May Bank Holiday Monday outing to Wimpole Hall and Home Farm

On Saturday morning Carol had a hair appointment at Arcana In Shenley Brook End booked for 8.30. We were there bright and early, intact far too early and we sat in the car and saw the staff arrive and once it was completed we decided, as it was such a bright and sunny morning to go out somewhere in the car and headed towards Buckingham. We went into Tesco in Buckingham as I needed to get so cholesterol-reducing drinks which we'd forgotten on our trip to Morrison's on Friday evening. We were surprised how quiet it was. Very few customers. Might it be something to do with the fact that Aldi have recently opened a store only a mile or so out of Buckingham? It would be partly be who Tesco have lost so much money over the last year or so. We came out and went to Bicester Avenue garden centre for a wander round and didn't stay long, dropping to to a garden centre outside Buckingham and had coffee and sandwiches before heading home. Just getting out of Milton Keynes for a couple of hours did us a world of good.

Today, as it's a Bank Holiday, and as the weather was so fine and sunny we decided to visit another National Trust property. We had considered a swim at D.W. Fitness, but there was a marathon on in Milton Keynes and it was either beginning or ending at the M.K. Stadium, which is where the gym is situated, so it seemed a better option to get out of Milton Keynes before the marathon began, hence our drive out of the town at 8 a.m. and heading towards the M.1 and the road towards Cambridge, Caxton and the route to Wimple Hall and Home Farm which is near Royston. We have been on several other occasions, but not for a number of years so it was quite a change to visit today. We got to Wimpole Hall at around 9.40, so we had to wait because it didn't open until 10 a.m. we were surprised that it took less than an hour to reach the place, no doubt put down to the fast dual carriageway that has been built between the M.1 at Brogborough right through to the Black Cat roundabout on the A.1. When we arrived there were few cars in the carpark, but by the time we left around two and a half hours later the place was positively heaving with humanity and there was a long queue of vehicles making it's way into the grounds. It was just as well we had arrived so early.

We went into the stable block where we got our tickets for the Hall, Garden and Home Farm and Carol purchased a back-pack in the shop which meant we could carry our bits and pieces around the garden and farm.

We went to have coffee and sausage rolls in the restaurant to start off our day and then walked to Home Farm, a 10-minute walk from the house. We spent some time looking at the animals and then walked back, stopping off to look at the walled garden and Carol came across a lady gardener who was selling rhubarb and then we walked back towards the house. We entered through the front and Carol had to leave the back-pack at the entrance as they wouldn't allow visitors to take luggage around the house because there would be a possibility of knocking into valuable items. We spent a little longer walking around the grounds before we went back to the carpark and drove home to Milton Keynes. We dropped in to Waitrose in Chaffron Way as we needed salad and one or two other items that we inadvertently forgot from our shopping trip to Morrison's on Friday. Just surprised by how busy it was considering that it was a Bank Holiday.

When we arrived home there were some stragglers still running past on the Redway as part of the marathon. It's just as well we went out when we went out otherwise we'd have been stuck in the house all day.

It seems we got the best of the day because as I write this it has got considerably colder and it's raining quite hard.