It has been a busy day. I was volunteering again at parkrun. The local event is celebrating two years, so there was cake. I barely had time to grab a slice before heading off to pick up my parents in Bedford. They do not have a car these days, so we took them to Wimpole Hall. That is not too far away in Cambridgeshire, but we ended up on some little lanes where you cannot go very fast. When we got there the car park was pretty full. That area looks fairly new, but I am not too sure if or when I have been there before.
This is a National Trust property and as members we get free entry. The building dates back to the 17th century with various modifications over the years. Some of the landscaping was by 'Capability' Brown'. The last resident was the daughter of author Rudyard Kipling and she bequeathed it to the National Trust in 1976.
Each owner would have updated the house to match the latest styles. Some of it has been restored back to how it would have looked previously.
Obviously these people had serious money. They were the billionaires of their day. This dome is above a sitting room that was made by removing seven existing rooms, but they had plenty to spare. I did not get a picture of the library, but it is on their site. They have thousands of old books in there. That was a real status symbol back then, but one of the guides says they were used for actual research.
The front of the house looks out across open fields and a view of the countryside that is still fairly unspoilt. At the rear is a formal garden with lots of topiary (shaped hedges) and a 'ruin' that was actually built like that as a novelty 'folly'. They are working on making the garden more sustainable so it needs less water and maintenance.
The estate is also a working farm with various livestock including cows, sheep and pigs. We saw some of those. The former stable block now houses the cafe and gift shop. There is also a second hand book shop in there. The horses lived better than the local poor people.
We did not go around the farm itself this time, but we did go in the huge walled garden. This has masses of flowers, but also lots of fruit and vegetables. Apparently they can produce 200kg of those each week. It gets used in the restaurant and is also sold. They had some great pumpkins and lots of other stuff that looked ready to harvest.
There is a huge greenhouse where they grow chillis.
My parents really enjoyed their outing. My mum is a keen gardener, but they like the history too. My dad used to cycle around some of the local villages in his youth when there was a lot less traffic.
There were a lot of old planes flying overheard. This could be related to the air museum at Duxford. We saw a Spitfire and Hurricane as well as some biplanes. The weather is pretty good for this time of year, so there was no need for a coat.
We may well go back there as there is more to see and the garden will change with the seasons.
