. The TV weatherman had promised clearing in the afternoon. We decided to start at hole #3 closest to the cabin. A horrible start for me … hitting “holes in the air”. No wonder it rained on and off. But I quickly felt improvement. I can’t believe it. I made it into this hole in 5. What a nice feeling.

But we have to abandon the last hole and arrive at the cabin drenched. So much for the forecast. After getting settled James has a beer. Can you read “double dropped”? Whatever that means … James says: just like his golf today.

After dinner we play another round of last night’s game “Bananagram”.

Doesn't that look almost like the game in the nursery?

And then we have a little fun with “Pass the Pigs”.