Friday, April 15, 2016

Press me

Today Husband and I took our first day trip of the year, possibly of two years. We're pensioners and it's what pensioners do, y'know, visit stately homes, local attractions and the like. anywhere really as long as they sell tea and cake, and have plenty of toilet facilities. The impetus for going today was that, as it's National Garden Week, Dyffryn Gardens, a National Trust property in the Vale of Glamorgan, had free entry. So off we tootled. That's also what pensioners do, they tootle here and there.

First stop, cafe for tea and a very restrained welshcake. Yummy. Unlike the scone with which I ended my day. Next time I must remember that the NT doesn't do good scones in my albeit limited experience.

In between we 'did' the gardens and house.



The garden is lovely and huge with loads of different areas and 'rooms'. Sadly we'd missed the daffodils at their best and we were too early for most of the tulips and late Spring flowers. We'll probably try to return in summer when the garden in full bloom should be magnificent.

The house is still very much a work in progress although a number of rooms have been opened and decorated in the style of its Victorian splendour. 

Once you've finished your family ironing you may care to take an iron to the billiard table.

The stained glass over the Great Hall entrance to the house.
From 1940 to 1999 the house was out of private ownership and used as a conference centre and, according to one of the guides, it was quite true: a parrot sexing course was one of the first to be put on.
Could you resist the urge? I couldn't - and nothing happened. So I started to run away in case I'd set off an alarm.
Fortunately I was caught by another one of the guides who explained that, if I'd looked up, I'd have seen some of the original wallpaper from before the house became a conference centre and the ceilings were lowered.




1 comment:

SmitoniusAndSonata said...

Lovely !
( But it's only a real pensioner-couple's day out in Holland , if you're wearing matching anoraks ... )