Easter with donkeys, historic homes and a spa COMPLTED 4/26 - Page 20 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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Still loving your photos of the donkey's as I love Eeyore's cousins and relatives! Funny, that you mention the donkeys being used for weddings and other events! What, do the bride and groom ride companion donkeys down the middle of the church aisles to be married by the priest? I would love to see this!
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Still loving your photos of the donkey's as I love Eeyore's cousins and relatives!
They're just so cute, aren't they?
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Funny, that you mention the donkeys being used for weddings and other events! What, do the bride and groom ride companion donkeys down the middle of the church aisles to be married by the priest? I would love to see this!
Oh good grief, not at all. The Donkey Sanctuary, as far as I know, don't allow their donkeys to be ridden, even by children. I think they probably are there at weddings just for photos.
Sunday 27 March – part five: the donkey whisperer comes into his own…
Now this is where the donkey whisperer came into his own… and no sadly I don’t mean me. The donkeys all seemed to love Mark, and although there are some photos of me with the donkeys, honestly I’d start petting them, and they’d shy away from me, whereas they were happy to be stroked by Mark. It’s so not fair!
We have no idea what this guy was doing – it looks like he’s biting the back of the other donkey!
As you can see, the sky was darkening over, so we decided to beat a hasty retreat, and we timed it right, as it started to rain heavily again just as we got back to the main part of the sanctuary, and we were able to dive into the shop.
I got a Donkey Sanctuary sweatshirt, fridge magnet, some Christmas cards, a mug and a tea towel and I was amazed to find I got a free book as well. I still cannot get over the fact that they don’t charge visitors to come here. Don’t get me wrong, I understand the logic that they want supporters to be able to see the donkeys free of charge, but honestly, they could make so much more money if they did, but that’s just me. Anyway, the whole lot came to £45 ($63), which was less than I expected, so I asked if I could add a donation to my card, and of course I could, so the donkeys got another £30 ($42) from me, which I felt was money very well spent.
We were making our way out, but I got caught up by the hospital donkeys again…
… and then Mark noticed that Gareth was out of his shelter, so of course we just had to go and say hello again!
In case you’re wondering, in some of these shots, Benji, who’s Gareth’s companion and partner in crime, is either braying or yawning!
While we were there, we heard a father telling his daughter about the donkey who was missing a leg, so we went to investigate, and sure enough, he was. Poor thing! However, look at what they’ve done. Isn’t medicine just amazing?
We headed out, after spending about three hours here, way longer than either of us had anticipated, and even though he may not say so himself, I know Mark quite enjoyed it here…
Those donkeys are all so cute! I figured you'd have just said 'one of everything' when you got into the gift shop.
And Mark certainly seemed to be enjoying himself in the photos!
So cute! And even cuter that Mark managed to make friends with these guys too. Glad you scored some great finds in the gift shop!
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Tanya
Every click helps feed .6 bowls of food to rescued animals. Give a quick click every day and help animals in shelters! www.theanimalrescuesite.com
The Donkey Sanctuary looks like it would make for a wonderful outing. The donkeys are all so cute, but Barney may be my favorite. Such an interesting donkey!
The Donkey Sanctuary looks like it would make for a wonderful outing. The donkeys are all so cute, but Barney may be my favorite. Such an interesting donkey!
I so want to go back - I'm half coming up with a plan for our wedding anniversary in early November that will take in the Donkey Sanctuary and perhaps the Bath Spa again....
Sunday 27 March – part six: this was clinging on to the wall
As we left the Donkey Sanctuary, the heavens opened again, and it literally rained the whole way over to our next destination, which was about 40 minutes’ drive away. By the time we arrived at Barrington Court, both of us were just desperate to fall asleep, which wasn’t good, given it was 2:15pm! We stayed put in the car for a little while, waiting for the rain to ease, and eventually it did, so we made our way out, and explored the grounds, while the weather was holding.
This is a Tudor manor house that was saved from ruin and was restored by the Lyle family in the 1920s, when the place looked more like a barn than what you see today. However, the National Trust also had dealings with the place. It was bought by the trust in 1907, when the trust was still in its infancy. The cost to buy it and the initial repairs was £11,500 and in today’s money, that would be £840,000. They got a donation of £10,000 from one person and the rest was raised through a public appeal. It was a long time before the trust made such a purchase again, as any suggestion of taking on another big country house was greeted with the words “remember Barrington!”
The Lyle family came along, and they were granted a 100 year lease by the trust and then carried out all the restoration work that was needed. It was handed back to the trust way before the lease expired, although sadly there was no explanation of why.
As you can see from these photos, suddenly the sun was out, and it was a beautiful afternoon. It was the most bizarre day weather wise. I know Orlando is renowned for radical weather changes in just the space of a few minutes, but in all honesty, this isn’t something that’s usual for us over here.
We had a look in here…
… which turned out to be calf pens, despite a father in here knowledgeably telling his kids that it was a stables. As Mark said, it wasn’t tall enough for that.
We then headed into the garden in front of Strode House, which was originally built as a stable block back in 1674. Apparently William Strode II, who built it, wanted to show his wealth by housing his horses and carriages in real style. The Lyle family built a connecting corridor from the Court House and today it’s home to the tea rooms.
Look at the size of the fish in here!
We headed back past Strode House, and towards Court House, and settled down on a bench, which was somehow dry, given the recent downpour, and we just sat there for a while, taking in the scenery, amazed at how beautiful the weather now was.
Eventually, we roused ourselves, and walked round to the front entrance of the house…
Now I should warn you here that a lot of the rooms here are empty, which is very different for a National Trust property, so please don’t expect lots of rich furnishings, otherwise you will be disappointed.
The hall was quite something, although it was amazing to learn that when the Lylefamily moved in, you could see up to the sky, as there was no roof on it.
The story about the fireplace in the master bedroom was just as terrifying, as apparently the fireplace had no floor around it, it was literally clinging on to the wall, but when you looked at it, you could see it was on concrete, with wooden flooring around it, but boy, I bet that was a sight to see!
We did have a laugh at this sign, which was by all the toilets in the house. I dread to think…
What a difference the sunshine makes. The photos are beautiful! No ceiling, and no floor? Wow. I guess they did a great job on the fireplace to make sure it stayed stuck to the wall.
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Tanya
Every click helps feed .6 bowls of food to rescued animals. Give a quick click every day and help animals in shelters! www.theanimalrescuesite.com
Barrington is very beautiful so far even without luxurious furnishings. So nice to that the day turned out so beautiful while you were there. We have a saying in Kentucky that if you don't like the weather just give it a few minutes and it will change.
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Funny, that you mention the donkeys being used for weddings and other events! 
What, do the bride and groom ride companion donkeys down the middle of the church aisles to be married by the priest? 
I would love to see this! 
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Pixie Dust
PassPorter Guide Author
not at all. The Donkey Sanctuary, as far as I know, don't allow their donkeys to be ridden, even by children. I think they probably are there at weddings just for photos.
The donkeys all seemed to love Mark, and although there are some photos of me with the donkeys, honestly I’d start petting them, and they’d shy away from me, whereas they were happy to be stroked by Mark. It’s so not fair! 
We stayed put in the car for a little while, waiting for the rain to ease, and eventually it did, so we made our way out, and explored the grounds, while the weather was holding. 
They got a donation of £10,000 from one person and the rest was raised through a public appeal. It was a long time before the trust made such a purchase again, as any suggestion of taking on another big country house was greeted with the words “remember Barrington!” 
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