Four go to Attingham Park

We're well into August now, and it is beginning to feel a bit strange blogging about our holiday back in June. With the passing of time, those early Summer days have taken on that dreamlike quality, and looking back at these halcyon days feels like looking through a pair of inverted binoculars, shrinking them into rose-tinted, feel-good memories.

But I haven't finished my story yet, so once more I'm climbing into my Time Machine, this time setting the controls for the Wednesday of our second week.

The date had been pencilled into our diaries for over a week: a visit to another National Trust property, called Attingham Park, an 18th-century mansion and estate.

But I said date because that's exactly what it was! It wasn't just the two of us visiting Attingham Park, you know! Well, some of you know already, having read all about it in Vix's blog post back in June.

Indeed, our partners in crime for the day were these two lovely people: Vix and her partner, Jon!

But back to Attingham Park. It was just over half an hour's drive from where we were staying, but typically our journey got just that little bit longer as, in spite of our satnav's excellent instructions, we managed to drive past the entrance. This meant we had to keep on driving along the retaining wall of the estate until we finally arrived at a road leading off to the right, where we were able to turn around.

Then, there were some stubborn cows blocking our way in the middle of the driveway. These are part of the herd of heritage and rare breed cattle who graze the lawns of Attingham Park, and who belong to the tenant farmer of the estate's home farm.

Having finally made it to the car park, we waited at its entrance until a couple of minutes later Vix and Jon's van came trundling along.

As Vix had already blogged about the estate, which she visited on her birthday last year, we were kind of expecting to get a guided tour, but they both kept insisting that this was their first visit until they saw the gorgeous Grade II listed Regency bee house (top right).

That settled, we set off for a walk through the grounds, starting with the beautiful Georgian walled gardens which, apart from extensive kitchen gardens with original glasshouses, contain colourfully planted borders, the ones lining the main path hedged with the purplest of lavenders.

The walled gardens were established in 1780 to provide food for the estate and, in fact, the gardens as well as the apple orchard containing 160 trees and over 37 varieties of apple, still produce flowers for the mansion, as well as the fruit and vegetables used in the café and tearoom. You can even buy some of the freshly harvested produce in the Stables Shop.

Now, you are probably wondering what we're all staring at here? It's something that's making us smile, that's for sure!

Well, no longer keeping you in suspense, it's a tree sculpture in the orchard, carved from a tree stump and possibly representing James and the Giant Peach.

Surrounded by acres of parkland, there’s plenty of space to stretch your legs, as there are miles of walks around the estate.

The landscape you see at Attingham today was designed by Humphry Repton, the great landscape designer of the late 1700s and early 1800s, who was commissioned by Thomas, 2nd Lord Berwick, in 1797 to work on proposals for his land at Attingham.

We decided on a leisurely walk around the estate, which at first took us along a path through the woodland, the quiet only pierced by the non-stop chattering of us girls, the boys following quite a few paces behind us!

Coming out of the woodland, an unusual rope bridge awaited us. This took us over the river Tern and to the entrance of the Deer Park.

Fallow deer roam the deer park and have been doing so for over 200 years, but we didn't spot any.

But wait: both Jon and Jos thought they detected some movement in the far distance among the ferns and bracken on our left: one of the deer raising its head, perhaps. Having no binoculars on us, it was hard to be sure.

Now and then, we were treated with a tantalizing glimpse of the house on our right.

The many ponds are a haven for wildlife of all sorts, from ducks, swans and otters to dragonflies, at the same time serving as watering holes for the freely roaming herd of cows.

Eventually we ended up crossing a lovely stone bridge with a weir while we were heading back towards the mansion for a spot of lunch.

Afterwards, we made our way to the mansion to explore its three floors at our own pace.

Only five generations of the Berwick family lived at Attingham, but they left an impressive and enduring legacy of love and neglect, as their fortunes rose and fell.

The mansion was built in 1782–85 by Noel Hill, 1st Baron Berwick, and designed by architect George Steuart. Inside, the mansion is divided into ‘masculine’ and ‘feminine’ sides, with rooms decorated accordingly in different styles.

The elegant Georgian drawing room is furnished with 18th century Italian furniture, some of which is said to have belonged to Napoleon's sister (above, bottom right).

The Boudoir, decorated with gilded cupids and other symbols of love, was created for the 1st Lady Berwick, as her own intimate space in the feminine wing of Attingham (above, top left and below, bottom left).

In some of the rooms, several items of vintage clothing were on display; These were of course greatly admired by the girls! I could definitely see myself in the blue 1960s number on the bottom right.

The 2nd Lord Berwick and his wife were big spenders, so much so that two bankruptcy auctions had to be held to clear their debt. Part of their extravagance was the picture gallery, a flamboyant room designed by John Nash, with its glass roof, which apparently is always leaking.

A magnificent circular staircase off the picture gallery, also designed by John Nash, leads to the upper floors of the mansion, the huge mirror on the landing inviting some creative photography on Jos's part. Such a pity Vix had just stepped out of the frame, as we would all have been in the photo on the top left. 

The rooms on the first floor are left unfurnished. In fact, they are still being renovated: a slow and painstaking process which, as part of the Attingham Re-discovered project began in 2006, focuses on carrying out conservation-in-action, in full view of the public, rather than behind closed doors. Some of the rooms have exhibits about the history of the family or offer glimpses into the archives.

Our tour of the house completed, we were in need of some refreshments, after which, alas, it was time to say goodbye.

But not before Jon had persuaded one of the National Trust staff to take a photo of all four of us together. I'm sure Vix won't mind me pinching that photo from her blog ...

But the day wasn't over for us yet! We were all set for the drive back to our cottage and started following our satnav's instructions, even though we were a bit mystified that it made us drive in the opposite direction. It was only when we had literally driven around the block that we realized we'd forgotten to enter our destination, so it was trying to take us back to Attingham Park!

We stopped in a lay-by, rectified our mistake, and drove on, when suddenly we passed Wroxeter Roman City on our right.  It would have been silly not to stop for a visit, so we did.

Once the fourth largest city in Roman Britain, today the most impressive features of its fascinating ruins are the 2nd century municipal baths and the remains of the huge wall dividing them from the exercise hall in the heart of the city. 

Over the road, which is the final stretch of Watling Street Roman road, is the new Roman Town House, constructed as part of Channel 4’s "Rome Wasn’t Built in a Day".

What better place for a close-up of my frock? This was the maxi I'd picked up in a charity shop two days before. I was happy to find it, as I hadn't packed nearly enough summer frocks, and was running out of things to wear. Who'd have thought we would have such marvellous weather, anyway?

I'm taking my maxi dress to Patti's Visible Monday at Not Dead Yet Style!