Water, wildlife and wonders... a road trip around Scotland COMPLETED 11/6 About This Page:

[chezp]

Sunday 11 June – part three: wow, look at dad’s behaviour!

We then headed down to the rock garden, which our National Trust book had promised us looked different in every season, and I can imagine that. It was stunning. It’s the largest limestone rock garden belonging to the National Trust and was constructed relatively late in Sizergh’s lifetime, back in the 1920s. The acer trees you see here are nearly 100 years old, and were amazing, although we were shocked at how well they were doing, especially considering we struggle to grow them at home in what I’m sure is a much kinder climate.



Eventually, after marvelling at the rock garden for some time, we made our way towards the house entrance, fully intending to tour it, but we got a bit distracted by these guys…



Oh my goodness, I have never seen so many cygnets at one time – we counted 10. That must be some kind of record. They were so sweet, with mum obviously teaching them how to fish for food.

What was dad doing? Well, there were some moorhens nearby with chicks of their own. Obviously dad was a bit territorial. I’d say a bit over territorial actually, if we’re telling the truth, because look at his behaviour towards them!


Time to chill after all that exertion!

I really did luck out with these shots – talk about just being in the right place at the right time! I happened to be focused in when he took off, otherwise I’d have got nothing…

Finally, we tore ourselves away from the antics on the lake, and headed inside the property…



Next: exploring a family home dating back to Tudor times

[purplegal]

The rock garden is quite beautiful, and I can see how you got distracted the baby's are so cute.

[cubfancolleen]

Love those little cygnets!! Baby water fowl of any kind is always so adorable. I think it's the fluff that make them so endearing.
And what awesome shots of dad protecting his flock!!
The rock garden is beautiful.

[chezp]

Originally Posted by cubfancolleen

Love those little cygnets!! Baby water fowl of any kind is always so adorable. I think it's the fluff that make them so endearing.

I'd agree with that. You know me, I love anything furry or fluffy!

And what awesome shots of dad protecting his flock!!

Completely right time, right place.

[Cam22]

Love the rock garden! Beautiful! Great photos of the cygnets, especially with dad flying.

[SuperDave]

The grounds are quite amazing and colorful and especially the gardens with so many beautiful flowers with so much detail! Love the photos and closeups of the cygnets and you captured them so well enjoying their time with their mother in the pond!

[chezp]

Sunday 11 June – part four: exploring a family home dating back to Tudor times

As you went around Sizergh, you definitely got the feeling this was a family home, and we did find out that the family do sometimes use these rooms after the guests go, which is kind of neat, although weird at the same time.

The first room we came to was the lower hall, which is the centre of the building and was once the heart of the 14th century house. Large parts of the stone walls of this room ate from around 1310.



There wasn’t much to see downstairs, although some of the ceilings and door openings were a little low…



We headed upstairs to explore and came to the dining room. A lot of it dates back to the Elizabethan era, with oak-panelled walls, stucco ceilings, and fireplaces with overmantels of stunning quality, as you can see in some of the photos before. These are dated, so we know the creation of the room took 20 odd years. Although the main structure of the room hasn’t changed much since it was finished in 1564, the furnishings date from the 17th century (chandelier), 18th century (dining chairs and clock), and the 19th century (dining table and dessert service).



This room explained all about the conservation work the National Trust does…




I loved their display of memorabilia here…



This was my favourite room of the house. It just had a lovely “lived in” quality to it, and I could imagine kicking back, and enjoying time here.



This is the old dining room, which is largely as it was when it was completed in 1563. It was the dining room until the beginning of the 20th century.



Next: you don’t want your friends coming from California and missing the ceiling!

[pamcarey]

What a lovely house so far!

[Colexis Mom]

Love the pictures of the rock garden and the cygnets! The house is beautiful!!

[cattailmarsh]

Those are some wonderful swan pictures...I love the cynets but that action shot of dad taking off is amazing!

I also find it extremely unusual for a museum to still also be a current residence. How weird to go into rooms that are basically staged for tour groups. Not sure I would want to live that way. Even if the majority of their residence is kept private.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk

[Cam22]

Beautiful interior and such a mix of time periods.

[chezp]

Originally Posted by cattailmarsh

Those are some wonderful swan pictures...I love the cynets but that action shot of dad taking off is amazing!

I also find it extremely unusual for a museum to still also be a current residence. How weird to go into rooms that are basically staged for tour groups. Not sure I would want to live that way. Even if the majority of their residence is kept private.

We have quite a lot of places like that. You'll see one later on in the trip - Balmoral Castle, that's only open to the public for part of the year and Sandringham and Buckingham Palace are the same. Quite a few National Trust places are like that as well, so I guess I'm used to it.

[chezp]

Originally Posted by Cam22

Beautiful interior and such a mix of time periods.

It was. It's not something you usually see at a place like this.

[chezp]

Sunday 11 June – part five: you don’t want your friends coming from California and missing the ceiling!

The Linenfold Room was next on the tour, and this was essentially a junction for the castle, with access to the bedrooms via a stone staircase, and its name comes from the wood panelling, which is supposed to represent folded linen.



Then we made our way up the spiral stone staircase…



This is the male bedroom, which was made from the wood of a pew, which we all found a bit creepy.



This is the female bedroom, which we all found a little more welcoming…



We then headed in here, the banqueting hall, which is quite a contradiction in terms, when you learn more about it. The gallery was only put in in 1947, and the reason for this will become clear shortly, as they didn’t have the money to install it when the rest of the room was constructed. As you may notice, the wooden roof is a different colour, but it’s the same wood. However, the difference is in the amount of time it’s been in the room. It all came from a Tudor barn that collapsed, and of course in the intervening time, there had been smoking in the main room, which had discoloured the timbers. It was quite scary to see the difference in colours.



Off to one side is the Inlaid Chamber, and this is the real find in the castle. As one of the volunteers said, you don’t want your friends coming from California and missing the ceiling! These panels are inlaid with floral and geometric patterns, and in the late 1800s, the owner of the castle sold it to the Victoria and Albert Museum to get some money (see how they got the money for the work on the Banqueting Hall?), and then the museum refused to give it back when the property was given to the National Trust, which shocked me a lot. I just wouldn’t expect that from one of our own “national” museums. However, the Trust finally got it back on “long loan” in 1999, and it’s only this year that photos are allowed in here, as it’s finally been turned over to the Trust – at long last!



By the time we were done with the house, we were all starving, so we made our way back to the main entrance and the café.



We were in need of this – a cream tea! Yes, it’s a fairly standard thing when we go to National Trust properties…



After we were fed and watered (yes, I know we have water in the car too! ), we headed back to the car, and on to the road…


I decided to change our plans around, and after the rave reviews I’d received about Hill Top, Beatrix Potter’s cottage, I figured we’d go there today to make sure we made it. We had some issues getting there, shall we say, as the GPS was convinced that we should take the ferry over Lake Windermere. I was equally convinced we shouldn’t, as I had no idea what the timetable was, and I wasn’t going to roll up there, just to discover that we had an hour’s wait… or worse. We were later to find out at Hill Top that was a good plan, as apparently the ferry wasn’t running at all today due to the weather, and specifically the wind.

We started off on some dual carriageways, which surprised me, as I didn’t think there would be that many of these around here.

However, we did have some battles with the GPS. Every time I took my eye off it, it would try and take us back to the ferry, and I’d have to get Google Maps going again.

We ended up meeting a real nightmare driver, who seriously braked, and often came to a complete standstill every time he saw a vehicle coming towards us. Don’t get me wrong – fine if it was a one track lane, but this wasn’t. There was plenty of space to pass, and we were all so glad when he turned off, as he was a seriously dangerous driver.

As we were getting towards Hill Top, both Google and the GPS agreed (finally!) and took us off on to a road that turned out to be a small lane. What a nightmare! We met two vehicles coming the other way, and we had to reverse up the first time, annoyingly later discovering the other guy could’ve easily backed up, as there was a layby right behind him. On the second occasion, Mark forced the issue, knowing we hadn’t been anywhere near a layby, and the other guy had to back up. It was that close that all of us (apart from Mark) closed our eyes until we’d finally passed. I think it’s fair to say that, with the exception of Mark, our nerves were all a little frayed by the time we finally got to Hill Top. I just hoped and prayed it would be worth all the grief to get here…

Next: the gate that Peter Rabbit squeezed, surely?

[purplegal]

That is a beautiful ceiling, but how do you loan a ceiling out?