Return to Clandon Park

We’ve been to Clandon Park once or twice before, but its been a while, so last spring we decided to make a return visit and sneak a few photos in.

And here we are in front of the house (just to state the obvious)… actually its the back of the house, but its rather impressive from whatever angle you happen to be facing.

 
The back of the house again… with a friendly pheasant wandering the lawn

 
This is from the side… still impressive.

 
 
More from the side… nice day for it!

 
Our friend the pheasant

 
The girls found the “secret garden”…. they’ve been reading too many Enid Blyton books, but to be fair, it was bit hard to find.

 
Unfortunately the daffodils were past their best by the time we arrived, otherwise this would have been a very impressive scene. If only we had have visited a week or two earlier.

 
You can’t take photos inside the main house, which is a shame… its very impressive… but you can take photos in the basement, which is the home of the Surrey Infantry Museum… an amazingly interesting place to visit.

Amongst the things to see here, there’s lots of military medals, including some VC’s, if you’re into that kind of thing…. and I know a few people who are.

  
And if you’re not into that kind of thing, there’s always the dressups.

 

OK, how about a few dodgy extras…

An aerial map of the place

And another dodgy Keezee video… if the shoddy camerawork doesn’t make you feel ill, you might enjoy the peaceful bird noises!

Hughenden Manor

So next up is our visit to the home of 19th century British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli - Hughenden Manor. Its not the sort of place that most people would have on the top of their places to visit, but it’s a National Trust property we’d never been to, and as members entry is free for us, so why not.

As usual for our visit to National Trust properties, it was very interesting. Also as usual, the weather was dodgy. We still managed to get about though and take some pics, so we you enjoy them.

Out the front

 
The boudoir

The stairwell…. what’s with all the portraits in these places?

 
Hey! They stole the poster from our downstairs toilet.

 
The girls seem excited to see the beer cellar, but the most excitement was behind the camera.

 
Servants quarters

 
The back steps

 

 

Out the back

Our picnic lunch by the blossoming apple trees was nice.

This is the nearby village of Bradenham…. worth taking a pic, we thought.

London Calling

OK, so I’m guessing this isn’t the first time someone’s used the title of the famous The Clash song for a blog post, but its a first for us at least. London’s only 27 minutes away on the express train, but we really don’t make in in there all that often – what with all the attractions of Surrey to tempt us on our doorstep. But every now and then we get the urge and head in for a look around.

Our visits invariably involve a stroll through Hyde Park (because if we drive, we park there) and then, unsurprisingly, a look at some of the shops, and perhaps if time permits some famous tourist spots. So for today’s adventure, we bring you some pics from Hyde Park, some shops and some tourist attractions. See if you can name the locations…

So here we are at Hyde Park. Nice day for it.

 
Enough of that… what about the shops…

 
Guessed which shop yet?

 
It sells large bears, amongst other things.

Cruising the streets of Kensington.

A lesser known tourist spot… the home of Earl Mountbatten on Wilton Place.

 
Hurry up!

 
Get the London loook.

 
Its tiring work.

 
Which way is Australia?.

The Australian War Memorial at the Wellington Arch.

 
Lots to see…. all of the famous battle locations are superimposed into the wall

 
This is Wellington Arch… a relatively peaceful place in the middle of a busy London roundabout.

 
London bikes. Like a lot of cities, they’re everywhere now.

 
Ummm…. no comment.

 
Another park with autumn leaves.

 
Approaching our next famous London tourist location….

 
No hints.. this should be easy to guess.

 
Gates fit for a Queen….

Guards - surely this gives it away?

 
Another Keezee arty shot, but maybe not a great clue.

 
Yes, it’s Buckingham Palace! But what’s that’s behind… an ominous looking cloud.

 
Yes it was…. and a bit of rain to finish the day off – we are in London after all. If you don’t like the weather, wait 5 minutes .

Petworth House revisited

We've visited Petworth House before, but that was a while ago, and due to a gross navigational error at the time, we never actually made it inside.

So it was high time we returned and this time we checked out the house itself. A good thing too, because the weather wasn't a nice as last time. It wasn't long after we began our walk and checked out a garden house thingy and a few deers that the rain began to fall so we made a dash for it.


The garden thingy

Posing in the garden thingy



All smiles for the deer


That's them

Inside after our mad dash, and here's the stairway and entrance hall.... noice.


Good spot for a rest.



There was the odd portrait to see


The kids took the "Find the Art Challenge". Here's Lucy trying to track down a portrait of Henry VIII. Where could he be?


Caiti had to track down a Turner and a Constable.


Found it!