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When I went to visit Stonehenge, which you can read about here I also went to visit Old Sarum, which is part of The Stonehenge Tour. I admit that I’d never heard of Old Sarum until I started investigating how to get to Stonehenge by public transport, but I’m glad I took the opportunity to go. It’s an Iron Age hill fort that was also the site of a castle and the original site of Salisbury Cathedral.
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Stonehenge, I’m sure, features on many a bucket list and it’s one of those places that I’ve wanted to visit but never really got around to. I finally got the opportunity whilst in the area for a (exceedingly lovely!) wedding and headed over on many a train and bus on my return journey home.
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Recently we took a trip to Bolsover Castle, an English Heritage site in Derbyshire. (I won’t say when we went, as the time between me making these visits and being able to sit down and write about them seems to increase exponentially). We don’t visit nearly as many English Heritage sites as we do National Trust, though that’s not any kind of conscious decision.
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For my birthday we took a trip to the newly opened studio tour of the Harry Potter film sets. (Yes, it has taken over a month for me to get this post together). It turned out to be an excellent trip; although certainly on the pricier side I’d say it was well the money, as no doubt did the other visitors. It was very busy though well organised – the timed ticketing system seems to be working very well and as we made our visit on a weekday, there were very few children present.
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I recently paid a visit to the Wallace Collection. Slightly hidden away in central London it’s a museum in a town house displaying a collection of artwork, furniture, armour and porcelain.
The collection was bequeathed to the nation in 1897 by Lady Wallace and was amassed by over five generations of the family. Below is a selection of some of the items you can see at the collection. The collection is free to visit but largely relies on its own income generation to keep going, so I’d encourage you to visit if you get the chance.
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Despite going to London a fair bit, I’d never been to the Tower of London and on this most recent trip I thought I would remedy that. As a pretty iconic place, I’m not sure I can add much to what’s already been written about it, but I can post pictures.
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On a recent trip to London I paid a visit to Southwark Cathedral, which is right by London Bridge tube station.
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A few weekends ago I went to visit Calke Abbey in Derbyshire. Surrounded by a large and impressive park Calke Abbey is a stately home that the National Trust is leaving largely in the decaying state it was in when it first became a Trust property. So as well as magnificent rooms that echo the grandeur that once was, there are the rooms abandoned by the owners when the upkeep of the house just became too expensive.
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Last weekend we took a trip out to Kedleston Hall in Derbyshire. Built in the 1760s it was designed by the architect Robert Adam as a showpiece palace for entertaining and to display Sir Nathaniel Curzon’s collections of paintings and sculpture.
One of the most impressive rooms is the Marble Hall – lit only from windows in the ceiling.
The architect loved Rome, which is evident throughout the room and in particular the statues lining the Hall.
Other highlights include the music room,
the drawing room,
and the saloon, which has a particularly stunning ceiling.
When balls were held there attendees could rest and watch the dances whilst sitting on settees and chairs that were curved to fit the wall.
The house also has an Eastern museum, housing many different artifacts, though it isn’t particularly organised. The highlight for me though is the peacock dress that was worn by Lady Curzon at a ball when her husband was Viceroy of India.
We also visited All Saints Church, in the grounds of the Hall, which has some very impressive stained glass windows.
The park surrounding the Hall is also well worth an explore, though it was too hot that day for us to fully take advantage of the walks available. We had no trouble spotting the wildlife though – sheep everywhere!
I’d definitely recommend it for an enjoyable day out – the cream tea’s in the restaurant are excellent too!
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Whilst out walking yesterday I came across something that I thought deserved its very own post. It’s a sculpture of a dragon made by this sculptor, commissioned by Nottingham City Council. It is quite simply amazing. The location really isn’t that great for showing it off, but it definitely deserves some more recognition.
Louise Jayne's Blog 
