tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-69540340386126000522024-03-13T23:18:04.783-07:00National Trust SconesA blog dedicated to finding the best National Trust scones by visiting every single property with a tea room.National Trust Sconeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01097903022761280477noreply@blogger.comBlogger310125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6954034038612600052.post-75408608395677842592023-06-14T02:15:00.045-07:002023-06-16T12:54:02.305-07:00Cliveden Revisited<p>Eyes down, everyone - it's time for some more Scone Stats! Ever since I completed the National Trust Scone Quest back in March, I've been playing around with the data I'd gathered over my 10 years of scone eating - see my post on <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2023/04/which-uk-counties-serve-best-scones.html">Which UK Counties Serve The Best Scones?</a> for a taste of the important questions I've been able to answer.</p><p>Today I decided to crunch the numbers to solve a conundrum that has been plaguing me for ages, namely: are the most popular National Trust properties actually more likely to serve a lower quality scone? Are you more likely to find a great scone at a property that gets fewer visitors?</p><p>It's a shocking thought, I know. And it obviously doesn't stack up. Surely the bigger NT properties have more visitors, so they have better facilities and more staff, which means the scones should be better than the ones at smaller places?</p><p>But the evidence against the larger properties started unexpectedly accumulating back in 2014. I was only 10 months into this project when I went to Cliveden in Berkshire. It was (and is) a beautiful place, but I got into a Rumplestiltskin-esque rage about the miniscule scone that I was served (see original blog post about that first <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2014/06/cliveden.html">Cliveden scone experience</a>.) </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKCQZKZx4mHFvS0bfER_Pun2o2YZiNLLXqA1C-7wBVOsOCqR0Djp__mZktBSdXF7j5I7ROfX4LFug3gdOHsz2zg_9s4eWPkiCyOXSPgR-AIb5R38ByjSuqj2cV6IbWI9BV_0EhXTOlVNkbhqX5YMUfxyKXNNTJRyhFZy-IjWfWIjS7ECOfSCFGnlP05w/s1000/2014-cliveden-scone.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKCQZKZx4mHFvS0bfER_Pun2o2YZiNLLXqA1C-7wBVOsOCqR0Djp__mZktBSdXF7j5I7ROfX4LFug3gdOHsz2zg_9s4eWPkiCyOXSPgR-AIb5R38ByjSuqj2cV6IbWI9BV_0EhXTOlVNkbhqX5YMUfxyKXNNTJRyhFZy-IjWfWIjS7ECOfSCFGnlP05w/s320/2014-cliveden-scone.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The 2014 Cliveden scone. Get your microscopes out.</i></td></tr></tbody></table><p>My rage against the Cliveden scone took on a new intensity, however, when I later discovered the <a href="https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/who-we-are/annual-reports" target="_blank">National Trust annual report</a>. In these annual reports, the NT includes the visitor numbers of properties with more than 50,000 visitors. The order of the properties changes every year (and dramatically so during COVID) but as far as I know, Cliveden has always been in the top five. In the 2021/2022 annual report, for example, Cliveden was the NT's second most popular property with almost 554,000 visitors. </p><p>How? HOW? How could one of the biggest NT properties be serving up disappointing scones? It didn't make sense. </p><p>So with 10 years of data in front of me, I decided to delve in and see if this was a wider issue or a one-off.</p><p>I have three pieces of analysis to share with you. Let's start by looking at the top 5 NT properties that had the most visitors in 2021/2022 and what I scored them for their scone:</p><p>1. <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2015/07/attingham.html">Attingham</a>: 4 out of 5 (in 2015)<br />2. <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2014/06/cliveden.html">Cliveden</a>: 3 out of 5 (in 2014)<br />3. <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2015/08/dunham-massey.html">Dunham Massey</a>: 4.5 out of 5 (in 2015)<br />4. <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2017/06/clumber-park.html">Clumber Park</a>: 5 out of 5 (in 2017)<br />5. <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2016/05/calke-abbey.html">Calke Abbey</a>: 4.5 out of 5 (in 2016)</p><p><b>Conclusion:</b> The really popular properties could improve on their scones. Only one of the top 5 properties scored a 5. One (Cliveden) scored badly. But the other scores aren't dismal. And you have to take into consideration that all of the larger places were reviewed in the first four years of the quest.</p><p>Let's move on to analysis number two. Here I've worked out the average scone score for all of the properties that I visited that should have been able to provide a scone, divided into two groups:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Group 1 - properties with over 50,000 visitors that are listed in the report: average scone score 4.4</li><li>Group 2 - properties not listed in the report as they have fewer than 50,000 visitors: average scone score 3.7</li></ul><div><b>Conclusion: </b>The average scone score suggests that the most visited properties do actually provide better quality scones - the most visited properties had an average score of 4.4, compared with 3.7 in the properties with fewer visitors.</div><div><br /></div><div>And finally, what percentage of the properties served a 5-star scone? Are visitors more likely to find a top class scone at the more popular places?</div><p></p><ul><li>Percentage of properties with over 50,000 visitors that scored a 5 for their scones: 48%</li><li>Percentage of properties with fewer than 50,000 visitors that scored a 5 for their scones: 35%</li></ul><div><b>Conclusion: </b>Here we see compelling evidence that the more popular properties are more likely to serve a 5-star scone, with almost half of them doing so. In comparison, just over a third of less-visited properties were able to provide the top class scone that we all live for.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Overall verdict: the most popular National Trust properties tend to serve the best scones and Cliveden was just an outlier.</b></div><div><br /></div><div>BUT! We also have to consider the timing of my visits. All of the top 5 scones were reviewed by me in the first four years of the quest. Had things changed in the years since?</div><div><br /></div><div>On the 9th anniversary of my first visit to Cliveden, I decided to go back and find out if there had been any improvements.</div><p>Reader, the improvement was enormous. The Cliveden cafe is still one of the very nicest in the whole of the National Trust, with a really impressive array of cakes and a choice of scones. As ever, I stuck to the fruit scone and was delighted to see that it was about twice the size of the 2014 specimen. </p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3NCk26YOEYMd-Uye_iLI5JlUxGDL_HpMTWvsdWAzfoKwTtNCrBQkC62ulQ6e4iI0cxAHoPkgjSMPB3u4k-Mb-Nau76GI8a7utrN2CDFnKrDX2tOE5JY0xTh7GJCspG0A7FEuc1g1T3bw8Z7UoaPd86dw4PlsKunJKAPVwSlgOnGLg9jtjFN-8sjPblg/s1000/cliveden%20scone.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Cliveden scone" border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3NCk26YOEYMd-Uye_iLI5JlUxGDL_HpMTWvsdWAzfoKwTtNCrBQkC62ulQ6e4iI0cxAHoPkgjSMPB3u4k-Mb-Nau76GI8a7utrN2CDFnKrDX2tOE5JY0xTh7GJCspG0A7FEuc1g1T3bw8Z7UoaPd86dw4PlsKunJKAPVwSlgOnGLg9jtjFN-8sjPblg/w320-h240/cliveden%20scone.jpg" title="Cliveden scone" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The 2023 Cliveden scone - a beauty</i></td></tr></tbody></table><p>But to truly appreciate the difference, you need to see a side-by-side comparison, which I have provided below: </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI6Js2VJ2prwoBGGmvYYLI1f_qmFqwQrHZd7IZiJs6Sx1jn0LXG0fKO11bcG-6YLQw-DxOrBKXY8i8kjPTxvoZC4mHdwTR_3d4tSlN0YYdfPSh71otz8RlImvQ_yYI7rem3QKIEWMaUsEJI3Tfi4h6Lrob8WugrZ1wBksJHxFiz_09WcLXz4RxEYgycQ/s1370/scones-cliveden.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="510" data-original-width="1370" height="119" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI6Js2VJ2prwoBGGmvYYLI1f_qmFqwQrHZd7IZiJs6Sx1jn0LXG0fKO11bcG-6YLQw-DxOrBKXY8i8kjPTxvoZC4mHdwTR_3d4tSlN0YYdfPSh71otz8RlImvQ_yYI7rem3QKIEWMaUsEJI3Tfi4h6Lrob8WugrZ1wBksJHxFiz_09WcLXz4RxEYgycQ/s320/scones-cliveden.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>I think you will agree that progress had been made.<div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcyV8TZccOAWXzmZotqii9zHAAfkGJEMNkmwyaWdqdN58Gli3M2HPAGcDgYmiDlTbiCQIz5e-hlreMXqXRAcCAtLomnh26J2GaBhLOgdLoVqP7l4mE3McrCcWf40kquWA0em0-hp7CiHCV_ZXlEWR0VkOXPWUfgB9q-KahaFgQVRF1B4DxqXudrRaMTA/s1000/cliveden-tea-room.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcyV8TZccOAWXzmZotqii9zHAAfkGJEMNkmwyaWdqdN58Gli3M2HPAGcDgYmiDlTbiCQIz5e-hlreMXqXRAcCAtLomnh26J2GaBhLOgdLoVqP7l4mE3McrCcWf40kquWA0em0-hp7CiHCV_ZXlEWR0VkOXPWUfgB9q-KahaFgQVRF1B4DxqXudrRaMTA/s320/cliveden-tea-room.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Trusty research assistant providing adjudication on top scone quality</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><div>Cliveden itself is a stunning property. You can read about <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2014/06/cliveden.html">Cliveden's scandalous history</a> in my first post so I won't repeat it here. The house is a hotel today so you can't wander in waving your NT membership card but the extensive grounds are enough of a reason to visit. </div><div><br /></div><div>I won't be starting a series of 'Where Are They Now And Have They Improved The Scones?' as I only ever had a handful of disappointments over the 10 years of my project, so it wouldn't make a very good series. But I'm glad I did the analysis - it means I can stop my annual rant against the Cliveden scone.</div><div><br /></div></div>National Trust Sconeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01097903022761280477noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6954034038612600052.post-32467140405803436482023-05-11T08:11:00.017-07:002023-05-14T11:43:06.668-07:00Birmingham Back to Backs<p>For the past 10 years, I've had two lists of National Trust properties. The first of those lists is called "National Trust Places That Serve Scones". </p><p>The second list is called "National Trust Places That Sound Brilliant But Don't Serve Scones And I Have To Visit The Scone Ones First." </p><p><a href="https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/birmingham-west-midlands/birmingham-back-to-backs" target="_blank">Birmingham Back to Backs</a>, a set of working class houses in the centre of Birmingham, was always very high up on List #2. So when I recently completed all 244 properties on List #1 (read about my final trip to the <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2023/03/giants-causeway.html">Giant's Causeway here</a>), I booked my tour slot and set off for the West Midlands.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4pyswPJB_KE_hf2Y2BaSmumVl487gt3KGGhFXNPKfoWaUkHYcPcwH3guUPWoBIsYPIdcE-WBiZZkZtuPdtYHZYsCP40s_ZxJPSlZwWKAUoBfCQjoiACrhmk3BJu6SkYtZ4RGp6v_vzwl2hIVI6e6IlhpNJdvIa3liZRGRk3LAZDpCAo6hqHFhxVXtrg/s1000/birmingham-back-to-backs.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Back to Backs Birmingham" border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4pyswPJB_KE_hf2Y2BaSmumVl487gt3KGGhFXNPKfoWaUkHYcPcwH3guUPWoBIsYPIdcE-WBiZZkZtuPdtYHZYsCP40s_ZxJPSlZwWKAUoBfCQjoiACrhmk3BJu6SkYtZ4RGp6v_vzwl2hIVI6e6IlhpNJdvIa3liZRGRk3LAZDpCAo6hqHFhxVXtrg/w320-h240/birmingham-back-to-backs.jpg" title="Back to Backs Birmingham" width="320" /></a></div><p>But before I tell you about the very fascinating Birmingham Back to Backs, I have to correct a previous oversight of mine. </p><p>One of the publications that recently covered the completion of this National Trust Scone Quest was the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/21/world/europe/uk-scones-national-trust-sarah-merker.html" target="_blank">New York Times</a>. The writer quoted a few lines from this blog, in which I had talked about different <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2016/10/melford-hall.html">types of National Trust visitor</a>. I had mentioned the "Expert Visitor", the one who thinks they know more than the guide and keeps correcting them on details, usually getting on everyone's nerves.</p><p>But I had failed to include the very best type of National Trust visitor: the "Lived-It Visitor". These are the people who have first hand experience of what you're looking at, which means they ask brilliant questions or make really insightful comments. They're very rare - you don't often find yourself in a tour group with the current Earl of Lichfield - but when you do bump into one, your entire experience is so greatly improved by their insights that you feel like you should be paying them for sharing their knowledge. My best example is when I went to <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2014/02/cherryburn.html">Souter Lighthouse</a> and met a woman whose husband had grown up in the lighthouse keeper's cottage. </p><p>Anyway: today I was lucky enough to encounter some Lived-It visitors. They hadn't grown up in these specific back to back houses, but they remembered some of what we were seeing, which made it all the more interesting. </p><p>(I have to add, though, that our tour guide had clearly met a few Expert Visitors in her time. She was by far the most knowledgeable and accomplished tour guide I've met at the NT, yet the fear was never far from her eyes that someone was going to question the width of the candles or something similar. It must be quite trying.)</p><p>But let me tell you a bit about the Back to Backs:</p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnkWcj8GuuJL4F7LqAECF7GryJMyRxmb0NaYNxilSkPYr-CjyMDq4mQEDQaMvfe7Ru2WndW94rOfY6c8M0bI_uTBF4Bce7RCxtKHuWTAFK0yaAcxw8AdNG_WuiObEvHh3GggZsVQYtwWNOw-x0ec_Za-tVJCE8iZ-LSlGw--F_jQPn2qjjNq7xkN-CQw/s1000/back-to-backs-birmingham.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Back to Back Courtyard" border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnkWcj8GuuJL4F7LqAECF7GryJMyRxmb0NaYNxilSkPYr-CjyMDq4mQEDQaMvfe7Ru2WndW94rOfY6c8M0bI_uTBF4Bce7RCxtKHuWTAFK0yaAcxw8AdNG_WuiObEvHh3GggZsVQYtwWNOw-x0ec_Za-tVJCE8iZ-LSlGw--F_jQPn2qjjNq7xkN-CQw/w320-h240/back-to-backs-birmingham.jpg" title="Back to Back Courtyard" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><b>What are back to backs?</b></h3><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Back to back courts were a type of urban housing built mainly in the Midlands and the North during the 19th century</li><li>A back to back court features a group of houses built around a central courtyard that contains the shared toilet and laundry facilities</li><li>Back to backs were different to terraced houses. Terraced housing was often made up of homes containing two rooms upstairs and two downstairs. In contrast, a back to back house was usually only one room deep. If you imagine a terraced house split down the middle by a wall, you'd get a back to back - one house looked out onto the street, while the house behind it looked into the courtyard.</li><li>Tenements were different again - they were more like houses split into multiple horizontal dwellings, flat-style, with a shared stairs.</li></ul><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;"><b>How old are the Birmingham Back to Backs?</b></h3><div style="text-align: left;">Known as Court 15, this set of back to backs had been built by 1831. There were three houses on Inge Street, five on Hurst Street, and three back houses. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The last residents moved out in the 1960s but the court managed to survive because many of the houses fronting onto Hurst Street had become shops and some stayed in business until the 21st century. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;"><b>Who lived in the Birmingham Back to Backs?</b></h3><div style="text-align: left;">Back to backs provided cheap-to-build housing in a city that was rapidly growing. The population of Birmingham was 70,000 in 1801. By 1851 it was over 200,000 and by the end of the century it was 500,000 as industrialisation attracted people from the countryside as well as immigrants. Some back to backs were populated by a certain type of immigrants, becoming a mini Warsaw or a little Roscommon (after the Irish county). </div><div><br /></div><div>Today, visitors to the Birmingham Back to Backs see the rooms presented as they would have existed for four real-life families in different eras:</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>1840s: The Levy family was living in Court 15 in 1851, having moved from London. The family was Jewish, and there was a synogogue and a Hebrew School nearby. Lawrence Levy was a watchmaker.</li></ul><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih8bHkHjnn5g0WqepVEsPIirAXMDHWvorMIM8vTkXeziO8B7jZ8yJFzjc4WsNqtW7Hn494h9yxyfsmke3P7gD3IpjTodiC4CvGnlcw_TQ9y6aeNRUQIj4979IqoeDt7eJIv88o5d5dg5A63ithuLMSfCKz5E4l1EgCg0nKcQJVohhPNOyaEnr1gqKwGA/s1000/back%20to%20backs%20kitchen.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Back to Back Kitchen" border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih8bHkHjnn5g0WqepVEsPIirAXMDHWvorMIM8vTkXeziO8B7jZ8yJFzjc4WsNqtW7Hn494h9yxyfsmke3P7gD3IpjTodiC4CvGnlcw_TQ9y6aeNRUQIj4979IqoeDt7eJIv88o5d5dg5A63ithuLMSfCKz5E4l1EgCg0nKcQJVohhPNOyaEnr1gqKwGA/w320-h240/back%20to%20backs%20kitchen.jpg" title="Back to Back Kitchen" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Levys' kitchen</td></tr></tbody></table><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>1870s: The Oldfield family moved in during the 1860s and comprised of Herbert and Ann with their 10 children. Herbert was a glassworker, making glass eyes as well as eyes for dolls and stuffed toys.</li><li>1930s: The Mitchell family lived in Court 15 for 95 years, which is unusual as most families moved around a lot. The Mitchells were locksmiths. </li><li>1970s: George Saunders ran his tailoring business from the houses fronting onto Hurst Street. George had come to Birmingham from St Kitts in the Caribbean. He moved out in 2002 and was instrumental in helping to protect the buildings. </li></ul><div>The guide book points out that many other stories exist from other residents, including the intriguing Bunny Bunroe, the fortune-teller. </div></div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;"><b>Why did these Back to Backs survive?</b></h3><p></p><p>Even by the 1870s, there was pressure to get rid of the back to backs. They were seen as unsanitary. But removing them was not an easy task - in 1875, almost half the population of Birmingham was living in a back to back. New houses were built, however, and back to backs were emptied and demolished. Court 15 was condemned for domestic habitation in 1966 but it was never knocked down, probably due to the shops that existed on Hurst Street. The Birmingham Conservation Trust took on the properties in the 1990s, with the National Trust taking over once renovations were complete. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBs72hcOouzYWpE1kCOgrVClN00_0F0KM8R5m3W1CxQN6PcjXPGbf2mDp4EBplnXd1ox5zP5xyM94GyYSIimCOKWTbuWialBM3DcN-_AMjocw0iLqa2NYx_F-Cn3NSLF3aT1cs36NYppeqK5NvUPqeaCV0r-16wHllSxq5XL6jh124ft0wVqVuf6iExQ/s1000/birmingham%20back%20to%20backs%20toilets.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Back to Back Toilets" border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBs72hcOouzYWpE1kCOgrVClN00_0F0KM8R5m3W1CxQN6PcjXPGbf2mDp4EBplnXd1ox5zP5xyM94GyYSIimCOKWTbuWialBM3DcN-_AMjocw0iLqa2NYx_F-Cn3NSLF3aT1cs36NYppeqK5NvUPqeaCV0r-16wHllSxq5XL6jh124ft0wVqVuf6iExQ/w320-h240/birmingham%20back%20to%20backs%20toilets.jpg" title="Back to Back Toilets" width="320" /></a></div><p>You need to see the Back to Backs for yourself to appreciate how miraculous it is that they've survived. I grew up in a small town with streets of Victorian terraced houses and today I was fully expecting to find myself walking down row upon row of red brick buildings. But it's not like that at all - you're in a world of casinos and modern developments and then suddenly this little pocket of working class housing appears in front of you.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV8q1u6Hma7TBWqjHBr-LEcNwxmkAVX5Ht-JeC-NzIDRMqfVEoqIr2a3_cIMVF7jTXc7MnDFK0Cgq0UiKlBTp5P3VOxV1fGeTcOtZMOUXLGS5mkwrpTxfralSiTwMMqUS_-XhIXMIX-Kd-QBQINpWr9RL_3cooeNNeuC3P6MGSb-g2ONb1_UV130V94w/s1000/backtobacks-birmingham.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Birmingham Back to Backs" border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV8q1u6Hma7TBWqjHBr-LEcNwxmkAVX5Ht-JeC-NzIDRMqfVEoqIr2a3_cIMVF7jTXc7MnDFK0Cgq0UiKlBTp5P3VOxV1fGeTcOtZMOUXLGS5mkwrpTxfralSiTwMMqUS_-XhIXMIX-Kd-QBQINpWr9RL_3cooeNNeuC3P6MGSb-g2ONb1_UV130V94w/w320-h240/backtobacks-birmingham.jpg" title="Birmingham Back to Backs" width="320" /></a></div><p>The Birmingham Back to Backs are without doubt one of the very best National Trust properties that I've been to. The property is really well set out and organised so you get a real sense for how the back to backs evolved over the 130 years when people lived in them. My tour guide was excellent - she talked for over an hour an a half, but the time flew by. I highly recommend a visit.</p><p><b>Birmingham Back to Backs: 5 out of 5<br />Scone: There's no cafe at Birmingham Back to Backs. I did take a Ginger & Treacle scone with me that I'd made myself using the recipe from the National Trust Book of Scones. It's always a winner, as it's a fiery little bake. <br /></b></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1qs8DRNf4k3RlDWfpOT7F0GY_cEBSYKQEI3vihbyNSGuqEzx1F8tYzCqkQNBfvNn4PRENR2tC3_xmIYrYc_w9K0kSMMjABYuu9mhV05GZ1xxVq3-OTpSy_shpWkDx28OjgP55ZZbZAe5YJ5xmvP3VL6x3WVHB1vJ0In-4XRu947LKYkQk_wnXJ6LizA/s1000/ginger%20and%20treacle%20scone.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Ginger and Treacle Scone" border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1qs8DRNf4k3RlDWfpOT7F0GY_cEBSYKQEI3vihbyNSGuqEzx1F8tYzCqkQNBfvNn4PRENR2tC3_xmIYrYc_w9K0kSMMjABYuu9mhV05GZ1xxVq3-OTpSy_shpWkDx28OjgP55ZZbZAe5YJ5xmvP3VL6x3WVHB1vJ0In-4XRu947LKYkQk_wnXJ6LizA/w320-h240/ginger%20and%20treacle%20scone.jpg" title="Ginger and Treacle Scone" width="320" /></a></div><p></p>National Trust Sconeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01097903022761280477noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6954034038612600052.post-71685667698691016242023-04-17T05:56:00.012-07:002023-04-22T01:59:55.762-07:00Which UK Counties Serve the Best Scones?<p>Now that I've completed my National Trust Scone Odyssey (you can read about <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2023/03/giants-causeway.html">my final victory visit to the Giant's Causeway here</a>) I thought it would be good to crunch some numbers and share some data with you.</p><p>The question I wanted to answer for this post: which regions of England, Wales and Northern Ireland have served the best National Trust scones over the 10 years of the project? I'd covered 46 different counties over the past decade, so which ones had been most consistent in National Trust scone quality? (Scotland has its own NT that I haven't covered yet.)</p><p>The quick answer to that question is simple: every single National Trust scone I had in the 8 counties listed below scored an impressive 5 stars.</p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>North Yorkshire (6 properties visited)</li><li>Staffordshire (3 properties visited)</li><li>Herefordshire (2 properties visited)</li><li>Isle of Wight (2 properties visited)</li><li>Nottinghamshire (2 properties visited)</li><li>Bedfordshire (1 property visited)</li><li>South Yorkshire (1 property visited)</li><li>Merseyside (1 property visited)</li></ul><div><br /></div><div>BUT. There was a big variation in the number of properties per county in the dataset. For example, I only included one property in each of Merseyside, South Yorkshire, and Bedfordshire - <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2015/05/speke-hall.html">Speke Hall</a>, <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2020/03/wentworth-castle-gardens.html">Wentworth Castle Gardens</a>, and <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2020/01/dunstable-downs.html">Dunstable Downs</a> respectively - so although those properties each served a fantastic scone on that one visit, I can't vouch for their consistency*. </div><div><br /></div><div>If we want to measure consistency, we probably need to focus on counties where I had 3 or more scones. If we go down that path, then we come to the real heroes of the project:</div><div><br /></div><h4 style="text-align: left;">Counties where 3 or more NT scones were eaten and all scored 5 stars:</h4><p></p><ul><li>North Yorkshire (6 properties, all 5 stars)</li><li>Staffordshire (3 properties, all 5 stars)</li></ul><div><br /></div><h4 style="text-align: left;">Counties where 3 or more NT scones were eaten and average score was 4.5-4.9:</h4><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Cambridgeshire (5 properties, average 4.9)</li><li>Derbyshire (7 properties, average 4.7)</li><li>West Sussex (5 properties, average 4.7)</li><li>Somerset<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span><span style="white-space: pre;">(</span>11 properties, average 4.6)</li><li>Buckinghamshire (5 properties, average 4.6)</li><li>Northern Ireland (12 properties, average 4.5)</li><li>Worcestershire (5 properties, average 4.5)</li><li>Warwickshire (5 properties, average 4.5)</li><li>Hampshire (5 properties, average 4.5)</li></ul></div><div></div><p></p><div>You may be wondering why neither Devon nor Cornwall are listed above. They're both world famous for their cream tea skills, and I've posted several times about the brilliant scones I've had there. This is where timing, luck and other vagaries come into play. Out of the 15 NT scones that I had in Cornwall, an amazing 9 of them scored 5 out of 5. But I hit a tricky patch in 2022 when the cafes at both <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2022/05/penrose.html">Penrose</a> and <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2022/05/pentire.html">Pentire</a> were closed on the days I visited, due to staff shortages and other issues. Both those zeros pulled Cornwall's average down. The timing of my visit also had an impact in Devon - at the very excellent <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2016/04/finch-foundry.html">Finch Foundry</a>, for example, the scone facilities were limited and the score was lower. It subsequently closed its food and beverage service completely - if I'd visited more recently, then it wouldn't have been included.</div><div><br /></div><div>To conclude then: there are many vagaries at play here, so any county not listed above shouldn't really be judged on that fact. </div><div><br /></div><div>However, a massive well done to the F&B teams in the areas that *are* mentioned above - there's no doubting your scone quality and consistency. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>*For this exercise, I only included NT properties that served refreshments of some sort. For example, the Beatles' Childhood Homes are also on Merseyside but they don't have any tea/food facilities at all and therefore scones were never possible. If I'd included them as a zero here, along with properties that could have had scones but didn't, then every single NT property would have to be added for balance. This only applies to the small number of properties I visited where it was 100% clear that scones would not be available - the others were Hill Top, Tintagel Old Post Office, Max Gate, Lindisfarne Castle, and Bath Skyline.</i></div>National Trust Sconeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01097903022761280477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6954034038612600052.post-32609436655145044422023-04-15T10:23:00.010-07:002023-05-24T23:29:38.048-07:00Monks House<div>If you're a regular National Trust go-er, you'll know that there are loads of different types of NT visitor. There's the Expert Visitor, who likes to correct the tour guides. There's also the lesser-spotted but brilliant Lived-It Visitor, who has some kind of first-hand experience of the place. </div><div><br /></div><div>But the category of visitor I'd like to talk about today is the Pilgrim Visitor. The Pilgrim is not a casual visitor - they have often travelled a long way to visit a specific NT property for a specific reason. This presents a bit of a challenge to the staff and I'm not sure they always get it quite right - but more on that later.</div><div><br /></div><div>The properties that tend to attract Pilgrim Visitors are usually connected to a famous person, for example at <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2016/02/greenway.html">Greenway</a> (Agatha Christie) or <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2018/06/the-firs-edward-elgar-birthplace.html">The Firs</a> (Edward Elgar) or the <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2022/03/beatles-childhood-homes.html">Beatles' Childhood Homes</a> (The Beatles) - I've added a longer list below.</div><div><br /></div><div>But whichever property they're visiting, you can always spot the Pilgrims by one common identifier: they have a look of ecstatic awed happiness on their faces. It's like they've finally found their ancestral home or caught a glimpse of their hero. They almost start glowing. </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/sussex/monks-house" target="_blank">Monk's House</a> in East Sussex probably had the most Pilgrims per square foot that I've ever encountered. There are two reasons for this: firstly, Monk's House is very small so it doesn't have many square feet. But the most important reason is that it was once owned by Virginia Woolf and her husband, Leonard.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_XBrMlC5Gex-yDNirZbS-WjCKT_8crLV0s53dayY5k3zDrLAJBtwW8XnUw4mAC2JCBCOBmkga6gAmp1gBVNRtMDbBBYWBkt2dpuD2jVi0vPO84I3pnTOC9AVsM2t9PlGEmCmhF90_85cgZO37Vi2DTYO5GLuVQsxduoNmNlm6uXjbQHPD1uKONzZcNQ/s1000/virginia-woolf-bust.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Virginia Woolf bust Monk's House" border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_XBrMlC5Gex-yDNirZbS-WjCKT_8crLV0s53dayY5k3zDrLAJBtwW8XnUw4mAC2JCBCOBmkga6gAmp1gBVNRtMDbBBYWBkt2dpuD2jVi0vPO84I3pnTOC9AVsM2t9PlGEmCmhF90_85cgZO37Vi2DTYO5GLuVQsxduoNmNlm6uXjbQHPD1uKONzZcNQ/w320-h240/virginia-woolf-bust.jpg" title="Virginia Woolf bust Monk's House" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>To give you some idea: I hadn't even made it out of the car park when a group of women in their 20s passed me. They were animatedly debating Virginia Woolf's books, the order in which she had published them, and whether any had been written at Monk's House. </div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBCRVYNVi8MPadtlK5AoItfrr3UQXVKnyEY03QVAXrbb-llm7eLbrdhYbCF88HUp97fBN-JaYEJ-Hj75XY_j_PpaCHJuGKNrIsSNWwXCD9ogaFezJA51zZUfh9OTwueNcgwkAQzI1Ac1h0CVEchpfQRC6rtdDdcPJs-Ieov8FF33_ya3wgQ5Cr-MEr2Q/s1000/monks-house-cat.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Monk's House" border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBCRVYNVi8MPadtlK5AoItfrr3UQXVKnyEY03QVAXrbb-llm7eLbrdhYbCF88HUp97fBN-JaYEJ-Hj75XY_j_PpaCHJuGKNrIsSNWwXCD9ogaFezJA51zZUfh9OTwueNcgwkAQzI1Ac1h0CVEchpfQRC6rtdDdcPJs-Ieov8FF33_ya3wgQ5Cr-MEr2Q/w320-h240/monks-house-cat.jpg" title="Monk's House" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Rear view of house, with cat probably called Orlando</i></td></tr></tbody></table><div>And this is where the problem lies. I hate to say it but the visitor experience at Monk's House may need a rethink.</div><div><br /></div><div>It started well: I booked a ticket online in advance and managed to get there on time. I was expecting some kind of actual tour where a guide collects a group of people and gives them an introductory talk and then either sets them off on their own or actually leads them through the property (like the very excellent <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2023/05/birmingham-back-to-backs.html">Birmingham Back to Backs</a> or <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2022/03/beatles-childhood-homes.html">Beatles' Childhood Homes</a>). </div><div><br /></div><div>It turned out that there wasn't a tour at all - and that's fair enough, as they hadn't actually specified there would be one. Instead, I checked in at the reception area, which is very tiny, and was then directed down the street and through a gate. I got to the back door of the property and wasn't really sure what I was supposed to do, so I kept walking and got told off for jumping the queue (and I'm definitely not a queue-jumper so that was a bit awkward).</div><div><br /></div><div>But the real problems start once you go inside. The property is small, so if more than 5 or 6 people are already looking around a room then you don't really feel able to enter or hang around. But if you're a Pilgrim-type visitor, coming from miles away for an important moment in your favourite writer's house, then you'll want to linger for a while and take it all in. You'll likely have loads of questions. And that's great, because the room guides are really knowledgeable. But when another visitor follows you into that room and catches 5 minutes of your questions, they come out with a really detailed understanding of where the bookcase was found or who made the rug but they'll probably have missed lots of other general information or detail about other things. </div><div><br /></div><div>One guide during my visit literally said this - she was giving a detailed and very informed answer to a super-specific question and then looked around and said "I've lost track of who's just come in or what you've heard" and it summed up the whole experience for me. It felt like potluck as to whether you learned anything useful, which made it seem disorganised.</div><div><br /></div><div>When I got home, I read the really good guidebook and immediately wanted to go back. There was so much I'd missed. And that's not completely unusual - on a few previous occasions I've found interesting things in the guidebook that I hadn't appreciated during the visit - but at Monk's House I felt like I'd missed most of it.</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTFjJu-JhNqp6atTelGGY7oKyMRYOU9wpSdctLIV76kL216jZjKYBmvax9gkwsbwD_XRxGYXdUfPira4cF2v0VVxTsGH184YwqfvWBveA4lJOQgx3bAH39RKTgRk2lQz8wN7GRy3cQZ8lejQinoZWrXBRakMDZU3GP87xLmR_IEaaaJf54FR13aSZUAw/s1000/monks-house-chairs.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Monk's House Sitting Room" border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTFjJu-JhNqp6atTelGGY7oKyMRYOU9wpSdctLIV76kL216jZjKYBmvax9gkwsbwD_XRxGYXdUfPira4cF2v0VVxTsGH184YwqfvWBveA4lJOQgx3bAH39RKTgRk2lQz8wN7GRy3cQZ8lejQinoZWrXBRakMDZU3GP87xLmR_IEaaaJf54FR13aSZUAw/w320-h240/monks-house-chairs.jpg" title="Monk's House Sitting Room" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The Sitting Room</i></td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><div>So let me give you a quick summary of the life and times of Monk's House:</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Virginia and Leonard Woolf bought Monk's House as a country retreat in 1919.</li><li>They loved the South Downs - Virginia had previously leased another house in the area with her sister, Vanessa, and when that lease ended she bought Monk's House.</li><li>The house, which had no electricity or running water when they acquired it, is located in the village of Rodmell near Lewes.</li><li>It had been originally built in the late 1600s as a three room cottage for servants. It was then sold on to various families including the Clears, the Glazebrooks, and the Verralls.</li><li>The Woolfs built a two-storey extension in 1930, with one of those rooms becoming Virginia bedroom, which you can visit today.</li><li>The house was decorated by Virginia and filled with artworks by Duncan Grant and other members of the Bloomsbury Group.</li><li>Virginia had originally used an old toolshed in the garden as a place for her writing. In 1934 the couple replaced this with a purpose built writing lodge, which you can see today.</li></ul><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi72LuCfmJ5mYfN_LcuvWbJuW2OXaJma4GzBWHmwDv4wHedEbXvqGvEymc_xYJYfui9gNtYYA7S5KV9uOZUIJUlMcdmry6XDJruKIL8YM4n4_hN935YsLSl1ktcsO3GcWBz8YAPo3x_tCB2L02F0DpcXaYYh1xwaXau0sHx-nDNgz3VX_PA6zPnkofGBw/s1000/virginia-woolf-office.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Virginia Woolf's writing lodge" border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi72LuCfmJ5mYfN_LcuvWbJuW2OXaJma4GzBWHmwDv4wHedEbXvqGvEymc_xYJYfui9gNtYYA7S5KV9uOZUIJUlMcdmry6XDJruKIL8YM4n4_hN935YsLSl1ktcsO3GcWBz8YAPo3x_tCB2L02F0DpcXaYYh1xwaXau0sHx-nDNgz3VX_PA6zPnkofGBw/w320-h240/virginia-woolf-office.jpg" title="Virginia Woolf's writing lodge" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Virginia Woolf's writing lodge</i></td></tr></tbody></table><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Virginia wrote Mrs Dalloway (1925), To the Lighthouse (1927), Orlando (1928), and The Waves (1931) at Monk's House.</li><li>The couple loved gardening, especially Leonard, and the gardens are still lovely.</li><li>Their London flat was bombed in 1940 and they moved to Rodmell permanently. </li><li>Virginia, who suffered severe bouts of depression, drowned herself in the River Ouse near Monk's House in 1941. </li><li>Leonard Woolf continued to live in Monk's House until his death in 1969. he left the house to his partner, Trekkie Parsons, who offered it to the University of Sussex. The house began to deteriorate and Nigel Nicolson, son of Vita Sackville-West, encouraged the National Trust to take it on and look after it.</li></ul></div><div>I'd been wanting to see Monk's House since I started this project 10 years ago. It's only a few miles from <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2023/04/alfriston-clergy-house.html">Alfriston Clergy House</a>, which was the first building that the NT ever acquired. However, neither place owns a cafe and until recently I've had to prioritise NT properties with scone opportunities. Now that I've completed all of the scone destinations, I get to visit all the other really fascinating NT places.</div><div><br /></div><div>In summary, then: if you're a fan of Virginia Woolf, you have to visit Monk's House. It's very easy to imagine her living and working there, making it perfect for any Pilgrim visitor. The visitor experience could admittedly be better, to make it more informative and complete, but the guides are very well informed and there's lots to enjoy in the gardens and local area. </div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjnEgkDiYrXiTmR_xn_OXKVfuRQs73d9M2VVOh9UksyWm1bO99WQ8mBOFdOyZ061teNZHtTX31ufD9w0EJyVOWp3dKjYZpXc0XwrboOaiMpYggyVyopKyLYAAPP9vEHW-ja5nmj77Dts2qF_HSszbOoyQROdqDsFKcsvltu_z-z_bOVGyyGF8mf1dNOQ/s1000/monks-house-walks.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Rodmell Monk's House" border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjnEgkDiYrXiTmR_xn_OXKVfuRQs73d9M2VVOh9UksyWm1bO99WQ8mBOFdOyZ061teNZHtTX31ufD9w0EJyVOWp3dKjYZpXc0XwrboOaiMpYggyVyopKyLYAAPP9vEHW-ja5nmj77Dts2qF_HSszbOoyQROdqDsFKcsvltu_z-z_bOVGyyGF8mf1dNOQ/w320-h240/monks-house-walks.jpg" title="Rodmell Monk's House" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>A walk near to Monk's House</i></td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><div><b>Monk's House: 4 out of 5</b></div><div><b>Scone: there's no cafe so no scone and no scone scoring</b></div><div><br /></div><div>Other National Trust properties where you're very likely to find Pilgrim Visitors:</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2014/03/avebury.html">Avebury</a> - popular with fans of Neolithic standing stones</li><li><a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2014/07/bateman.html">Bateman's</a> - Rudyard Kipling lived here</li><li><a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2022/03/beatles-childhood-homes.html">Beatles' Childhood Homes</a> - for obvious reasons</li><li><a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2019/09/carlyles-house.html">Carlyle's House</a> - one for fans of Thomas Carlyle </li><li><a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2014/04/chartwell.html">Chartwell</a> - home of Winston Churchill </li><li><a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2015/05/clouds-hill.html">Clouds Hill</a> - used as a place for writing by Lawrence of Arabia </li><li><a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2018/08/coleridge-cottage.html">Coleridge Cottage</a> - Samuel Taylor Coleridge wrote his masterpieces here</li><li><a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2013/11/flatford-bridge-cottage.html">Flatford</a> - childhood home of John Constable </li><li><a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2016/09/george-stephenson-birthplace.html">George Stephenson Birthplace</a> - one for fans of Industrial Revolution geniuses</li><li><a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2016/02/greenway.html">Greenway</a> - the summer home of Agatha Christie</li><li><a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2014/02/hadrian-wall-housesteads-fort.html">Hadrian's Wall</a> - very famous Roman construction</li><li><a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2015/05/hardys-cottage.html">Hardy's Cottage</a> - where Thomas Hardy lived and wrote Far From The Madding Crowd</li><li><a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2016/03/hill-top.html">Hill Top</a> - Lake District home to Beatrix Potter</li><li><a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2013/09/hughenden.html">Hughenden</a> - home to Benjamin Disraeli</li><li><a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2022/10/leith-hill-place-scones.html">Leith Hill Place</a> - was once home to Ralph Vaughan Williams</li><li><a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2015/05/max-gate.html">Max Gate</a> - another Thomas Hardy residence</li><li><a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2014/09/runnymede.html">Runnymede</a> - where Magna Carta was signed</li><li><a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2015/07/sissinghurst-castle-garden.html">Sissinghurst</a> - home and garden of Vita Sackville-West</li><li><a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2016/03/smallhythe-place.html">Smallhythe Place</a> - Victorian actress Ellen Terry lived here</li><li><a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2014/08/sutton-hoo.html">Sutton Hoo</a> - one for fans of Anglo-Saxon burial mounds and treasure</li><li><a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2018/06/the-firs-edward-elgar-birthplace.html">The Firs </a>- childhood home of Edward Elgar</li><li><a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2016/09/washington-old-hall.html">Washington Old Hall </a>- ancestral home of George Washington</li><li><a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2016/03/wordsworth-house-and-garden.html">Wordsworth House</a> - childhood home of William Wordsworth </li></ul></div>National Trust Sconeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01097903022761280477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6954034038612600052.post-82415922211294860832023-04-15T03:00:00.008-07:002023-05-19T05:43:07.679-07:00Alfriston Clergy House<p>Get ready, everyone - it's time for another National Trust Factoid. If you're a regular reader of this blog, you'll know that on several occasions during the National Trust Scone Odyssey I've had to stop the presses and put the scones down while I digest a mind-blowing factoid about the property I'm visiting. </p><p>Some of the National Trust Factoids I've shared are shocking - take, for example, the factoid that <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2014/03/dunwich-heath.html">Dunwich Heath will have fallen into the sea by 2070</a>. Some are very unexpected yet fascinating: Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin fame opened one of the rooms at <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2022/08/knightshayes-scones.html">Knightshayes</a>, as he is a big fan of the architect. And some are just bonkers: one former owner of <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2015/07/attingham.html">Attingham had a working model of Vesuvius</a>.</p><p>Today's factoid comes from the guidebook at <a href="https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/sussex/alfriston-clergy-house" target="_blank">Alfriston Clergy House</a> in East Sussex. It turns out that the village of Alfriston inspired the hymn Morning Has Broken, which was written in 1931 by Eleanor Farjeon and was probably sung in primary school by every single person in the UK who is currently over the age of 40. Luckily for me, my primary school teacher preferred to play the <a href="https://youtu.be/DmAOBosGlHY">Cat Stevens/Yusuf Islam version of Morning Has Broken</a>, rather than let a bunch of 9-year-olds howl along to it, so it was Cat/Yusuf's very calming version that played constantly in my head as I wandered around the village.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibVIVcRu5EJwHuOMnybsXdvSU_6FUepqkhuP0LVRolaw8R8EyXa7qTQMaZ7UuB8ugm3Qc0HKDGtYazC5kyVu2XgXYk0Bnzy71hRon9beGWveWFSjrrkdTxmISfX20j-OEl_5nSW2GOiKTFkkfLGFNmiknidT4Lvba-0SnKKPM5u0CYBCimoFH-MIpjOw/s1000/alfriston-clergy-house.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Alfriston Clergy House" border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibVIVcRu5EJwHuOMnybsXdvSU_6FUepqkhuP0LVRolaw8R8EyXa7qTQMaZ7UuB8ugm3Qc0HKDGtYazC5kyVu2XgXYk0Bnzy71hRon9beGWveWFSjrrkdTxmISfX20j-OEl_5nSW2GOiKTFkkfLGFNmiknidT4Lvba-0SnKKPM5u0CYBCimoFH-MIpjOw/w320-h240/alfriston-clergy-house.jpg" title="Alfriston Clergy House" width="320" /></a></div><p>Anyway. I was delighted to finally see Alfriston Clergy House today. I've been wanting to visit for 10 years because - and here's another factoid for you - it was the very first building that the National Trust took on in 1896 and I knew it would be fascinating. But I was also aware that it didn't have a cafe on site, so until now my ruthless pursuit of scones meant I had to focus on other places first. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6rsZB8zdCV5NT9negjL-9l6CN7sx1YMB_6qWsoWzFFxOpCGfBcEhgIHIWJ_yT4q0cB9ndoKBPAv1tunZ_--BgXH2Q-Dqw5v9ql-bXUo3YB6gXGFL0JPt24WmtTZ-OpK6MdmmGJiNj11Q-vPX8NdSXKVf8YgAlBfW11B5DAY3Kbh0Vmxke33mDW9_3JQ/s1000/alfriston-first-national-trust-property.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Alfriston First National Trust Property Sign" border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6rsZB8zdCV5NT9negjL-9l6CN7sx1YMB_6qWsoWzFFxOpCGfBcEhgIHIWJ_yT4q0cB9ndoKBPAv1tunZ_--BgXH2Q-Dqw5v9ql-bXUo3YB6gXGFL0JPt24WmtTZ-OpK6MdmmGJiNj11Q-vPX8NdSXKVf8YgAlBfW11B5DAY3Kbh0Vmxke33mDW9_3JQ/w320-h240/alfriston-first-national-trust-property.jpg" title="Alfriston First National Trust Property Sign" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>After waiting 10 years to visit, I coincidentally turned up on 15th April -<br />the day before Alfriston's 127th anniversary as the first NT building.</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>But having <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2023/03/best-national-trust-scones-2013-2023.html">now completed my scone odyssey</a>, I'm free to go crazy and visit all the National Trust properties that don't serve refreshments. I did find today's outing a bit weird - I looked around the building, chatted to the guides, bought a guide book and a mug, and then casually decided I might as well have a cup of tea in the non-NT cafe across the green. There was no Scone Stress ("Do they sell scones?? Are there any scones left?? Are they good scones?? Why am I putting myself through this torment??") although I will admit I missed the stress a bit. </p><p>But let me crack on and tell you about Alfriston Clergy House:</p><p><b>The Clergy House is built between 1370-1450</b></p><p>Nobody knows who built Alfriston Clergy House or when it was built, but it was a timber-framed medieval building that was typical of the area, with a Hall, family rooms, and servants' quarters. It was extended in Tudor times, possibly to accommodate a married vicar and his family.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZYWbiJun8kurYMHH9b4i9k3Eju_rfsI9TB4--zEeK2r6uU_e5CYv0pWDWi6DvA_pnZP4VaNZu3uvcjRBOHaDaga0VBYjTLzhl8w_eKlJVFoEvD00qEmwP_5ZN_2YOy_W77wVnoTVj-juQVXIDOdLAlMlM6wPKefLwPqk1VVCTmoq4qU45O9WaDsEzmw/s1000/alfriston-clergy-house-hall.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZYWbiJun8kurYMHH9b4i9k3Eju_rfsI9TB4--zEeK2r6uU_e5CYv0pWDWi6DvA_pnZP4VaNZu3uvcjRBOHaDaga0VBYjTLzhl8w_eKlJVFoEvD00qEmwP_5ZN_2YOy_W77wVnoTVj-juQVXIDOdLAlMlM6wPKefLwPqk1VVCTmoq4qU45O9WaDsEzmw/s320/alfriston-clergy-house-hall.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">The Hall at Alfriston Clergy House</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><p><b>Alfriston declines from the 17th century</b></p><p>The first recorded vicar to live in the house was Hugh Walker who arrived in 1593. The last vicar who resided there was Robert North who left in 1709. The area had prospered during the 15th century but it soon declined and was not a good living - this meant that vicars were often absentees living elsewhere.</p><p><b>The Clergy House is earmarked for demolition</b></p><p>After 1709, the house was rented out to non-clergy tenants. By 1841, there were 11 people living there - mainly the families of agricultural labourers. After the final resident died in 1883, the house became virtually derelict and permission was given to demolish the place.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigNjOxV1k0siESwQ_12aTpnufiFMIexskc-_C5gQzxmClCb3_SgfCm12mWoj_Pf1ZSJ-kF7jGwmMh3UWbrdT9cdt_BAGpQ0cr4qVl2DXf58LQ8RkPKHBfSojxCUjeL7Mudaarg97pvA5Q-mThlgxUeJoJYZxTY1KLe7wloM3e39I_WIaP407mjBFryjw/s1000/alfriston-bedroom.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigNjOxV1k0siESwQ_12aTpnufiFMIexskc-_C5gQzxmClCb3_SgfCm12mWoj_Pf1ZSJ-kF7jGwmMh3UWbrdT9cdt_BAGpQ0cr4qVl2DXf58LQ8RkPKHBfSojxCUjeL7Mudaarg97pvA5Q-mThlgxUeJoJYZxTY1KLe7wloM3e39I_WIaP407mjBFryjw/s320/alfriston-bedroom.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>The Bedroom - set out as Harriet Coates, the last pre-NT tenant, likely had it<br /><br /></i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><b>Rev Frederick Beynon saves the day</b><p>Thankfully, demolition was prevented thanks to Rev Beynon, who became vicar of Alfriston in 1889. He appreciated the building's historic value, as well as seeing its potential as a possible location for a night school or other community use. He began to seek advice on how the place could be restored but he met with a lot of derision and discouragement.</p><p><b>The newly formed National Trust steps in</b></p><p>In 1894, the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB) advised Beynon to speak to the council of what would shortly become the National Trust. The Trust had originally been focused on protecting open spaces - after some debate they agreed to take on Alfriston as their first building, completing the purchase in 1896. It was a struggle to raise the funds for restoration. The brilliant volunteer guide told me how the survival of the National Trust back then depended on the success of the Alfriston Clergy House project - if the latter had failed, the National Trust could have failed with it. (I didn't want to appear selfish or shallow so I didn't say "and I wouldn't have had 244 National Trust scones or been interviewed by Phillip Schofield on This Morning!" but it was what I was thinking.)</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNZlRHo73MKKBsbVZsIPzqNBWFmeaPh7hkSRXk6dMKc51zWWa9ZPN2Yr9jf_h2H0JfpwCrjANLVD4n28gbmTXKjGv0-VK5gEVs-vNlhUDpl_msuFow4SfrxYNLX-3twa-XomU-hCl8Fuwy7dsf0IUgcehVa_gj7R7CqP-7k-1Z6AvH3AipnDby0BUCBg/s910/alfriston-clergy-house-derelict.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="910" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNZlRHo73MKKBsbVZsIPzqNBWFmeaPh7hkSRXk6dMKc51zWWa9ZPN2Yr9jf_h2H0JfpwCrjANLVD4n28gbmTXKjGv0-VK5gEVs-vNlhUDpl_msuFow4SfrxYNLX-3twa-XomU-hCl8Fuwy7dsf0IUgcehVa_gj7R7CqP-7k-1Z6AvH3AipnDby0BUCBg/s320/alfriston-clergy-house-derelict.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Thank God for the National Trust. <br />This is what they took on in 1896 to restore it and save it from demolition.</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p><b>The NT lets the property to tenants</b></p><p>Once the purchase was complete, restoration got underway and the NT let the house to a series of tenants. The longest tenancy was Sir Robert Witt, a solicitor with a passion for art. He co-founded the Courtauld Institute and was a trustee of the Tate and the National Gallery. The garden was acquired in 1950 and the building fully opened to the public in 1977.</p><p><b>Scones make a surprise appearance!</b></p><p>I wasn't being completely honest earlier when I told you there was no Scone Stress today. On my previous visits, the sight of a cafe serving scones brought me huge relief and joy. Today's stress was inverted: having gone on national TV to tell everyone that I'd eaten a scone at every National Trust property that sells them, I carried terror in my heart that I'd walk round the corner and find an NT cafe at Alfriston. </p><p>Luckily for me, I didn't find an NT cafe (although there is a very friendly non-NT coffee shop across the green called The Gun Room). But I did give a little cheer for this stunt scone that I found in the Parlour, bravely teetering on the edge of a plate: </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv6TKKlJmvBHOwH_Y4GtYypdBuHHzRzISRKb-GuWePcVNcXqL36rmv6yvIWiEtxQmeu8DXQENdoW5bHjiONDCYiUFS0W7_A9zHPmD3RGdelbcmkAVzrOV_Y7XXarhcFb6wfwAV0L6p7bLKYKx2kKPaApNilJqzF7fMO4-ZOgjoybnSwph0kaU3LGpRxQ/s1000/stunt-scones-national-trust.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="National Trust Stunt Scone" border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv6TKKlJmvBHOwH_Y4GtYypdBuHHzRzISRKb-GuWePcVNcXqL36rmv6yvIWiEtxQmeu8DXQENdoW5bHjiONDCYiUFS0W7_A9zHPmD3RGdelbcmkAVzrOV_Y7XXarhcFb6wfwAV0L6p7bLKYKx2kKPaApNilJqzF7fMO4-ZOgjoybnSwph0kaU3LGpRxQ/w320-h240/stunt-scones-national-trust.jpg" title="National Trust Stunt Scone" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">National Trust stunt scone seen bravely doing its thing in the Parlour.<br /><br /></span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><div><b>I become a founder member of the BYOSS (Bring Your Own Scone Society)</b></div><p>I had decided to make Alfriston my very first BYOS (Bring Your Own Scone) outing. This was for two reasons: firstly, to prevent Scone Withdrawal Symptoms in places where there is no NT cafe. Secondly, I absolutely love the Lemon & Coconut recipe from the <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/National-Trust-Book-Scones-Delicious/dp/1909881937" target="_blank">National Trust Book of Scones</a> and decided to bake some for my spring day out. Unfortunately, I overdid it with the lemon juice and forgot that wet scone dough doesn't rise. BUT - it was extremely tasty:</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzMHDeVPInafGopJJhMEXhZegxwzLPe0Yq_LoRzuL2Nhxl0PeQqdzJHxVE0UdBlO6VFsk0B3Y_sOeERN6snfHkA7DVVhsOEfUt29EkWB1w9VKbZL79vIVzKLi3stbddBBBJfDAzgWEVLM10YnpOiT5alJEK94TDYsAjuwXQsxOEm3YSlPK19DZsUMTOw/s1000/lemon-coconut-scone.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Lemon and Coconut Scone" border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzMHDeVPInafGopJJhMEXhZegxwzLPe0Yq_LoRzuL2Nhxl0PeQqdzJHxVE0UdBlO6VFsk0B3Y_sOeERN6snfHkA7DVVhsOEfUt29EkWB1w9VKbZL79vIVzKLi3stbddBBBJfDAzgWEVLM10YnpOiT5alJEK94TDYsAjuwXQsxOEm3YSlPK19DZsUMTOw/w320-h240/lemon-coconut-scone.jpg" title="Lemon and Coconut Scone" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">The Lemon & Coconut Scone from the National Trust <br />Book of Scones. Verdict on my bake: flat but delicious.</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>If I'm being honest about my Scone Sommelier skills, I'm not sure Lemon & Coconut was the right pairing for a medieval clergy house. I can't imagine there were a lot of lemons or coconuts knocking around the place in 1370. But nevermind! Onwards to the next outing!<br /><p><b>Alfriston Clergy House: 5 out of 5<br /></b><b>Scones: The quest is officially complete, so no more scone scoring required for properties that don't serve them!</b></p></div>National Trust Sconeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01097903022761280477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6954034038612600052.post-20937695908479537052023-03-26T04:23:00.006-07:002023-03-26T12:55:12.895-07:00Best National Trust Scones 2013-2023<p>The National Trust Scone Quest is complete! I found my final scone on March 1st 2023 at the <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2023/03/giants-causeway.html">Giant's Causeway</a>, and very relieved I was to see it too.</p><p>This project has taken almost 10 years. Every August, I've celebrated the anniversary of its creation by producing the National Trust Scone Blog Birthday Honours List. These lists contain all of the National Trust properties that scored top marks when I visited, achieving 5 out of 5 for their scones. </p><p>And so the time has come to produce ONE LIST TO RULE THEM ALL: the definitive list of all the 5-star National Trust scones that I encountered during my odyssey.</p><p>The final scores on the doors are as follows:</p><p></p><ul style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">244 National Trust properties visited!</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">46 counties covered!</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">99 scones scored a 5 out of 5 top rating!</span></li></ul><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeaeNAdeWeNgw7dsZH1JdRJTLNjs7Zumnsy_51_H-XI6tDbzhujM_AwPWQGNVhZlvo3bXtnL9G9WacWw2y16OcgbQj86bLMkSKFii7byWb0ZHQPc0d8aKZGO3KBlfSjB2Rr8lOcMep6X831FtKjFsMAxGdlJodUFLGe8nrqIk9sp-p87R0ZgAy0ZUkew/s695/scones-five-star-nt.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="408" data-original-width="695" height="188" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeaeNAdeWeNgw7dsZH1JdRJTLNjs7Zumnsy_51_H-XI6tDbzhujM_AwPWQGNVhZlvo3bXtnL9G9WacWw2y16OcgbQj86bLMkSKFii7byWb0ZHQPc0d8aKZGO3KBlfSjB2Rr8lOcMep6X831FtKjFsMAxGdlJodUFLGe8nrqIk9sp-p87R0ZgAy0ZUkew/s320/scones-five-star-nt.png" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The 99 first class scones in reverse order of when I visited:</div><ul style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><li><a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2023/03/giants-causeway.html">Giant's Causeway</a> - the final scone that completed the quest! I'll be honest: my overriding emotion on the day was relief that there was a scone at all. The fact that it was a 5-star beauty was a giant-sized bonus.</li><li><a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2023/03/divis-and-black-mountain-revisited.html">Divis & the Black Mountain</a> - Divis didn't sell scones when I visited in 2019. I got a tip-off that "a mean cherry scone" was now on the menu, so I went back. My sources were correct: it was on the menu and it was mean (in a good way).</li><li><a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2017/05/greyfriars-house-and-garden.html">Greyfriars House & Garden</a> - being a) British and b) not posh, I couldn't bring myself to ring a little bell for service first time I visited - which meant no scone. So I went back and the scone was ring-a-ding-a-ding-dong excellent.</li><li><a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2023/01/prior-park-revisited.html">Prior Park</a> - I'd had to settle for carrot cake in 2015 when I first visited, but I went back and boy am I glad I did: a first class scone for the park built by the man who was Deputy Postmaster.</li><li><a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2022/10/crook-hall-scones.html">Crook Hall Gardens</a>: the National Trust kept things interesting for me in my final year by opening new cafes - this one in Durham involved a long day-trip but it was worth it for a brilliant scone.</li><li><a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2022/09/castle-drogo-scones.html">Castle Drogo</a>: I spotted some stunt scones in the drawing room at Castle Drogo - always a sign that they take scones seriously. And they did: the ones in the cafe were excellent. </li><li><a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2020/01/dunstable-downs.html">Dunstable Downs</a> - the town of Dunstable and I had fallen out many years ago, but stunning views and stunning scones means all is forgiven.</li><li><a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2022/05/carnewas-at-bedruthan.html">Carnewas at Bedruthan</a> - it's not strictly an NT scone as it's a tenant-run cafe but it was excellent so I'm including it.</li><li><a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2020/01/godolphin.html">Godolphin</a> - an absolute showstopper of a scone served in a former pigsty in a fantastic property. If Godolphin isn't on your list, add it immediately!</li><li><a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2022/04/brean-down.html">Brean Down</a> - never trust a bus timetable on Good Friday but you can trust the Brean Down scones to be brilliant.</li><li><a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2020/01/aira-force-and-ullswater.html">Aira Force and Ullswater</a> - William Wordsworth wrote a poem about Aira Force and he'd have written one about the scone if he'd known about them. </li><li><a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2022/03/claife-viewing-station.html">Claife Viewing Station</a> - the scone was triangular, suggesting it was a tenant-run scone and not strictly NT. But it was so good it deserves to be included anyway.</li><li><a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2020/01/ormesby-hall-weekday-early-feb.html">Ormesby Hall</a> - a scone needs to be good when you travel all the way from London to Middlesbrough and back in a day for it. And it was spectacular.</li><li><a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2022/02/east-riddlesden-hall.html">East Riddlesden Hall</a> - another excellent scone that was snatched from the jaws of disaster when another cafe closed early, this time due to Storm Eunice.</li><li><a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2022/01/ilam-park-dovedale-and-white-peak.html">Ilam, Dovedale and the White Peak</a> - people ask if I'm jam first or cream first. I never divulge but I will tell you that when I visit a property, I'm scone first. None of this earning it lark. It paid off at Ilam as the tea room closed due to Storm Malik and we only just got our excellent scone.</li><li><span><a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2020/01/stackpole.html">Stackpole</a> - after six months of lockdown, I made a bid for freedom in September 2020 and made it to Pembrokeshire for a fantastic scone. </span></li><li><a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2020/03/wentworth-castle-gardens.html">Wentworth Castle Gardens</a> - little did I know when I set off for Barnsley in March that it would be my last National Trust scone for months. Lucky I ate two.</li><li><a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2020/01/lavenham-guildhall.html">Lavenham Guildhall</a> - it hasn't always had the happiest of histories but the scones made me very cheerful indeed. Absolute perfection.</li><li><a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2019/08/fell-foot.html">Fell Foot</a> - my attempt to eat three scones in one day in the Lake District got off to a promising start at Fell Foot. It subsequently won Scone of the Year 2019.</li><li><a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2019/08/cotehele.html">Cotehele</a> - here's a top tip: it always bodes well when the property has a mill that produces flour for the scones. </li><li><a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2019/08/buckland-abbey.html">Buckland Abbey</a> - previous owner Sir Francis Drake might have a bit of a questionable history but there was nothing questionable about the scones.</li><li><a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2019/08/antony.html">Antony:</a> I loved Antony. I loved the name, I loved the house, I loved the scones, and I loved the fact that there's a street called Sconner Road nearby (check the photos).</li><li><a href="http://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2019/08/florence-court.html" target="_blank">Florence Court</a> - located near a mountain where a legendary horse appears every July to talk to people (and have a scone I hope, as they're good).</li><li><a href="http://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2019/08/the-argory.html" target="_blank">The Argory</a> - you can get there by canoe but however you get there, make sure you have one of their superb scones. </li><li><a href="http://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2019/08/dudmaston.html" target="_blank">Dudmaston</a> - there was a wand workshop going on when I visited and the scones had indeed been touched by magic.</li><li><a href="http://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2019/08/kinver-edge-and-rock-houses.html" target="_blank">Kinver Edge and the Rock Houses</a> - people lived in these caves until the 1960s and although rock buns may have been more apposite, the scones were super.</li><li><a href="http://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2019/08/arlington-court.html" target="_blank">Arlington Court</a> - see the house, visit the National Trust Carriage Museum, but definitely don't miss the excellent scones.</li><li><a href="http://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2019/08/dunster-castle-watermill.html" target="_blank">Dunster Castle </a>- a very old estate with a working water mill, a leather room, and very good scones.</li><li><a href="http://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2019/07/watersmeet.html" target="_blank">Watersmeet</a> - the beautiful place that inspired me to keep going with the National Trust Scone Blog did not disappoint. Excellent scones.</li><li><a href="http://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2019/07/mottistone-gardens.html" target="_blank">Mottistone Gardens</a> - Benedict Cumberbatch wasn't there but we did find some very superb scones.</li><li><a href="http://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2019/06/kinder-edale-dark-peak.html" target="_blank">Kinder, Edale, and the Dark Peak</a> - the Pennypot Cafe is next door to Edale station. Kinder Scout is not. But we all know which part of the property is most important.</li><li><a href="http://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2019/04/erddig.html" target="_blank">Erddig</a> - donkeys, a thief housekeeper who stole £30,000, and fantastic scones can all be found at Erddig.</li><li><a href="http://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2019/02/oxburgh-hall.html" target="_blank">Oxburgh Hall</a> - everybody loves a moat and everybody good scones. Oxburgh has both.</li><li><a href="http://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2019/01/croft-castle.html" target="_blank">Croft Castle</a> - Owain Glyndŵr may be buried under the floor but they don't bury the scone baking talent at this cosy castle.</li><li><a href="http://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2018/09/nunnington-hall.html" target="_blank">Nunnington Hall</a> - I went to try and solve a mysterious peacock murder case and found some very excellent scones.</li><li><a href="http://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2018/05/the-workhouse.html" target="_blank">The Workhouse</a> - I was certainly tempted to say "please, sir, I want some more" but I restrained myself, although the scones were excellent.</li><li><a href="http://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2018/05/shugborough-estate.html" target="_blank">Shugborough Estate</a> - the ancestral home of society photographer Patrick Lichfield was a picture! Ha ha!</li><li><a href="http://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2018/04/chirk-castle.html" target="_blank">Chirk Castle</a> - murder, scandal, adultery, violence, great scones...it's all going on at Chirk.</li><li><a href="http://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2018/01/longshaw-burbage-and-eastern-moors.html" target="_blank">Longshaw Estate and Eastern Moors</a> - I thought the mud might defeat me, but no - I finally found my Peak District scone and marvellous it was too.</li><li><a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2017/08/mount-stewart.html">Mount Stewart</a> - was Castlereagh a great statesman or a despicable murderer? I don't know but I do know that the scones at Mount Stewart were fantastic.</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2017/07/peckover-house-and-garden.html" target="_blank">Peckover House & Garden</a> - Lonely Planet has just announced that a cream tea at Peckover is one of the top eating experiences in the world! I concur!</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2017/06/clumber-park.html" target="_blank">Clumber Park</a> - it might have lost its house to the demolition men but Clumber offers beautiful gardens, a beautiful lake, and beautiful scones!</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2017/03/the-needles-old-battery.html" target="_blank">The Needles Old Battery</a> - chalk rocks, guns, secret missile testing. And now - outstanding scones!</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2017/02/wicken-fen.html" target="_blank">Wicken Fen</a> - home to 9,000 species of wildlife, flora, fauna and a first-class species of scone! Bravo.</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2017/01/berrington-hall.html" target="_blank">Berrington Hall</a> - even Capability Brown couldn't improve the scones at Berrington Hall - they were berri-good!</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2016/10/tyntesfield.html" target="_blank">Tyntesfield</a> - maybe one day someone will describe Tyntesfield without saying "the man who built it made his money from Peruvian bird poo" but that day isn't today. The scones were a bird poo-free zone.</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2016/10/sudbury-hall.html" target="_blank">Sudbury Hall</a> - a great house AND the Museum of Childhood starring Sooty and Sindy AND an outstanding scone! What more do you want from life.</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2016/10/melford-hall.html" target="_blank">Melford Hall</a> - famed for its celebrity resident, the original Jemima Puddleduck! Her views on scones are not known.</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2016/09/wallington.html" target="_blank">Wallington</a> - the former home of Charles Edward Trevelyan, the third most hated man in Ireland (after Oliver Cromwell and Thierry Henry), who was name-checked in The Fields of Athenry.</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2016/08/belton-house.html" target="_blank">Belton House</a> - the kids book and 80s TV show, Moondial, was set at Belton! And when I tweeted that I'd been there, the actor who played Tom responded! Fantastic.</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2016/08/felbrigg-hall.html" target="_blank">Felbrigg Hall</a> - poor old William Frederick 'Mad' Windham - all he wanted to do was dress up as a train guard and blow a whistle on the station platform at inopportune moments. Instead he ran up huge debts and lost Felbrigg. Amazing scone. </li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2016/08/hidcote.html" target="_blank">Hidcote</a> - a beautiful garden built by "a dull little man" according to James Lees-Milne but we loved it AND we loved the scones!</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2016/07/plas-newydd.html" target="_blank">Plas Newydd</a> - a fantastic scone on Anglesey! We only really went there to see the Victorian dude who dressed like Noddy Holder 50 years before Nodders was born!</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2016/07/dyrham-park.html" target="_blank">Dyrham Park</a> - superb scones AND free 17th century hot chocolate (the recipe is from the 17th century, not the actual hot chocolate)!</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2016/04/trengwainton-garden.html" target="_blank">Trengwainton Garden</a> - the 5th NT scone we'd eaten in 48 hours during our Tour of Cornwall and it was FAB!</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2016/04/trerice.html" target="_blank">Trerice</a> - a quiet little manor house near the not-so-quiet town of Newquay, with AMAZING scones!</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2016/04/trelissick.html" target="_blank">Trelissick</a> - the house may be relatively new to the NT but they've certainly got to grips with the scones!</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2016/04/boscastle.html" target="_blank">Boscastle </a>- a little Cornish fishing village that was almost washed away in 2004 - unusual scones but absolutely top-rate!</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/acorn-bank.html" target="_blank">Acorn Bank</a> - the third top-class scone on the Spring Tour to the Lake District!</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/sizergh-castle.html" target="_blank">Sizergh Castle</a> - amazing scone AND a copy of Wham!'s Greatest Hits!</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/wordsworth-house-and-garden.html" target="_blank">Wordsworth House</a> - I was moved to compose a poem about the Wordsworth House scone - I expect a call about being Poet Laureate any day!</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/saltram.html" target="_blank">Saltram</a> - everything went wrong on our first trip of 2016, apart from the scone!</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/fountains-abbey.html" target="_blank">Fountains Abbey</a> - it was in the video for Maid of Orleans by OMD! And it had fantastic scones!</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/lanhydrock.html" target="_blank">Lanhydrock</a> - our first foray into Cornwall and we were not disappointed! Fantastic scone!</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/biddulph-grange-garden.html" target="_blank">Biddulph Grange Garden</a> - they had a singing tree and a golden water buffalo but nothing could upstage the scones!</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/nostell-priory.html" target="_blank">Nostell Priory</a> - one of the best properties EVER with THREE types of scone!</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/coughton-court.html" target="_blank">Coughton Court</a> - 7 of the 13 Gunpowder Plotters were Throckmortons! Somehow they kept hold of Coughton and are still there today! </li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/tredegar-house.html" target="_blank">Tredegar House</a> - fantastic scones AND they keep a Dalek in the stables (Doctor Who is filmed there)! </li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/anglesey-abbey-lode-mill.html" target="_blank">Anglesey Abbey</a> - they have a working flour mill! You can buy bags of flour that you transform into scones that won't be as good as the ones here!</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/montacute-house.html" target="_blank">Montacute House</a> - they filmed Wolf Hall here! If only Anne Boleyn had been able to bake scones like these, it could all have turned out differently!</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/goddards.html" target="_blank">Goddards</a> - brilliant scones at the house once owned by Noel Terry, of Chocolate Orange fame! There used to be a Terry's Chocolate Apple as well! </li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/beningbrough-hall.html" target="_blank">Beningbrough Hall</a> - spectacular works of art (and a few pictures on loan from the National Portrait Gallery as well, boom, boom!)</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/sissinghurst-castle-garden.html" target="_blank">Sissinghurst Castle</a> - did you see the scones, Orlando? They were great - and fantastic gardens too, in the former home of Vita Sackville-West!</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/south-foreland-lighthouse.html" target="_blank">South Foreland Lighthouse</a> - excellent sconeage in this 'shining' example of a National Trust property HA HA! </li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/the-white-cliffs-of-dover.html" target="_blank">The White Cliffs of Dover</a> - I really was inspired to ransack the Vera Lynn back catalogue and sing "we'll meet again" to the WCoD scone - it was that good. </li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/speke-hall.html" target="_blank">Speke Hall</a> - it has the River Mersey, it has a priest hole, it has a baker on Twitter, it has fantastic scones, I LOVED it!</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/studland-beach.html" target="_blank">Studland Beach</a> - famous for the UK's most popular naturist beach, for inspiring Noddy's Toytown, and now for very good scones!</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/a-la-ronde_13.html" target="_blank">A la Ronde</a> - a round house full of trinkets AND fantastic scones, what more do you want from life? </li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/upton-house-and-gardens.html" target="_blank">Upton House and Gardens</a> - a lot of pictures, an outdoor swimming pool, and truly excellent scones!</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/treasurer-house-york.html" target="_blank">Treasurer's House, York</a> - they had a Christmas pudding scone with brandy butter that I literally still dream about!</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/hinton-ampner.html" target="_blank">Hinton Ampner</a> - lots of sheep and fantastic scones!</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/uppark-house-garden.html" target="_blank">Uppark</a> - burned to the ground a few years ago while it was open to visitors, but now restored and serving very excellent scones!</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/stowe.html" target="_blank">Stowe</a> - it costs £30,000 a year to attend Stowe school - I'd rather spend that on scones, personally!</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/charlecote-park.html" target="_blank">Charlecote Park</a> - William Shakespeare was once caught stealing a scone from Charlecote Park. Did I say scone? I meant deer.</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/bateman.html" target="_blank">Bateman's</a> - "Well I'm the king of the sconers/the tea-room VIP", as Rudyard Kipling would have written if he'd had scones at Batemans!</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/claremont-landscape-garden.html" target="_blank">Claremont Landscape Garden</a> - more of a park than a garden but who's counting - the scones were fantastic!</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/standen.html" target="_blank">Standen</a> - tests proved that the Standen scone was genetically closer to a cloud than a baked foodstuff!</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/nymans.html" target="_blank">Nymans</a> - another place that burned down (before the National Trust was involved), now serving amazing scones!</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/waddesdon-manor.html" target="_blank">Waddesdon Manor</a> - they have a mechanical elephant that flaps its ears at Waddesdon but as an attraction it's no match for the top-class scones!</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/scotney-castle.html" target="_blank">Scotney Castle</a> - the scones were EPIC. Scotney also had a Banana and Walnut Scone of the Month and Richard Gere, who filmed Yanks there!</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/dunwich-heath.html" target="_blank">Dunwich Heath</a> - they had 20 TYPES OF SCONE at the Sconeathon we attended! Sticky Toffee, Chocolate Orange, Apple & Cinnamon, Malteser...!</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/morden-hall-park.html" target="_blank">Morden Hall Park</a> - big, warm, and glazed. 'Morden enough' to warrant a five out of five (ha ha ha! Sorry.)</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/sutton-house.html" target="_blank">Sutton House</a> - Sir Ralph Sadleir of Wolf Hall fame built Sutton House - go along and see them bring out the sconies!</li><li>Quarry Bank Mill - amazing scones in one of the most fascinating NT properties ever - you can even buy a tea towel made in the cotton mill!</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/flatford-bridge-cottage.html" target="_blank">Flatford Bridge Cottage</a> - we helped bake the scones at Flatford but we gave them 5 because they were mince pie scones and they were ruddy delicious! </li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/winkworth-arboretum.html" target="_blank">Winkworth Arboretum</a> - a very understated place - not a fridge magnet to be had - but serving fantastic scones!</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/houghton-mill.html" target="_blank">Houghton Mill</a> - the Scone Blogger was very hungover but she soldiered on and tried the scone made from home-milled flour, which was DELICIOUS!</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/brownsea-island.html" target="_blank">Brownsea Island</a> - we didn't see any red squirrels, which shows that they don't have very good taste as there was a Sconeathon on the day we visited!</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/bodiam-castle.html" target="_blank">Bodiam Castle</a> - our very first 5 out of 5, setting the benchmark for all! </li></ul><p></p><p></p><div><span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"></span></span><ul style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span></span></span></ul><p><span><span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;">There's also a </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;">National Trust Book of Scones, which is available in NT shops or </span><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/National-Trust-Book-Scones-Delicious/dp/1909881937" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #0066cc; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;" target="_blank">on the internet</a><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;">.</span></span></span></span></p><p><span><span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;">As ever, I send my ever-lasting affection and thanks to all of the fantastic Sconepals that have sent in photos and shown ongoing support and enthusiasm for this project. </span></span></span></span></p><p><span><span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;">Keep sharing your National Trust scone sightings, either on </span><a href="https://twitter.com/nt_scones" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #0066cc; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;" target="_blank">Twitter</a><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"> or </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/nationaltrustscones/" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #0066cc; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;" target="_blank">Facebook</a><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"> or </span><a href="https://www.instagram.com/nt_scones/?hl=en" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #0066cc; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;" target="_blank">Instagram</a><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;">. I love them!</span></span></span></span></p></div>National Trust Sconeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01097903022761280477noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6954034038612600052.post-28314115380430903792023-03-17T09:32:00.003-07:002023-03-20T04:18:32.066-07:00Giant's Causeway<p>And so we come to the final National Trust scone of this project. After almost 10 years, 243 NT properties, thousands of miles, and more scones, jam and cream than I can even contemplate, I completed my quest by going to the only NT cafe that I hadn't already covered on this blog.</p><p>I left the <a href="https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/northern-ireland/giants-causeway" target="_blank">Giant's Causeway</a> til last for three reasons. Firstly, I wanted to be sure of getting a scone on my final mission. I've only actually ever had a few scone no-shows, but I couldn't risk it happening at the grand finale. Before the pandemic, the Giant's Causeway was attracting over 700,000 visitors a year and it has a big, modern visitor centre and cafeteria - I figured this would give me the best possible chance of success.</p><p>Secondly, I'd started this project with my husband, Pete (aka the Scone Sidekick). We'd visited a lot of NT properties together before I lost him to cancer in 2018. But we'd also been to the Giant's Causeway in 2006, long before we'd joined the National Trust. So although I knew he couldn't be physically present for this last mission, I knew he'd been there and seen it and loved it.</p><p>And then, finally, I chose the Giant's Causeway as it's the only National Trust property that looks like it's MADE out of scones:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUIlTVvCmpIrUOOsT3Zzt8zahVS2H9otlm6InoOzuiTOkwMnWaAlpYkhm3lXk5gPq0DUi_I3aJcApsw0kkj8KmXdl2wsrIDJlNN8weaJxCR9RzrDpxV2EJrxIh8MusF709H1DTY6kuPAVEYtamXi-3v4FvmAXzj1Rxr_spAYRbmOBb8g_oMYH_PJGN-A/s1000/giants-causeway.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Giant's Causeway" border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUIlTVvCmpIrUOOsT3Zzt8zahVS2H9otlm6InoOzuiTOkwMnWaAlpYkhm3lXk5gPq0DUi_I3aJcApsw0kkj8KmXdl2wsrIDJlNN8weaJxCR9RzrDpxV2EJrxIh8MusF709H1DTY6kuPAVEYtamXi-3v4FvmAXzj1Rxr_spAYRbmOBb8g_oMYH_PJGN-A/w320-h240/giants-causeway.jpg" title="Giant's Causeway" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>I might as well break it to you now, though, that the Giant's Causeway is not made of scones. Here's some background:</div><div><br /></div><div><b>The story of Finn McCool and the Giant's Causeway</b></div><div>My interest in the Giant's Causeway started at primary school. Our head teacher used to tell us the story of how Finn McCool, the Irish giant, had built the causeway so he could challenge the Scottish giant, Benandonner, to a fight. One day Finn saw Benandonner coming over the stones and was shocked at how big he was. He rushed home to his wife, Oonagh, who came up with a plan: Finn dressed up as a baby and climbed into the child's cot. When Benandonner knocked on the door, Oonagh told him Finn was out but he was welcome to wait. Benandonner saw the size of the baby and took fright, wondering how big Finn must be. He rushed back home across the causeway, pulling it up as he went so Finn couldn't follow him.</div><div><br /></div><div>As with all good stories, there are numerous spin-offs. The 'camel' below was pointed out by our guide. Finn used it when he needed to get around in a hurry, apparently:</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB_-f9eu33ig_LGXYZJazPD2ogEJSDVRt_lgu8DYoYacINvXMy6RD31W12KNneZGxBqVm_tOGm4W3cPxRIWQ2TVMurkuq6UkO2CiP84uWBTptBEQVwV012rq3q3bCRnDOGVSSuFYCCoxQg_G6Ir4cTvpHnI1JEsDvGelv0hZCz3fiPkVU5tTHEUE7s4w/s1000/giants-causeway-camel.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Giants Causeway Camel" border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB_-f9eu33ig_LGXYZJazPD2ogEJSDVRt_lgu8DYoYacINvXMy6RD31W12KNneZGxBqVm_tOGm4W3cPxRIWQ2TVMurkuq6UkO2CiP84uWBTptBEQVwV012rq3q3bCRnDOGVSSuFYCCoxQg_G6Ir4cTvpHnI1JEsDvGelv0hZCz3fiPkVU5tTHEUE7s4w/w320-h240/giants-causeway-camel.jpg" title="Giants Causeway Camel" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>The story of Finn McCool and the Giant's Causeway became properly world-famous when tourists started visiting the area. However, Finn McCool (or Fionn mac Cumhaill to use his proper Irish name) was a mythical hero whose many other adventures were documented in the 12th century.</div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>It was actually formed by lava flows 60 million years ago</b></div><div>Much as I'd love to stick with the scone or giant theories, the columns at the Giant's Causeway are actually made of basalt, which is a fine-grained rock formed by the rapid cooling of lava. 60 million years ago, lava spilled over what is now County Antrim as a result of tectonic plates moving around. The lava was cooled by the sea and the air, which caused it to split and form hexagonal columns. </div><div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZUAlsRUJewHB5YfYAcVLum1NDDS9J38fuHUFXNbR80_mf9fpthE4pcUxPyZA-YELfbTSZzOduu-cYx7Dz1GlI-W8Z-dYriOXEdiMjAvM7rjZLp_V_2yH6_vGZ3vm9w8nIIvFKONjbLRUiN47BB0kFXAN533cmP9zR0W9nATRSuMMpOBU8PihD4mxlOA/s1000/basalt-columns-giants-causeway.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Giants Causeway Columns" border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZUAlsRUJewHB5YfYAcVLum1NDDS9J38fuHUFXNbR80_mf9fpthE4pcUxPyZA-YELfbTSZzOduu-cYx7Dz1GlI-W8Z-dYriOXEdiMjAvM7rjZLp_V_2yH6_vGZ3vm9w8nIIvFKONjbLRUiN47BB0kFXAN533cmP9zR0W9nATRSuMMpOBU8PihD4mxlOA/w320-h240/basalt-columns-giants-causeway.jpg" title="Giants Causeway Columns" width="320" /></a></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><b>The Giant's Causeway is (almost) unique </b></div><div style="text-align: left;">There are other rock columns around the world - Fingal's Cave on the Isle of Staffa in Scotland for example (which is also named after Finn McCool), or Los Organos in the Canary Islands. But our guide explained that whereas many of these other columns are topped with a layer of rock, at the Giants Causeway that layer of rock was knocked off during the Ice Age. This means that the tops of the columns are exposed and you can walk on them, which makes them special. </div></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKRfv7T9lopquwGzZYVwSjWN7UPaVsd6u9cqwCiYid8YWTX6gS2WlfV5kgTor55sLO2y6srLNCoNoGZzkq5V2RmwfRGoW2QdJg9Xn09fEubxPY795ZSm_L3Zr84OedFdQTorHPvtaOyiYY5ne4r3Ky-fyIK9O6PIWMlDGEFjbMKD935PvaGmlT97SU_Q/s1000/giants-basalt-columns.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Giant's Causeway stones" border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKRfv7T9lopquwGzZYVwSjWN7UPaVsd6u9cqwCiYid8YWTX6gS2WlfV5kgTor55sLO2y6srLNCoNoGZzkq5V2RmwfRGoW2QdJg9Xn09fEubxPY795ZSm_L3Zr84OedFdQTorHPvtaOyiYY5ne4r3Ky-fyIK9O6PIWMlDGEFjbMKD935PvaGmlT97SU_Q/w320-h240/giants-basalt-columns.jpg" title="Giant's Causeway stones" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><b>It's been a tourist destination since the 18th century</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">The Royal Society in London started taking an interest in the Giant's Causeway in 1688 and its origins were much debated during the Age of Enlightenment (1620s-1780s). An artist called Susanna Drury painted two famous pictures of the Causeway in 1739-40 and those paintings were scrutinised across Europe. The Vulcanists believed that the stones came from the earth, while the Neptunists thought they came from the sea. The area also attracted writers, artists and other tourists as well as scientists. The author Thackeray paid to join a boat trip and see the rocks from the sea, writing: "I paid ten shillings for mine, and ten minutes before would cheerfully have paid five full pounds to be allowed to quit it."</div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">The Giant's Causeway Scone</h3><div>I must have either been very optimistic or deranged by stress on this trip, because I broke my usual rule of 'scone first'. I've always been paranoid that a plague of scone-loving locusts will descend on the tea room while I'm walking around a property. But today I waited until after we'd done our tour, and by the time I got to the cafe my stress levels were through the roof.</div><div><br /></div><div>The relief of finding a scone - and there was a choice of plain, fruit or cheese - was enormous. They only had whipped cream rather than clotted, but this is a scone blog and not a cream tea blog so it didn't really matter.</div><div><br /></div><div>Strangely, one thing I wasn't worried about at all was the quality of the scone. I had decided that as long as I got a scone, I could cope with it not being excellent. But it <b>was </b>excellent. It was very fresh and fluffy with a good amount of fruit. In a world first, I even went back the following day - and the second scone was excellent as well. Consistency abounds at the Giant's Causeway.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuEixO0vZxr4nqhJEWFb1TYrgAzyVMCl6Cm12ke5QOhe47bVHCyyaY0eDvwug70UbPfFWcVOE2q5z6qXdmdrCgjKGx12U82SsLcD94ZV-9hsX4WMU0C_8BenFk8Yi1qDahwGiPQJcYw3zo4vN0Rweu3f9xle4MikP0h9ZgyXhsmfGQMlg7C_n4B6CDMQ/s1000/giants-causeway-scone.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Giant's Causeway scone" border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuEixO0vZxr4nqhJEWFb1TYrgAzyVMCl6Cm12ke5QOhe47bVHCyyaY0eDvwug70UbPfFWcVOE2q5z6qXdmdrCgjKGx12U82SsLcD94ZV-9hsX4WMU0C_8BenFk8Yi1qDahwGiPQJcYw3zo4vN0Rweu3f9xle4MikP0h9ZgyXhsmfGQMlg7C_n4B6CDMQ/w320-h240/giants-causeway-scone.jpg" title="Giant's Causeway scone" width="320" /></a></div><p>With the quest complete, we got back in the car and headed off to nearby Mussenden Temple and Portstewart Strand - both NT properties without scones that I hadn't been to before. I hadn't really given much thought to what would happen at the end of the project. I'd hoped I might get a round of applause from the brilliant people on Twitter that had been following the project - and I did, which was lovely. </p><p>A nice man from the Press Association had been keeping tabs on my progress in recent months and I did an interview with them that night. I know enough about the Press Association to know that these things often come to nothing, so I was delighted in the morning when they texted me a link to an article that had appeared in the <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/peter-national-trust-twitter-northern-ireland-england-b2292609.html" target="_blank">Independent</a>. Then I started to get texts from friends saying they'd seen it on the <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-64822669" target="_blank">BBC</a>. And then everything went absolutely crazy: I was invited on Five Live Drive, Radio 4 The World Tonight, and Radio Ulster amongst others. I was also interviewed by the Telegraph. The following day it was everywhere. Over the next week I was on BBC Breakfast, This Morning with Holly and Phil, and the Jeremy Vine show on Radio 2. Even the Washington Post covered it.</p><p>The huge amount of media coverage delivered a completely unexpected bonus: it was like Pete came back for a week. Seeing his picture on TV and in the papers felt completely right - he had also put a lot of miles into this project and now here he was at the end getting the attention he deserved. It was so totally unexpected and I literally could not have asked for anything nicer.</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVdV-X9lcolN09spLufXICnv-Diz3ighaWYXNIyOUaHVBNAS3qWURcdM-ehdmiZvErp9Lr_zWo8Mle5ZarSCZFD0Q8_yiXLPBsbJdJbdUkUwfs1OGlfuBgUmpN0D9lUGrrWbBOL-QAAJ9FO5KhhspvpbO8N5pvIg9zA3pQLiMdqfxf9CitL4D4VLZnsg/s1333/pete-causeway.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Giant's Causeway" border="0" data-original-height="1333" data-original-width="1000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVdV-X9lcolN09spLufXICnv-Diz3ighaWYXNIyOUaHVBNAS3qWURcdM-ehdmiZvErp9Lr_zWo8Mle5ZarSCZFD0Q8_yiXLPBsbJdJbdUkUwfs1OGlfuBgUmpN0D9lUGrrWbBOL-QAAJ9FO5KhhspvpbO8N5pvIg9zA3pQLiMdqfxf9CitL4D4VLZnsg/w240-h320/pete-causeway.jpg" title="Giant's Causeway" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Pete at the Giant's Causeway in 2006</i></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>So what's next? I'll definitely continue to add to this blog. I might go north of the border and try out some National Trust of Scotland scones. There are also lots of other National Trust properties in England, Wales and Northern Ireland that might not serve scones but deserve a mention. So you haven't heard the last of me.</p><p>Finally, I need to say THANK YOU. To all of the Sconepals on social media that have shared photos, encouragement and amusement. To all of the scone fans that I got to meet in person - especially Natalie, Abby, Helen, Corinne, Simon and the marvellous Ole. To the National Trust employees that I got to meet in person along the way (there weren't many as I kept a low profile), especially Jemma, Russell, Sarah, Sarah, Rob, Clive, Karla, Devon. To everyone that has read this blog. Most of all, my thanks go to my brilliant friends and family who have given up days, weekends, even weeks to join me on scone missions - Thelma, Fay, Pam, SJ, Steph, Hilary, John, Sarah, Lara, Kathy, Justin, Olivia, Amy, Lisa, Amalia, John, Justine, Tracey, Tim, my brilliant mum, and, of course, Pete the original Scone Sidekick. Thank you all, from the bottom of my heart.</p><p><b>Giant's Causeway: 5 out of 5<br /></b><b>Scones: 5 out of 5<br /></b><b>Consistency of scone quality: 5 out of 5</b></p>National Trust Sconeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01097903022761280477noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6954034038612600052.post-68869188640930143872023-03-03T02:46:00.014-08:002023-03-20T12:30:01.624-07:00Divis and the Black Mountain Revisited<p>On March 1st 2023, after almost 10 years, I finally completed this National Trust Scone Odyssey. My final scone was at the <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2023/03/giants-causeway.html">Giant's Causeway</a>, which was a very fitting place to end, for many reasons.</p><p>But today, two days after the grand finale, we made a return visit to another National Trust property: Divis and the Black Mountain. This unplanned stop, on the way to Belfast airport, turned out to be the perfect epilogue to the project. </p><p>There are five main things that this quest has given me over the past decade - and Divis encapsulated them all in one place:</p><p><b>1. The National Trust Scone Community. </b>One of the best things to come out of this project has been the online community of National Trust scone fans that has gathered to support the quest. I had set up a Twitter account (@nt_scones) when I created the blog back in 2013 and over the years it attracted a few thousand followers. Taking a steer from Blue Peter and Smash Hits magazine, I even sent out badges to thank them for their encouragement at one point. Wearing an I AM A NATIONAL TRUST SCONEPAL badge won't get you free entry anywhere but I like to think people wear them with a certain understated pride.</p><p>Anyway. In 2019, I decided to try and meet some of these NT scone fans. I'd had a mad idea about doing Desert Island National Trust Properties as a kind of podcast. I soon discovered that sound engineering wasn't really my thing so the idea ended up in the bin. But one of the people I met was Abby Semple-Skipper. She lived in London at the time and we met up at Ham House. Shortly afterwards, she relocated to her native Belfast (I'd like to think these two things were not connected). </p><p>During our conversation in London she had thanked me for the NT scone community. I was taken aback by this and thought she was probably just being polite, but she persisted: she appreciated the positive, gentle, unaggressive outlook of the Twitter community that had built up around the project. </p><p>So I was overjoyed when Abby agreed to meet us at Divis today. Having the National Trust scone community represented at the end of the project was perfect - a reminder of how supportive and important this lovely group of people has been. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU_-ESI1kVhvSorMq-RoOQ3CkAV4i4Null69AFKOdnIt5UOA5mNCQm_illT0JK5LEzDl7kJc6NKb8TPindP8B6hf7JCdO2OC8IqFVLErg_1w1yK6f_tMJI1QMIyukSPZvouk5UKetZCe3LfS_ooYG5b_BhdqR5JMVnY_ii_517tzwjk1dElkItmNaFjA/s1000/divis-cafe-scones.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Divis Cafe" border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU_-ESI1kVhvSorMq-RoOQ3CkAV4i4Null69AFKOdnIt5UOA5mNCQm_illT0JK5LEzDl7kJc6NKb8TPindP8B6hf7JCdO2OC8IqFVLErg_1w1yK6f_tMJI1QMIyukSPZvouk5UKetZCe3LfS_ooYG5b_BhdqR5JMVnY_ii_517tzwjk1dElkItmNaFjA/w320-h240/divis-cafe-scones.jpg" title="Divis Cafe" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>With Abby at Divis. We penned her in the corner so she couldn't get away.<br />As far as I know she hasn't moved house again to avoid us. </i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p><b>2. Visiting Places I Wouldn't Otherwise Have Seen. </b>I've covered 244 National Trust properties in 46 counties during this project. How many of those places would I have visited if I hadn't started the quest? </p><p>Let's take Divis as the example. I can say with 100% certainty that I would not have gone to Divis and the Black Mountain if I had not been a National Trust member. And if we look at Northern Ireland as a whole: before this trip, I had already been to Ulster twice for this project - once in 2017, when my sister and I spent a couple of days near Strangford Lough outside Belfast. We went to <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2017/08/castle-ward.html">Castle Ward</a>, <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2017/08/rowallane-garden.html">Rowallane</a> and <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2017/08/mount-stewart.html">Mount Stewart</a>. My second visit was in 2019 when I covered <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2019/08/crom.html">Crom</a>, <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2019/08/carrick-rede-and-larrybane.html">Carrick-a-Rede</a>, <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2019/08/springhill.html">Springhill</a>, <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2019/08/florence-court.html">Florence Court</a>, <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2019/08/the-argory.html">The Argory</a>, <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2019/08/white-park-bay.html">White Park Bay</a>, <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2019/08/cushendun.html">Cushendun</a> and <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2019/08/castle-coole.html">Castle Coole</a> as part of my 26-scones-in-31-days-of-August rampage. How many of those would I have seen? The answer is one: the rope bridge at Carrick-a-Rede. Would I have seen Enniskillen on a beautiful August morning without this project? No. Is my life better for having seen it? Yes. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0AU_a4ZRiw3REJmGnjnaxkH8GQOJETmbFdoDkdeJOrAUrKR_L8SCNVgxzYrXRu_ekVRPG7SwvwGjf2CEA7HRiCnzwsYxrAN4HpUW2XDwneYQBYg-uZ-EKVF9xN3ywRSpRllKPcanIhMmk0CPbDSUdP2zDlDT4zMATlXElNoocIw2HSfINrdM60jUhzQ/s1000/enniskillen.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="A poor photo of Enniskillen" border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0AU_a4ZRiw3REJmGnjnaxkH8GQOJETmbFdoDkdeJOrAUrKR_L8SCNVgxzYrXRu_ekVRPG7SwvwGjf2CEA7HRiCnzwsYxrAN4HpUW2XDwneYQBYg-uZ-EKVF9xN3ywRSpRllKPcanIhMmk0CPbDSUdP2zDlDT4zMATlXElNoocIw2HSfINrdM60jUhzQ/w320-h240/enniskillen.jpg" title="A poor photo of Enniskillen" width="320" /></a></div><p><b>3. Time with Family and Friends. </b>I have had some fantastic times with friends and family thanks to this project. So many examples spring to mind: I went to <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2019/10/horsey-windpump.html">Horsey Windpump</a> with my schoolfriends and their children, combining it with a weekend in Great Yarmouth that will never be forgotten. <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2020/01/plas-yn-rhiw.html">Plas yn Rhiw</a> in North Wales had caused me some concern last year, as it was so far away and looked very small - my friends SJ and Steph drove miles to come with me and it turned out to be brilliant (SJ and Steph have covered a lot of miles with me). My mum, sister and her partner came to <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2022/01/ilam-park-dovedale-and-white-peak.html">Ilam Park</a> where my mum's hat blew away...you probably had to be there for that but it was very funny. My sister-in-law and niece came to <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2018/09/lamb-house.html">Lamb House</a> in Rye where they demonstrated that I might be the scone expert in the family but when it comes to sniffing out a champagne bar at 200 paces, they have no equal.</p><p>And of course my late husband Pete and I had covered a lot of properties together. When he was sick in hospital I even made a Powerpoint presentation of pictures of NT places we'd seen and tested him to see how many he could remember. It might not sound like much but at the end of it he said "I really enjoyed that" and I could have cried. <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2017/07/snowshill-manor-and-garden.html">Snowshill Manor</a> will always have a special place in my heart, as it was last new property we visited together and he loved it.</p><p>This trip to Divis was another great example of how the National Trust and the scone quest have given us trips that we'll never forget. My mum, my sister and Tim came to Northern Ireland with me for the final scone mission at the Giant's Causeway. We had a great few days together, staying in Portrush and visiting other NT sites as well as the Bushmills Whiskey Distillery (not NT but it'd be rude not to go there as it's so close). </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8J8ehjCGbzEWxsYyCNqkSBIBFyXcFsAP5hUGvhJENKB5hgb-pACgolz9vvmxt6igmiyrpbDAoi9WIl1EkmsqEOgPO8xcXO6IAHKkeMugsOjJthhUgr9pJQLjDAEs9f-kaBBTO-eHxSZoYsbrOxdFL9QAyUfAJ8_jw-2oWhu0DtHUzeVDoy28DtmheDA/s476/scone-family.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="427" data-original-width="476" height="287" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8J8ehjCGbzEWxsYyCNqkSBIBFyXcFsAP5hUGvhJENKB5hgb-pACgolz9vvmxt6igmiyrpbDAoi9WIl1EkmsqEOgPO8xcXO6IAHKkeMugsOjJthhUgr9pJQLjDAEs9f-kaBBTO-eHxSZoYsbrOxdFL9QAyUfAJ8_jw-2oWhu0DtHUzeVDoy28DtmheDA/s320/scone-family.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p><b>4. Occasional Interaction with National Trust Chefs and Property Managers. </b>I hadn't actually planned to visit Divis on this trip. When I went there in August 2019 they only had a small Ranger's Station that served limited refreshments. I did call in for a cup of tea on the off-chance that I might find a scone but they weren't serving anything at the time and a scone looked highly unlikely. My <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2019/08/divis-and-black-mountain.html">previous post</a> gives you the history of the place, so I won't cover it again here. </p><p>But during this final trip, a lovely woman called Jenny messaged me on Twitter. She suggested I might want to drop in at Divis again if I had time: "We do a mean cherry scone now, freshly baked." My ever-supportive travel companions agreed to a detour on the way back to the airport and off we went. </p><p>I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of times I've met National Trust chefs and property managers in person as part of this project. This is mainly because I've kept a low profile, probably unnecessarily. But all of those occasions have been brilliant and I'll never forget them: Rob invited me to his amazing Sconeathon at <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2014/03/dunwich-heath.html">Dunwich Heath</a> in 2014. Jemma arranged for me to bake Mince Pie Scones with Russell the chef at <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2013/11/flatford-bridge-cottage.html">Flatford</a> in 2013. I also got to meet the NT's Development Chef, <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2016/07/big-news-around-england-in-50-scones.html">Clive Goudercourt</a>, back in 2016. And Karla and Devon at <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2019/11/podcast-christmas-pudding-scone-at.html">Treasurer's House in York</a> chatted to me about the Christmas Pudding Scone in 2019.</p><p>Divis once again reminded me that the very best days tend to happen when people point you in the right direction. Massive thanks to Jenny for getting in touch. </p><p><b>5. Finding a Five-Star Scone. </b>But, just as with the other 243 National Trust properties on this list, the most important thing about our visit to Divis has to be the scone. Abby had done a quick recce on arrival and informed me that they weren't any - on seeing my stricken face, she quickly admitted she was joking. There was a choice of fruit scones or cherry scones, and I'm happy to report that both varieties were excellent and scored 5 stars. </p><p>I am going to confess to you, though, that I did not take the photograph below. I'm ashamed to admit that for the very first time in 10 years, I forgot to follow the first rule of scone club: take the photo before you eat. Thankfully, I can refer you to 4) above - Jenny and her team recreated the scene for me and I can promise that this is a faithful reconstruction: </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw_PO1wyQQOJMdxaeGLA9rQSiphNFG_xNxo1lxuUVaE3_VVdwVcwUHZuaNatWB-pkLA7DUr9sJmfy2yxaSUtFegbBXPmt1yyFzU4eLBqeioyCA_gDb_nDhbW1FpTDAE9Os3aaWTSJhu1vpK-X_aZ5pygy2TPBYMFZqT8MpjVP4aDWB4z21bfYkZpZCtA/s685/divis-scone.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="515" data-original-width="685" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw_PO1wyQQOJMdxaeGLA9rQSiphNFG_xNxo1lxuUVaE3_VVdwVcwUHZuaNatWB-pkLA7DUr9sJmfy2yxaSUtFegbBXPmt1yyFzU4eLBqeioyCA_gDb_nDhbW1FpTDAE9Os3aaWTSJhu1vpK-X_aZ5pygy2TPBYMFZqT8MpjVP4aDWB4z21bfYkZpZCtA/s320/divis-scone.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>This project has definitely given me scones - hundreds of them, in fact - but it's also given me a lot of other things. And there's so much more - I just hope this blog post has given you a small sense of what small projects can offer.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><b>Divis & the Black Mountain: 5 out of 5<br /></b><b>Scone: 5 out of 5<br />Rescue Services of National Trust Staff Following Photo Fail: 5 out of 5<br /></b></div>National Trust Sconeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01097903022761280477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6954034038612600052.post-36002025574995145512023-01-21T03:41:00.004-08:002023-01-22T12:57:28.586-08:00Prior Park Revisited<p>It's funny how you always tend to remember the good bits of a day out. For example, I set off on my revisit to Prior Park Landscape Garden today remembering that it was easy to get there from Bath train station and that the centre of Bath itself is close by, with all the bonus loveliness of that.</p><p>What I had forgotten is that Prior Park is at the top of a steep hill. And when you get inside the park, you basically have to walk down the hill again before having to go all the way back up it again. And then when you leave, you have to walk down it again. In short: you basically spend a lot of time on a hill in Bath.</p><p>BUT! Don't let that put you off, because it's a lovely place and totally worth the Grand Old Duke of Yorking that you have to do. It was also very, very cold today so I was glad of the exercise, frankly.</p><p>I went back to Prior Park Landscape Garden today because they didn't have any scones the first time I visited in 2015 and I'm trying to give every property a fair go before I finally complete this project in February. The gardens were created by an exceptional man called Ralph Allen - you can read all about him in my first post about <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2015/11/prior-park-landscape-garden.html">Prior Park</a> so I won't repeat it here. </p><p>Last week's revisit to <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2023/01/hindhead-commons-scone.html">Hindhead Commons and the Devil's Punch Bowl</a> had been glorious - it was very cold but very sunny. Today I got the very cold bit:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZDr3HGhRzUqjsj-tvkvDGhVicmJQsD-W6HLzhaShRQDfkASe3misg52kfmTjgnoiAsmwV-_jYTws0YFLzW2_7L39OGkUGEkv01s_7ordXZfgMoWkbcHbR-vwCpCY8-KGH9NoVZ9y_ABkjiDQT3z1qfi5fmk1jJaXYvj8dqh10TeIiKxz71Rke405nVQ/s700/Palladian-Bridge-Prior-Park-Bath.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Palladian Bridge" border="0" data-original-height="525" data-original-width="700" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZDr3HGhRzUqjsj-tvkvDGhVicmJQsD-W6HLzhaShRQDfkASe3misg52kfmTjgnoiAsmwV-_jYTws0YFLzW2_7L39OGkUGEkv01s_7ordXZfgMoWkbcHbR-vwCpCY8-KGH9NoVZ9y_ABkjiDQT3z1qfi5fmk1jJaXYvj8dqh10TeIiKxz71Rke405nVQ/w320-h240/Palladian-Bridge-Prior-Park-Bath.jpeg" title="Palladian Bridge" width="320" /></a></div><p>But it didn't matter. The Palladian Bridge seems to look lovely in all weathers. </p><h3 style="text-align: left;">The Prior Park Scone</h3><div>The main thing I remembered about the Prior Park scone from 2015 was that they didn't have any. What I hadn't remembered (but my original blog post helpfully reminded me) is that I'd taken solace that day in a huge lump of carrot cake. So I was hopeful of some sort of baked treat. </div><div><br /></div><div>The other thing I recalled was that the refreshments at Prior Park had been right at the bottom of the hill, about as far away from the entrance as you could get. I had steeled myself for this today, so I was overjoyed when the woman at reception told me they'd moved it and it was now just a few short metres away. </div><div><br /></div><div>I walked around the corner and found the promised Tea Shed:</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQMUdLrjZRAhD9WhCM_-DP3fFS3K7E-KJ7iOpcPlhY8OCe0AvDgruiRRwvqSyhcKJeJR8vZy3Wa7eSQ5pgutbamUmJ9TMG08Y-iaiaV2nu07F3kdVXZoPPYkkMwwZbszgJfg62dcdoEDmfp4NriTqony4PJfBk3OVsO7l0D6q2po1q7lxQuH1-Sv97tA/s700/Tea-Shed-Prior-Park.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Prior Park Tea Shed" border="0" data-original-height="525" data-original-width="700" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQMUdLrjZRAhD9WhCM_-DP3fFS3K7E-KJ7iOpcPlhY8OCe0AvDgruiRRwvqSyhcKJeJR8vZy3Wa7eSQ5pgutbamUmJ9TMG08Y-iaiaV2nu07F3kdVXZoPPYkkMwwZbszgJfg62dcdoEDmfp4NriTqony4PJfBk3OVsO7l0D6q2po1q7lxQuH1-Sv97tA/w320-h240/Tea-Shed-Prior-Park.jpeg" title="Prior Park Tea Shed" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>It looked really lovely and inviting, despite the cold. However, I've been on this National Trust Scone Odyssey for a long time now and I can tell when scones are less likely to be on the menu. I prepared for the worst - and was delighted to be wrong. The Tea Shed offered a choice of fruit scone, plain scone or cheese scone. I plumped for fruit.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCnq35VdtAPKHyEO8HJnK2QKY_nssIRoKKCx3bkXSx50x-rrl5nMr5f3RCwtBtaykTpjFJnqRu1QYguQUpM2zwng3Qctv4SnR1gcqgWWQ1jMKdLjRVSxAMF5oqA5K1m6blv1Rimt3orLWd1FWkEixlys_caHBRdDqbvg8zjg74cTzRaEKqPBA6fKnx1g/s700/Prior-Park-Scone.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Prior Park scone" border="0" data-original-height="525" data-original-width="700" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCnq35VdtAPKHyEO8HJnK2QKY_nssIRoKKCx3bkXSx50x-rrl5nMr5f3RCwtBtaykTpjFJnqRu1QYguQUpM2zwng3Qctv4SnR1gcqgWWQ1jMKdLjRVSxAMF5oqA5K1m6blv1Rimt3orLWd1FWkEixlys_caHBRdDqbvg8zjg74cTzRaEKqPBA6fKnx1g/w320-h240/Prior-Park-Scone.jpeg" title="Prior Park scone" width="320" /></a></div><p>Clearing the frost off the table was a first for this project but it was worth it, because the scone was a triumph. It was very slightly warm and tasted delicious - I did waver very slightly on the score but in the end it had to be a 5 out of 5.</p><p>I have to tell you that the city of Bath has form for requiring revisits. My first visit to Bath Assembly Rooms in 2013 ended in scone failure, so <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2014/11/bath-assembly-rooms-revisited.html">the Scone Sidekick and I went back in 2014</a>. On that occasion we had a Bath Bun as well as a scone. Today I decided to buy another Bath Bun for old time's sake - I knew the Assembly Rooms were closed but I thought every bakery in Bath would serve them. Turns out they don't. But Bath is always an excellent day out, so I recommend a visit if you've never been. </p><p><b>Prior Park Landscape Garden: 4 out of 5<br /></b><b>Scone: 5 out of 5<br /></b><b>Prettiness of work of Jack Frost: 5 out of 5</b></p>National Trust Sconeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01097903022761280477noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6954034038612600052.post-66808237144206464582023-01-15T05:30:00.004-08:002023-01-15T12:01:27.218-08:00Hindhead Commons and the Devil's Punch Bowl RevisitedLet's begin this final year of the National Trust Scone Odyssey with a recap: so far, 243 National Trust properties have been visited. Only one place remains on the 'to visit' list. <div><div><br /></div><div>If you're wondering why I don't just go there now and get myself over the line, the final property is the Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland. And although I live under the Heathrow flight path and could probably get to Belfast quicker than I could get to Ipswich, I mentally need several months' notice if there's a plane involved.</div><div><br /></div><div>But it's actually very fortunate that I ended up with a few weeks on pause. I started doing my 'scone return' - totting up all the scores over the past 10 years and working out which counties had performed the best etc - when I noticed an anomaly.</div><div><br /></div><div>Basically, there are a small number of properties that have scored 0/5 for scones over the past decade. I hasten to add that in most cases this is because there never were any scones in the first place - there's no catering at the <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2022/03/beatles-childhood-homes.html">Beatles' Childhood Homes</a>, for example, or at <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2019/09/carlyles-house.html">Carlyle's House</a> in Chelsea. No scones were promised and none were expected, but we went there anyway. So we can discount those.</div><div><br /></div><div>But there were a tiny number of properties that scored 0/5 for other reasons. One of those reasons was that the cafe didn't have any scones when we visited, even though they appeared to have the facilities to do so. And this is where the anomaly occurs, because Hughenden didn't have any scones when we first went there in 2013, BUT WE WENT BACK in 2014. <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2014/12/hughenden-revisited.html">Hughenden therefore scored 4.5/5 for its scone</a> without any mention of the 0/5 on first asking.</div><div><br /></div><div>Is that truly fair, I asked myself. Is that truly fair on poor old <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2017/02/chedworth-roman-villa.html">Chedworth Roman Villa</a>, for example, who might have just been having an off day? </div><div><br /></div><div>So, because I'm a conscientious person, I have decided to revisit as many of the should-have-had-a-scone-but-didn't places as I can before the end of February.</div><div><br /></div><div>Which is all a very long way of explaining why I found myself back at Hindhead Commons and the Devil's Punch Bowl in Surrey today.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8IYoHjkaB1HAYs-uqP3qbqqA-aA8TxMlseNr5cdAbg2bc3vyP1QRbfYeAVa2LWinzsHRPlftFEJvXiAYIdfCHpaV8z-J20vIZAY7xavImhNkyDbW1gt8xwTFlkj6odPggjB0vA4FrgsIN_tHr6Nmr6fe2zCZKFYS5ic0ssGQ4mWUtEKcfa-h3e3-cNw/s700/hindhead-commons-views.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Hindhead Commons View" border="0" data-original-height="525" data-original-width="700" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8IYoHjkaB1HAYs-uqP3qbqqA-aA8TxMlseNr5cdAbg2bc3vyP1QRbfYeAVa2LWinzsHRPlftFEJvXiAYIdfCHpaV8z-J20vIZAY7xavImhNkyDbW1gt8xwTFlkj6odPggjB0vA4FrgsIN_tHr6Nmr6fe2zCZKFYS5ic0ssGQ4mWUtEKcfa-h3e3-cNw/w320-h240/hindhead-commons-views.jpeg" title="Hindhead Commons View" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>I'm not going to repeat everything I shared on my first visit to <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2014/10/hindhead-commons-devil-punch-bowl.html">Hindhead Commons and the Devil's Punch Bowl.</a> In that first post, you'll find the history of how the place got its name, mixed in with the history of the A3, and some stuff about mist.</div><div><br /></div><div>I did manage to find the gory stuff this time. There's a really good map that provides walking trails and I decided to change the habit of a lifetime and not pick the shortest one. This meant that I ended up covering a different part of the area and learning a few new factoids.</div><div><br /></div><div>This celtic cross below, for example, stands on Gibbet Hill, which is the second highest hill in Surrey (after <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2015/01/leith-hill.html">Leith Hill</a>). As the name suggests, it was once the site of a gibbet where murderers were executed and then left to rot as a warning to others. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRFiA6Nbhw_j7BoRFhvDK0lD-11EIcy5ZYj3X-eirMjaRpdk_HUpuFT41ZHxW-g_VY_-YMBkk78xlaZRM9VNABzbMPzmMUOefozEXCn-Lah7Q5_OEWIucp4d3i05w5vqslFWJwDmZ5rzF_Vw8CpJ4AwHNRSvZekHmlMlkT1ApRNIKukVwYYSLQ0fo6Sw/s700/celtic-cross-hindhead.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Celtic Cross Devils Punch Bowl" border="0" data-original-height="525" data-original-width="700" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRFiA6Nbhw_j7BoRFhvDK0lD-11EIcy5ZYj3X-eirMjaRpdk_HUpuFT41ZHxW-g_VY_-YMBkk78xlaZRM9VNABzbMPzmMUOefozEXCn-Lah7Q5_OEWIucp4d3i05w5vqslFWJwDmZ5rzF_Vw8CpJ4AwHNRSvZekHmlMlkT1ApRNIKukVwYYSLQ0fo6Sw/w320-h240/celtic-cross-hindhead.jpeg" title="Celtic Cross Devils Punch Bowl" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>The area used to be notorious for highwaymen but the most famous crime was the murder of a sailor by three men in 1786, which is commemorated by the Sailor's Stone:</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn7-k3cbTRSVsMzKpUBfBKu2L8PwbqWVn7JNp9EyakalvzKrEzYKZEn-n5gfwyYQiK01Dwv1S12jZ_of2XzaKUP7dSsa0U2okBAO7QFiCy6GWBHZQq1XrvWCdGmAEiqz4R4qkNg87KBLsBiNWxucqtkvkwqDPK5Ubzv5eY-4K7IKgoNjX-U-97q77mRw/s700/sailors-stone.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Sailor's Stone" border="0" data-original-height="525" data-original-width="700" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn7-k3cbTRSVsMzKpUBfBKu2L8PwbqWVn7JNp9EyakalvzKrEzYKZEn-n5gfwyYQiK01Dwv1S12jZ_of2XzaKUP7dSsa0U2okBAO7QFiCy6GWBHZQq1XrvWCdGmAEiqz4R4qkNg87KBLsBiNWxucqtkvkwqDPK5Ubzv5eY-4K7IKgoNjX-U-97q77mRw/w320-h240/sailors-stone.jpeg" title="Sailor's Stone" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>The men were hung on Gibbet Hill, having been tried by The Reverend James Fielding. He was the local magistrate, although he was also allegedly a highwayman according to the nearby sign, which is a bit baffling. </div><div><br /></div><div><h3 style="text-align: left;">The Hindhead Commons and Devil's Punch Bowl Scone</h3><div>Unusually for me, I was very optimistic that I'd get a scone today. When I went to HCADPB in 2014, the cafeteria was quite big (which is always a good sign) and they did actually have some scones in the oven. I cannot for the life of me remember why I didn't just wait for one. But today I didn't have to wait at all, as they had loads of scones, along with lots of other food.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhudFrSl4H6qFhlPrV0mdtPZ7HuHZC3ER_XWUO3-Qs3ZisIJrsH9eI0FuZlAkPmVu2o1cpuquZUcWFnsFDPuMYJTlO90wWPgQYWXWRXNHouQPoctwSwkFMdfY3tQjGzeoMIoqcXEAnRGYiZAmo40uDpCt3uyX65FQImH-4H0N7lgUVcdVgI7STsOD4YvQ/s700/hindhead-commons-scone.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Devil's Punch Bowl Scone" border="0" data-original-height="525" data-original-width="700" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhudFrSl4H6qFhlPrV0mdtPZ7HuHZC3ER_XWUO3-Qs3ZisIJrsH9eI0FuZlAkPmVu2o1cpuquZUcWFnsFDPuMYJTlO90wWPgQYWXWRXNHouQPoctwSwkFMdfY3tQjGzeoMIoqcXEAnRGYiZAmo40uDpCt3uyX65FQImH-4H0N7lgUVcdVgI7STsOD4YvQ/w320-h240/hindhead-commons-scone.jpeg" title="Devil's Punch Bowl Scone" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">My heart sank, though, when I cut into the scone. It was quite hard, it fell apart and I wasn't convinced that it was fresh. I was ready to give it a three and just be glad that it was an improvement on zero. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">But it turned out to be delicious. It had probably been baked for a bit longer than necessary, which meant it was slightly dry as well as a bit hard, but it was really tasty. I actually did wonder if it deserved a five but it was just a tad too crusty. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It's somehow even nicer to find a scone in a place where you failed the first time, so I'll hopefully enjoy these extra few bonus trips.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I'll end with a quote from Hugh Grant. (Well, not Hugh Grant exactly, but the character he plays in Love Actually.) In the voiceover he says "Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world, I think about the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport." Let me tell you now: you don't need to go to an airport. Just find a National Trust open space on a sunny day and watch all the people and dogs as they arrive by car, or by bike, or on foot. So much happiness. Especially when you get a scone. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>Hindhead Commons and the Devil's Punch Bowl: 5 out of 5</b></div><div><b>Scone: 4.5 out of 5</b></div><div><b>Dependability of me always having the wrong footwear in January: 5 out of 5</b></div></div></div>National Trust Sconeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01097903022761280477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6954034038612600052.post-90320612669190841492022-12-30T04:45:00.004-08:002022-12-30T05:26:07.089-08:00National Trust Highlights of 2022<h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">You have probably gathered by now that I am all about the scones. Anyone who has ever accompanied me to a National Trust property will have turned to me at some stage and said "Shall we have a look around first? Before we have a scone?", at which point they will have seen the look on my face and answered their own question with "OK, we'll have the scone first."</span></h4><div><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;">BUT! I visited 30 National Trust properties in 2022 and you don't visit 30 National Trust places without having additional adventures beyond the scone.</div><div><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-weight: 400;">So, having already announced my <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2022/12/national-trust-scone-of-year-2022.html">National Trust Scone of the Year</a>, I decided to highlight some of the other lovely things that I found on my NT travels this year.</span></div><div><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /></span></div><h4 style="text-align: left;">Non-NT Bonus Attraction of the Year - Winner</h4><div>It takes a lot of sacrifice and self-discipline to be a National Trust scone blogger. You have to be completely focused and not allow yourself to get distracted. But this year, I did permit myself to go off the NT track to achieve a life's ambition: while I was in Keighley visiting <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2022/02/east-riddlesden-hall.html">East Riddlesden Hall</a>, I stayed overnight in Haworth, home of the Brontë family. Due to Storm Eunice, I finally reached the museum in the Brontë Parsonage very late in the day but they were still open and let me walk around for ages. The bonus to the bonus was that I then spent a night in Wuthering Heights country with a storm battering at the windows. Highly, highly recommended.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNsCSfgv72rsA0QSxdtYJEhQmsbdyd91DC_LXmC70lR4Lfaw4FulUd1DuR2QvxkFfvmpaiJKFynG5-m0s2QXaNzB_YBXw_r1wj2j1M5nFkDN3Y7k5tQ3214Pg1NlJRF3nR4a7CtwPbpaXpsXOeL9C_gjVaa0TKgmtHPznHsjxvlJM20hbEPwvbHByFPQ/s700/haworth.JPEG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Haworth" border="0" data-original-height="525" data-original-width="700" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNsCSfgv72rsA0QSxdtYJEhQmsbdyd91DC_LXmC70lR4Lfaw4FulUd1DuR2QvxkFfvmpaiJKFynG5-m0s2QXaNzB_YBXw_r1wj2j1M5nFkDN3Y7k5tQ3214Pg1NlJRF3nR4a7CtwPbpaXpsXOeL9C_gjVaa0TKgmtHPznHsjxvlJM20hbEPwvbHByFPQ/w320-h240/haworth.JPEG" title="Haworth" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikslV9oQdF9fSud0GAVlkVNJ7BmJM67PTQHqTYjf_TOS3o99uHeOjc379tLglW3RbwZKdqFE74r0fvnqqbICR6-Xn3plaDJw42EzfGrJXhNgf_iMRNNxpsNqYHCCI26ltANI7OKrrapkvkn_coIMxFUrjsCyi9XpBbw7u2MfRqVpR3IrLAW3JU-hRBOg/s700/bronte-museum.JPEG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Bronte Museum" border="0" data-original-height="525" data-original-width="700" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikslV9oQdF9fSud0GAVlkVNJ7BmJM67PTQHqTYjf_TOS3o99uHeOjc379tLglW3RbwZKdqFE74r0fvnqqbICR6-Xn3plaDJw42EzfGrJXhNgf_iMRNNxpsNqYHCCI26ltANI7OKrrapkvkn_coIMxFUrjsCyi9XpBbw7u2MfRqVpR3IrLAW3JU-hRBOg/w320-h240/bronte-museum.JPEG" title="Bronte Museum" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><h4 style="text-align: left;">Non-NT Bonus Attraction of the Year - Runner Up</h4><div>I love my 19th century literature but you should never turn down the opportunity to meet a 1980s television icon. The Albert Dock didn't disappoint. I went there after my trip to the <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2022/03/beatles-childhood-homes.html">Beatles' Childhood Homes</a> and it looked almost exactly the same as it did in the days of Richard & Judy, minus the weather map. It was so good.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBwAPcgOEM4iip-H9kssrLSm7lGxDHDM-tgzIo5Qa5lxd01MpH1g5FXRT0-VYgodQ2qBSatYuD53CsUnSQfpMZWEOk6eNSsb6DieEzvYUFIsTbyGO72URgcYKtBQ8Xwc0Symwb622DU9qySxYOZWpGN2R4wQgOOdHFN5GR6Z7snEwSVbmAKHJE0uLeNQ/s700/albert-dock.JPEG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Albert Dock" border="0" data-original-height="525" data-original-width="700" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBwAPcgOEM4iip-H9kssrLSm7lGxDHDM-tgzIo5Qa5lxd01MpH1g5FXRT0-VYgodQ2qBSatYuD53CsUnSQfpMZWEOk6eNSsb6DieEzvYUFIsTbyGO72URgcYKtBQ8Xwc0Symwb622DU9qySxYOZWpGN2R4wQgOOdHFN5GR6Z7snEwSVbmAKHJE0uLeNQ/w320-h240/albert-dock.JPEG" title="Albert Dock" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><h4 style="text-align: left;">National Trust Useful Advice of the Year</h4><div>The National Trust has given me quite a lot of good advice this year: Don't feed the wild ponies on <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2022/09/lundy.html">Lundy Island</a>. Don't allow hateful, homophobic liars to go unchallenged. All very useful. But this, spotted on the wall at <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2022/08/knightshayes-scones.html">Knightshayes</a> in Devon, was my favourite. "Keep Thy Tongue & Keep Thy Friends" - the best advice you'll get this year, or any year. If anyone knows someone on the NT Merchandise team, let them know that I'm in the market for this on a mug, tea-towel and baseball cap.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHZi4c1u4_uDFfylZPF1VVz7msPxtxkG8euh9Bt_FMnAsz6sIBt_E4CmZCW679Gm1T0R0MfaEtsHXvW44gWyU0ZwbCV7NmflHGRMCjjRWVBXsxTV-kgVner2nuxNMZ6FhKGuOdUH_5kA0R4XzJ1Vxad3yjYP_3awi9ruDknJplpxZvVhCFmHOXJm0OlQ/s700/best-advice.JPEG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="National Trust Frieze Knightshayes" border="0" data-original-height="525" data-original-width="700" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHZi4c1u4_uDFfylZPF1VVz7msPxtxkG8euh9Bt_FMnAsz6sIBt_E4CmZCW679Gm1T0R0MfaEtsHXvW44gWyU0ZwbCV7NmflHGRMCjjRWVBXsxTV-kgVner2nuxNMZ6FhKGuOdUH_5kA0R4XzJ1Vxad3yjYP_3awi9ruDknJplpxZvVhCFmHOXJm0OlQ/w320-h240/best-advice.JPEG" title="National Trust Frieze Knightshayes" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div><h4>National Trust Hero of the Year</h4><div>The easiest award of the year, which is shared by two excellent people. First up: a man who made Twitter brilliant in 2022. In April, Huw Davies set off on a National Trust odyssey that blew my mind - he attempted to visit every single NT property in one year by bike. He talked about his project at the NT AGM in November - <a href="https://national_trust_agm_2022.jwpapp.com/m/S6Hd480x/huw-davies-tour-on-two-wheels?list=zCXboL39" target="_blank">you can hear what he had to say here</a> - or you can scroll through his Twitter feed, <a href="https://mobile.twitter.com/NTByBike " target="_blank">NTByBike</a>. Amazing work.</div><p style="text-align: left;">But Twitter can also be an absolute hellhole, which is why my joint National Trust Hero of the Year is Celia Richardson, the NT Director of Communications. If she ever gets invited on Who Do You Think You Are, I fully expect her to discover a family tree that includes Viking warriors, winners of the Nobel Peace Prize, jazz-hand waggling tap dancers, and stand-up comedians. A total hero.</p><h4><b>Scone Companion of the Year</b></h4><div>And finally, we come to my Scone Companion of the Year. I had <b>a lot </b>of help in 2022. My family came to the rescue for <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2022/11/sandilands.html">Sandilands</a> near Mablethorpe. My friend Justine came to <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2020/01/dunstable-downs.html">Dunstable Downs</a>, while Kathy helped out loads, especially with our trip to <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2022/08/east-soar.html">East Soar</a> in Devon. Sarah-Jane and Steph stepped in several times, especially for the far-flung properties like <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2020/01/plas-yn-rhiw.html">Plas yn Rhiw</a>, when I would often lose hope that I would ever finish. I thank them all for their support.</div><div><br /></div><div>But there's only one man who can win National Trust Scone Companion of 2022, and that is Ole the dog. Ole is like a celebrity to me. His happy little face cheered me up so much back in the tough times of 2020, when his devoted family shared photos of him celebrating VE Day or doing a bit of DIY (see <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2020/12/best-national-trust-scone-of-2020.html">my summary of 2020</a>). I am so grateful to Corinne and Simon for coming to meet me at <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2022/11/dinefwr-scone.html">Dinefwr</a> in November and bringing Ole along - it was the perfect end to the year.</div><div><br /></div><div>Below is a photo of me excitedly holding Ole's lead with Corinne and Simon. As you can see, Ole took it all in his stride:</div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxdXesddiqmaTwVTi0x-oPOChD30YYFIm2bKY1RD8vjKKpE3D8q8V_nEPqifmUcqFsjnl9UjMXa_VFURadtfXM2NQTdG8f80ZS4tUCOZgz6UzYmpm-JRarBuoFOu7WMM_YWwmVqOO90BLdumhB3M2BdvjEFOjG9ZDMKww96po1kJVpAoaO5ypiXryDRg/s933/IMG_5131.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="National Trust Scone Blogger" border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="700" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxdXesddiqmaTwVTi0x-oPOChD30YYFIm2bKY1RD8vjKKpE3D8q8V_nEPqifmUcqFsjnl9UjMXa_VFURadtfXM2NQTdG8f80ZS4tUCOZgz6UzYmpm-JRarBuoFOu7WMM_YWwmVqOO90BLdumhB3M2BdvjEFOjG9ZDMKww96po1kJVpAoaO5ypiXryDRg/w240-h320/IMG_5131.JPG" title="National Trust Scone Blogger" width="240" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>And that's it for 2022! Stay tuned for my final visit to the Giant's Causeway in February, after which this National Trust Scone Quest will be complete! In the meantime, a very, very Happy New Year to you all! </div>National Trust Sconeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01097903022761280477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6954034038612600052.post-58458923124963938682022-12-27T01:30:00.002-08:002022-12-28T09:58:39.607-08:00National Trust Scone of the Year 2022<p style="text-align: left;">It's back! National Trust Scone of the Year is back, back, BACK! I didn't choose a scone of 2020, as I'd only visited a few properties and couldn't face it after ten terrible months. And then I only managed one single scone in the whole of 2021, so any awards that year would have been rubbish.</p><p>But I made up for it in 2022. I visited 30 - yes THIRTY! - new National Trust places and found a scone at most of them. I now have only one - yes ONE! - National Trust scone to go and then this project will be complete.</p><p>And so, without further ado, here are my top five National Trust scones of 2022, in reverse order:</p><p>5. <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2022/09/castle-drogo-scones.html">Castle Drogo</a></p><p>At number 5 for 2022: it's <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2022/09/castle-drogo-scones.html">Castle Drogo</a> in Devon. It was the last stop on a mini road trip and the clock was showing 3pm by the time I arrived. I'll tell you now that 3pm is basically the witching hour in scone world, as you never know what you're going to get: you might find a scone, or you might be faced with a pile of crumbs and some heartfelt apologies from cafe staff who look like they've fought off a plague of locusts. Anyway: Castle Drogo is a proper tourist attraction with a big cafeteria and the scone was lovely. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0pl7hSoBdt1wW0Xw0tsCgDJr2jauRA_tkgm2VbYLJ3PQx-xtO28hzse8oNjiGP88rIFSmf-ZpP6a3Yz_s-oQPB7ac25j0HhD63L39SmdLs_nG_I8ibOXuieDuoohrEzfP7gic2tir8PxQV2AcwDF0PvhyJcW0Ryprp0WuEPkWYGgkxb5vDcKh5o-jxg/s700/castle-drogo-scone-of-the-year.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="525" data-original-width="700" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0pl7hSoBdt1wW0Xw0tsCgDJr2jauRA_tkgm2VbYLJ3PQx-xtO28hzse8oNjiGP88rIFSmf-ZpP6a3Yz_s-oQPB7ac25j0HhD63L39SmdLs_nG_I8ibOXuieDuoohrEzfP7gic2tir8PxQV2AcwDF0PvhyJcW0Ryprp0WuEPkWYGgkxb5vDcKh5o-jxg/s320/castle-drogo-scone-of-the-year.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p>4. <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2020/01/godolphin.html">Godolphin</a></p><p>I absolutely LOVED <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2020/01/godolphin.html">Godolphin</a> in Cornwall. There are many, many reasons for this - you can read all about them in the blog post - but to summarise: the scone was top-draw and the cafe is called The Piggery as it used to be a pig sty. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXy1ImP8ggh2iErFTIQzzcxicg5s01tIMy9u1x1qRUkkyk2RrDdMqGNlyx9hSIeCwXBZH7zREtF72roQuV0aJTOWYsaFTBorSDnwOK14owZf3PkvItOROb5yeyjxaszFo50XSfTJLZb_hjG5cdukVeLgvq7LY2ABJtUxoii882RQ6JGjOzYqPrJt98xw/s700/godolphin-scone-of-the-year.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="525" data-original-width="700" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXy1ImP8ggh2iErFTIQzzcxicg5s01tIMy9u1x1qRUkkyk2RrDdMqGNlyx9hSIeCwXBZH7zREtF72roQuV0aJTOWYsaFTBorSDnwOK14owZf3PkvItOROb5yeyjxaszFo50XSfTJLZb_hjG5cdukVeLgvq7LY2ABJtUxoii882RQ6JGjOzYqPrJt98xw/s320/godolphin-scone-of-the-year.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p>3. <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2022/02/east-riddlesden-hall.html">East Riddlesden Hall</a></p><p>I was so desperate to finish this project in 2022 that I went to <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2022/02/east-riddlesden-hall.html">East Riddlesden</a> in Yorkshire during Storm Eunice. This gave me the added bonus of spending a very atmospheric night in Brontë country listening to the wind absolutely tearing at the windows. It also meant that I probably purchased East Riddlesden's first scone of their entire year, which was a bit of a risk. But it turned out to be delicious. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo5wuqWSeyqn4WpwcnJEmvyoJ-Q-dZOxp46c8tqE42s4xyegMOtBZ6822fwZgTDU_kjNB9v3n7UGF2CegDIZ2QiObfF1bP8hJxW9CchxLgSGn2SrtMwbVVZDqscP1nCFXGnTAA-ytAn5iIPeZLjDMO6ytX_rXGXgXV1a3GTfwjvVGRkKS8FoXqTLinTg/s700/east-riddlesden-scone-of-the-year.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="525" data-original-width="700" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo5wuqWSeyqn4WpwcnJEmvyoJ-Q-dZOxp46c8tqE42s4xyegMOtBZ6822fwZgTDU_kjNB9v3n7UGF2CegDIZ2QiObfF1bP8hJxW9CchxLgSGn2SrtMwbVVZDqscP1nCFXGnTAA-ytAn5iIPeZLjDMO6ytX_rXGXgXV1a3GTfwjvVGRkKS8FoXqTLinTg/s320/east-riddlesden-scone-of-the-year.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p>2. <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2020/01/ormesby-hall-weekday-early-feb.html">Ormesby Hall</a></p><p><a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2020/01/ormesby-hall-weekday-early-feb.html">Ormesby Hall</a> near Middlesbrough gets second place on my list because of its excellent scone. But I loved the place - from its train sets to the down-to-earth brilliance of its former owner, it had so much to offer. It was completely worth the 500-mile round trip - it was one of the longest I've attempted in a single day (only <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2022/10/crook-hall-scones.html">Crook Hall Gardens</a> in Durham, another excellent scone also covered this year, was further).</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifQbffBiphflnHAuDvYjJ6f6S2PFO0_kGIB-7R6WxnsPY2ycQbLS8cY0Y4X80Y-C68kY2zdmzyL-nQ4-KAhen5EMO08-oQNJdjs7fKcFXhZR_lCbcpbpSbvBTPHoJedRdi7sCvXNU6yMDmn3mQwemFAFj-UJKp0u_GyU6qnAVI1kXIVcCdcFxi3xVkWA/s700/ormesby-scone-of-the-year.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="525" data-original-width="700" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifQbffBiphflnHAuDvYjJ6f6S2PFO0_kGIB-7R6WxnsPY2ycQbLS8cY0Y4X80Y-C68kY2zdmzyL-nQ4-KAhen5EMO08-oQNJdjs7fKcFXhZR_lCbcpbpSbvBTPHoJedRdi7sCvXNU6yMDmn3mQwemFAFj-UJKp0u_GyU6qnAVI1kXIVcCdcFxi3xVkWA/s320/ormesby-scone-of-the-year.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p>1. <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2022/01/ilam-park-dovedale-and-white-peak.html">Ilam Park</a></p><p>But my National Trust Scone of the Year for 2022 has to be <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2022/01/ilam-park-dovedale-and-white-peak.html">Ilam Park, Dovedale and the White Peak</a> in Derbyshire. My first outing of the year is usually a complete catastrophe so I'm very pleased that this final year proved to be the exception. It was a fantastic scone that got a unanimous 5 out of 5 from the panel. Well done to Ilam!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh63RK0wybDDl83yArCVFpMQwZA2APSMU4ADsSFs7XbG1Z_LCoTkoGkZILwflmb6BRmrxT_GPchQ45nzl3ycWtclOzAE92zHHLaARIJCcsbK--SAVJ_NlUaMbBTTJbB3POOUaDYFJmXJfYG78X6AIM2eG8ww-HqqSFEjsZK8uAS1R0pn_HgC6ZrwIJD-Q/s700/ilam-scone-of-the-year.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="525" data-original-width="700" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh63RK0wybDDl83yArCVFpMQwZA2APSMU4ADsSFs7XbG1Z_LCoTkoGkZILwflmb6BRmrxT_GPchQ45nzl3ycWtclOzAE92zHHLaARIJCcsbK--SAVJ_NlUaMbBTTJbB3POOUaDYFJmXJfYG78X6AIM2eG8ww-HqqSFEjsZK8uAS1R0pn_HgC6ZrwIJD-Q/s320/ilam-scone-of-the-year.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p>Ilam joins an illustrious group of previous winners of this coveted title:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>2019: <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2019/08/fell-foot.html">Fell Foot</a>, Cumbria</li><li>2018: <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2018/05/shugborough-estate.html">Shugborough</a>, Staffordshire</li><li>2017: <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2017/03/the-needles-old-battery.html">Needles Old Battery</a>, Isle of Wight</li><li>2016: Cornwall (several properties including <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2016/04/boscastle.html">Boscastle</a>)</li><li>2015: <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2015/06/the-white-cliffs-of-dover.html">White Cliffs of Dover</a> & <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2015/06/south-foreland-lighthouse.html">South Foreland Lighthouse</a>, Kent</li><li>2014: <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2014/03/dunwich-heath.html">Dunwich Heath</a>, Suffolk</li><li>2013: <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2013/11/flatford-bridge-cottage.html">Flatford Bridge Cottage</a>, Suffolk</li></ul><p></p><p>That's almost it for 2022. More importantly, that's also almost it for this entire project. I only have one more scone to go - the Giant's Causeway in Co Antrim will be my 250th National Trust property and will mark the end of this 10 year odyssey. I'm really looking forward to that trip but I'm also really sad that it's almost at an end. </p><p>As usual, my heartfelt thanks go to everyone that has supported this quest this year. I am beyond grateful to everyone that has read the blog posts or been part of the National Trust Scone community on <a href="https://twitter.com/nt_scones" target="_blank">Twitter</a> or <a href="https://www.instagram.com/nt_scones" target="_blank">Instagram</a> or <a href="https://en-gb.facebook.com/nationaltrustscones/" target="_blank">Facebook</a>. Thank you all!</p>National Trust Sconeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01097903022761280477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6954034038612600052.post-88417663609009322892022-11-20T03:55:00.007-08:002022-11-26T23:48:07.388-08:00DinefwrSo we've come to the penultimate mission of this National Trust Scone Odyssey. Dinefwr (pronounced Din-ever) was left til almost last for one good reason: it was really hard for me to get there. <div><div><br /></div><div>But the time had come and I was READY - ready for the 5-hour train journey to the Brecon Beacons, and even more ready for the unavoidable overnight stay, looking forward to the many things I don't get in London - fresh air, total darkness while sleeping, people you don't know saying "morning!" to you etc.</div><div><br /></div><div>However, I cannot tell you how relieved I was when Corinne, a member of the much beloved National Trust Scone Twitter community, said they'd come with me. By 'they' I mean Corinne, her husband Simon, and my favourite dog in the world, Ole (pronounced Olly).</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5aqd1KD48EjvQevIBR0b4XY41qkh5UGJwVg83AhkZkYGMxGvOoj3RdrxN2LSyQXmhFL7FSpG4hamatsnXfbwySxrQXArneQZ9nkLKhj4CKXjPESdqjv3kcrlQfNuznuEefFYNnE4d_rQiQcb2o1eRvY5tH2s7O_GVcWXeQZY76SciudS0gDfN8BzW3Q/s700/dinefwr-castle.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Dinefwr Castle" border="0" data-original-height="525" data-original-width="700" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5aqd1KD48EjvQevIBR0b4XY41qkh5UGJwVg83AhkZkYGMxGvOoj3RdrxN2LSyQXmhFL7FSpG4hamatsnXfbwySxrQXArneQZ9nkLKhj4CKXjPESdqjv3kcrlQfNuznuEefFYNnE4d_rQiQcb2o1eRvY5tH2s7O_GVcWXeQZY76SciudS0gDfN8BzW3Q/w320-h240/dinefwr-castle.png" title="Dinefwr Castle" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;">Before I get on with the history and the all-important scone, I have to tell you that I set off from my little AirBnB in Llandeilo feeling a lot sadder than I expected. I will 1000% continue to visit the National Trust once this project is finished but this was my 243rd visit and it felt like the end of something.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">And then, as I walked up the drive towards the house, I was overtaken by Santa. And then another Santa. And then another, until a whole pack of Santas was streaming past me on a fun run. All that was missing was for them to link arms and start singing Always Look on the Bright Side of Life and I'd have thought it was a set-up.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnj-TipXsiyFR1TgznDTTLBCeG6MvmbZ3xTsOB1tkKfwn5PlGGj_CCCEx6PuMHMRULV4KY8lCUm-Vwv_LHFmD5WIfpA446MutWoyLJi4YcafIn9St0XiQq4moSMsyo0WnJypGgAA1xrxhcJfdLaftKXPP1ZQhljrg1fpVn-uEMiXNWetf4GXVHNcL3zg/s800/dinefwr-santa-fun-run.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Santa Fun Run Dinefwr" border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnj-TipXsiyFR1TgznDTTLBCeG6MvmbZ3xTsOB1tkKfwn5PlGGj_CCCEx6PuMHMRULV4KY8lCUm-Vwv_LHFmD5WIfpA446MutWoyLJi4YcafIn9St0XiQq4moSMsyo0WnJypGgAA1xrxhcJfdLaftKXPP1ZQhljrg1fpVn-uEMiXNWetf4GXVHNcL3zg/w320-h240/dinefwr-santa-fun-run.png" title="Santa Fun Run Dinefwr" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Anyway. Having been reminded not to take things quite so seriously, let me tell you a bit about Dinefwr:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Dinefwr played an important role in Welsh history</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">Dinefwr in medieval times was the capital of Deheubarth, one of the largest kingdoms in Wales. Deheubarth had been created by Hywel Dda and included Pembrokeshire, the Gower and other parts of South Wales. It was disbanded in 1197, when Rhys ap Gruffudd (otherwise known as the Lord Rhys) died and split his kingdom between his sons. The Lord Rhys had been one of the most powerful figures in the history of Wales, strengthening his power base during times of Anglo-Norman aggression and building trust with Henry II. That all collapsed after Rhys's death.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>The ruins of Dinefwr Castle remain </b></div><div style="text-align: left;">The castle was built in the 13th century. It's thought that Rhys Gryg, grandson of the Lord Rhys, built the round tower and curtain walls. The ruined castle today is not National Trust - it's owned by Cadw, the Welsh version of English Heritage - but you can wander round areas of its ramparts.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfYOEOYzq9ey7G62GY_EKa0Srr-RTUhyuZI8MpDeeWNMkrofQLpO9Wm4eZ2AUQuOmOXbEvxH6TcTI-BSvIGL_MxrwvZpr52Mgo1FWmMTAOjTiy10THUS_CobjJ0lMfaS0u3jjEcHXwi7zLHOR3KQMo0c4EpFE9lpNqifV8mN8-ygfo5cb4I68HvdM4xA/s800/dinefwr-castle.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Dinefwr Castle Inside" border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfYOEOYzq9ey7G62GY_EKa0Srr-RTUhyuZI8MpDeeWNMkrofQLpO9Wm4eZ2AUQuOmOXbEvxH6TcTI-BSvIGL_MxrwvZpr52Mgo1FWmMTAOjTiy10THUS_CobjJ0lMfaS0u3jjEcHXwi7zLHOR3KQMo0c4EpFE9lpNqifV8mN8-ygfo5cb4I68HvdM4xA/w320-h240/dinefwr-castle.png" title="Dinefwr Castle Inside" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Edward I took possession of Dinefwr in 1277</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">During the conquest of Wales, Edward I took ownership of Dinefwr. Rhys ap Maredudd, the Lord Rhys's great-grandson, tried to take it back but failed and was hanged, drawn and quartered for his efforts.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div><b>Gruffydd ap Nicolas acquired Dinefwr but then it went wrong</b></div><div>Gruffydd ap Nicolas took on the lease of Dinefwr in 1440. His grandson, Rhys ap Thomas, sided with Henry during the War of the Roses and the family continued to prosper. But Rhys's son died young and his grandson (also Rhys) made some powerful enemies and ended up being executed for treason. The property was taken by the Crown again.</div><div><br /></div><div><div><b>Walter Rice bought Dinefwr back</b></div><div>Executed Rhys's son, Griffith Rice, was brought up in England, hence the anglicisation of the family name at this point. He started the effort to restore the family's reputation and he succeeded, as his son Walter was knighted by James I. Walter bought Dinefwr castle in 1635. Around 1659 his grandson, Edward, started work on what was to become Newton House: </div></div><div><br /></div></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifw6Zi1LCxip0pVAWB97unD6tlwQZc46ALpJ3N3fgyY67dFp2h06Mf9UDrtuPj4txt79wsDI5gnSCH1_LOv0V7_5JCgcWkcnTL37D6Z1aovyV_-o4REJp61oZ33at9B2OwRwyIKfy1t9zcIXnuGQBQh5WKtK8-74r7yi_Pv-U-K8P7T9bXY9iSkfJ0Cw/s700/dinefwr-newton-house.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Dinefwr Newton House" border="0" data-original-height="525" data-original-width="700" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifw6Zi1LCxip0pVAWB97unD6tlwQZc46ALpJ3N3fgyY67dFp2h06Mf9UDrtuPj4txt79wsDI5gnSCH1_LOv0V7_5JCgcWkcnTL37D6Z1aovyV_-o4REJp61oZ33at9B2OwRwyIKfy1t9zcIXnuGQBQh5WKtK8-74r7yi_Pv-U-K8P7T9bXY9iSkfJ0Cw/w320-h240/dinefwr-newton-house.png" title="Dinefwr Newton House" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div><div><b>George Talbot Rice became Baron Dynevor</b></div><div>In 1756, the latest Rice heir married Cecil Talbot, the daughter of Baron Dynevor (the anglicised spelling of Dinefwr). Their son, George Talbot Rice, therefore became the 3rd Baron Dynevor.</div></div><div><br /></div><div><div><b>Richard Dynevor loved the arts</b></div><div>The ninth Baron Dynevor founded a publishing company, the Black Raven Press, and the Dynevor Arts Festival in the 1960s. He also began negotiations with the National Trust but they proved unsuccessful. The house was sold off before eventually being acquired by the NT in 1990, while Cadw took on the castle.</div><div><br /></div></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">The Dinefwr Scone</h3><div>The cafe at Dinefwr is lovely. It's inside the house, with plenty of tables and a relaxed and friendly atmosphere. It also has a serving hatch, for anyone looking for a cup of tea on the go. The scone itself was tasty - it wasn't fresh and it fell apart a bit but it had been well-baked. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhi-5ZzTzc32heEpzhOsSZixn6zb7tToFIjVsgyGUY6DTF8JjIlXjKP85LxmHZQ1Pzg0qpOhASA1j-SD_ZrxlJ3860DRtpnyE4UPNudISva9EPiAcLlWA_peWtQhjOdNNfJJsUysMcgqBqYJBPYS6n94892D7thXIRRRSIFLWP2-PdhwnZA52JgH3C7g/s700/dinefwr-scone.JPEG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Dinefwr Scone" border="0" data-original-height="525" data-original-width="700" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhi-5ZzTzc32heEpzhOsSZixn6zb7tToFIjVsgyGUY6DTF8JjIlXjKP85LxmHZQ1Pzg0qpOhASA1j-SD_ZrxlJ3860DRtpnyE4UPNudISva9EPiAcLlWA_peWtQhjOdNNfJJsUysMcgqBqYJBPYS6n94892D7thXIRRRSIFLWP2-PdhwnZA52JgH3C7g/w320-h240/dinefwr-scone.JPEG" title="Dinefwr Scone" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Ole, of course, has been pursuing his own project over the past few years, namely National Trust Ice Creams. I'm pleased to report that he wasn't disappointed today and tucked in with great enthusiasm:</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifpUICCUz1O62jsgvzrlr3XgpHSEsUXgNyDe1t8d-oeRTTdYCWH-OCZ3SdUdtjJmOVQAY9GCSjCkVB5owJhAs9na9tN3Hx3IzTHhlnB1zWHg_-5B39eKJaHwR6JxdyjkV3HGOVUPTIcc2vg0ERDJ23uvHoPj6L5olPDH9Lfn6OIS673PjYWgz5DYJU_Q/s800/Dinefwr-Cafe.JPEG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Ole Ice Cream Fan" border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifpUICCUz1O62jsgvzrlr3XgpHSEsUXgNyDe1t8d-oeRTTdYCWH-OCZ3SdUdtjJmOVQAY9GCSjCkVB5owJhAs9na9tN3Hx3IzTHhlnB1zWHg_-5B39eKJaHwR6JxdyjkV3HGOVUPTIcc2vg0ERDJ23uvHoPj6L5olPDH9Lfn6OIS673PjYWgz5DYJU_Q/w320-h240/Dinefwr-Cafe.JPEG" title="Ole Ice Cream Fan" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>It was great that Corinne and Simon were part of today's mission because it gives me a chance to thank them. I think I said it all in my <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2020/12/">National Trust Scone 2020 Review</a> but I'll repeat it: Ole has been the happiest, loveliest presence in the National Trust Scone Twitter Community for years but in 2020 he upped the ante and basically became my virtual support dog. The photos that Corinne shared of him (Ole doing some decorating, Ole celebrating 75 years since VE day etc) made us all a bit more cheerful during a challenging year. I'm very grateful to Corinne and Simon for sharing him with us, and for coming with me today.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1Iydb1Evbnfy0GFpaqOxXjCXH9A2HH5ZV1XMTKPR99Zcvhn1_nDHQPhBuZnD4gyCfanK1RProQb-RPugoaDi2TJzhAQO55pdMAdZmtLKiUcuG-oFKwfcGzj3o9Ic960SIdfzl5QcQbXSd5hCyMSLxUSpqG9LUW4K31yNSwIAgfwkJcHRXrM4VLyrQQw/s320/ole-sconepal.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Sconepal Ole" border="0" data-original-height="296" data-original-width="320" height="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1Iydb1Evbnfy0GFpaqOxXjCXH9A2HH5ZV1XMTKPR99Zcvhn1_nDHQPhBuZnD4gyCfanK1RProQb-RPugoaDi2TJzhAQO55pdMAdZmtLKiUcuG-oFKwfcGzj3o9Ic960SIdfzl5QcQbXSd5hCyMSLxUSpqG9LUW4K31yNSwIAgfwkJcHRXrM4VLyrQQw/w320-h296/ole-sconepal.png" title="Sconepal Ole" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /><div>I have to say that Dinefwr was a perfect choice for one of my last National Trust scone visits. It gave me a house, a ruined castle, a large estate for walking, a scone, and a very complicated family history that had my brain twisted into knots - pretty much summing up my NT experience over the past 10 years. It was also a really enjoyable day out with lovely friends that I wouldn't have met without this project.</div><div><br /></div><div>That's 243 properties completed. I now only have the Giant's Causeway to go. I'll be heading over there in the spring. In the meantime, I'm going to give the blog a winter tidy-up and do some looking back on my adventures so far.</div></div><br /><div><b>Dinefwr: 5 out of 5 </b></div><div><b>Scone: 4.5 out of 5</b></div><div><b>Day out with Corinne, Simon and Ole: 500 out of 5</b></div></div></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>Other Welsh scone missions! <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2015/08/tredegar-house.html">Tredegar House</a>, <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2018/07/dyffryn-gardens.html">Dyffryn</a>, <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2015/01/aberdulais-tin-works.html">Aberdulais Tin Works</a>, <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2020/01/plas-yn-rhiw.html">Plas yn Rhiw</a>, <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2020/09/colby-woodland-garden.html">Colby Woodland Garden</a>, <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2020/01/stackpole.html">Stackpole</a>, <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2019/04/erddig.html">Erddig</a>, <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2018/04/chirk-castle.html">Chirk Castle</a>, <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2017/04/bodnant-garden.html">Bodnant Garden</a>, <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2016/07/plas-newydd.html">Plas Newydd</a>, <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2016/07/penrhyn-castle.html">Penrhyn Castle</a>, <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2015/10/powis-castle.html">Powis Castle</a></b></div>National Trust Sconeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01097903022761280477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6954034038612600052.post-44238038079128025472022-11-12T12:35:00.003-08:002022-11-18T10:59:16.987-08:00Sandilands<p>I was scrolling through social media a few weeks ago when I saw the words "baristas" "training" "National Trust" and "exciting news next week". I don't want to say that I went into a panic but I went into a panic.</p><p>I discovered that <a href="https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/sandilands" target="_blank">Sandilands</a>, a former golf course near Mablethorpe that the National Trust acquired in 2020, was opening a temporary tea facility. I went into Sherlock Holmes mode, examining the photos for any signs of scones. </p><p>I couldn't see any. Surely a temporary tea kiosk wouldn't serve scones? The <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/p/national-trust-scone-project-rules.html">Rules of the National Trust Scone Blog</a> clearly state that if there are no scones, I don't need to include the property in this quest.</p><p>But I was wrong. The ever-helpful Sconepals did some slightly more in-depth investigating and let me know that scones were indeed on the menu. There was only one thing for it - I had to go to Mablethorpe.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqYy_g_fgMWu1vprkf1QCUU2uL4vl-0p7imMwxbhkM3Y2jyQLjkFuExy9lo3E574zhg2ULxC-eMfpVXgtB3KZbDdJnS4Z5jQvzX1fdgkwjQiFYpWD2yFkOZu2DQugvSyoaTiVamnF8O3gF-OUzITCR3uD0ijE6X86rTHBWsVW91CvmSZBoRmFgxLoZcg/s1000/Sandilands-Tea-Kiosk.JPEG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Sandilands Tea Kiosk" border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqYy_g_fgMWu1vprkf1QCUU2uL4vl-0p7imMwxbhkM3Y2jyQLjkFuExy9lo3E574zhg2ULxC-eMfpVXgtB3KZbDdJnS4Z5jQvzX1fdgkwjQiFYpWD2yFkOZu2DQugvSyoaTiVamnF8O3gF-OUzITCR3uD0ijE6X86rTHBWsVW91CvmSZBoRmFgxLoZcg/w320-h240/Sandilands-Tea-Kiosk.JPEG" title="Sandilands Tea Kiosk" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>A National Trust tea room on wheels. A potential game-changer.</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div><div>The National Trust is turning Sandilands into a nature reserve. It will cover 74 acres and will take years to complete. I have to say that although there wasn't much to see, it was interesting to see it in its formative state and know that in a few years it'll look totally different.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfFdVnJql5M_bEA-e8DzEAmdkDIi4wrkm8OvFwz8dhLrHXnuo6I5KfBXuKOmbFSYJlSAk0wMLjkl72-H0_cBHe1M0vUQQ2xBiS7Y6V1CDRwxLvd6Z638p5t9fnt7L7DLXJ33tm6vZvdFkYqQ_l3JpT75Us8dalArDAImv3AsmBWmOBEBsYZ_uV3hnL5Q/s1000/Sandilands.JPEG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Sandilands" border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfFdVnJql5M_bEA-e8DzEAmdkDIi4wrkm8OvFwz8dhLrHXnuo6I5KfBXuKOmbFSYJlSAk0wMLjkl72-H0_cBHe1M0vUQQ2xBiS7Y6V1CDRwxLvd6Z638p5t9fnt7L7DLXJ33tm6vZvdFkYqQ_l3JpT75Us8dalArDAImv3AsmBWmOBEBsYZ_uV3hnL5Q/w320-h240/Sandilands.JPEG" title="Sandilands" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;">However, it does mean that there isn't a huge amount I can tell you about the place today. I can tell you that it was a links golf course with a par of 70 and a standard scratch of 69. I don't know what that latter part means but it might mean something to you.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">It's a sad story though, as the golf club had almost reached its 125th year anniversary when it ran into financial difficulties and had to close. It's in a lovely spot though and it's good to know that the National Trust will be looking after it.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">The Sandilands Scone</h3><div>I decided to throw myself on the mercy of my family for this outing. They live in Northamptonshire, which was a blessing - Mablethorpe is one of their 'local' seaside resorts, even though it's over 2 hours away. </div><div><br /></div><div>Even so, I broached the subject with a heavy heart, wondering a) how I was going to sell a trip to the seaside in November and b) what I was going to do if they said no. </div><div><br /></div><div>But I was in luck, thanks to a very bizarre coincidence. It turned out that my sister's partner had had a dream many years ago that he went to Mablethorpe and journeyed around it on a monorail. He'd been looking for a reason to visit the place ever since and now I was giving him that reason. </div><div><br /></div><div>Sadly, I couldn't give him his monorail, as there wasn't one. But we did have the beach, 2p slot machines, a seal sanctuary, fish and chips and a lot more besides. </div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTvrTm3UEfyZrgJO_d8Z-O1HiwXEYc7D79SvqGApdpv5-hvsUIHQFHo24ibx8X0YHOvnJ5pBVQCWRShaJBUHWdgLiez6pBD__FOxr2PbtN7R3KmZJeBqjQLiRAPhchrTzo4Se7mkkwQC15B-4jheGABM8j9fKIpgr7Ea_NTmoN9udKmzoMl2x6huvTEA/s1000/Scone-Blogger.JPEG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Scone Blogger" border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTvrTm3UEfyZrgJO_d8Z-O1HiwXEYc7D79SvqGApdpv5-hvsUIHQFHo24ibx8X0YHOvnJ5pBVQCWRShaJBUHWdgLiez6pBD__FOxr2PbtN7R3KmZJeBqjQLiRAPhchrTzo4Se7mkkwQC15B-4jheGABM8j9fKIpgr7Ea_NTmoN9udKmzoMl2x6huvTEA/w320-h240/Scone-Blogger.JPEG" title="Scone Blogger" width="320" /></a></div><br /></div><div>The main event though was the Sandilands scone. It wasn't fresh but it was big and tasty. For the first time ever though, I found myself paying more attention to the toasted sandwiches that were on offer. In my defence, it was chilly and scones are not known for warming you up on a cold day. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh17Uq9g0j2BTJWCR7z6Ur6GYrZcvTgKlMuLbf7WT-oMUoHnR8H8vNgZLMTJNmEERgEo65IfOMWE17GpHn0xmz2fZKQt13fJsqFRnwO9qerxJbZ1PtETLmFIy9sm8te9Q-Huw1a6J2ZiQ3fQS9z5TNvGbFEPW0BpOSAyCtTSxg3NJLaafa9HFRkJqjAIg/s1000/sandilands-scone.JPEG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Sandilands scone" border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh17Uq9g0j2BTJWCR7z6Ur6GYrZcvTgKlMuLbf7WT-oMUoHnR8H8vNgZLMTJNmEERgEo65IfOMWE17GpHn0xmz2fZKQt13fJsqFRnwO9qerxJbZ1PtETLmFIy9sm8te9Q-Huw1a6J2ZiQ3fQS9z5TNvGbFEPW0BpOSAyCtTSxg3NJLaafa9HFRkJqjAIg/w320-h240/sandilands-scone.JPEG" title="Sandilands scone" width="320" /></a></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>What I am worried about is that, in theory, the National Trust could drag this portable tea room around the UK, parking up near every parcel of land they own, and say "exciting news next week!" and I'd have to go there. I'll spend the rest of my life like one of those tornado chasers in Oklahoma, except with scones. I will never finish.</div><div><br /></div><div>But let's think positive! With the curveball of Sandilands volleyed into the stands of success, I'm back to just TWO more National Trust properties to go! </div><div><b><br /></b></div><b>Sandilands: 3 out of 5 today </b><div><b>Scone: 4 out of 5<br />Lure of the cheese toasties: 5 out of 5</b></div></div></div>National Trust Sconeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01097903022761280477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6954034038612600052.post-11791937982533481332022-10-22T10:00:00.009-07:002022-10-23T10:16:08.415-07:00Leith Hill Place <p><a href="https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/leith-hill/lists/visiting-leith-hill-place" target="_blank">Leith Hill Place</a> in Surrey probably wouldn't win any awards for architectural beauty. But it would be a strong contender for the award of Highest Number of Famous People Connected to a Single National Trust Property.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRS-4q-Wji8t5SFjQEB_qd7wPUKp-ewVvGKHGDuC9G2v91p149zlcd9TJQgEEoVgcd3VKuQhVX5js0wFlVUxvwklHZyh1B3E08g9xgs70UvZQrSzEWsH1FiydwGILpglCkrdMQ2ny5PEvW0dM9V3QwlpGtuYk9_fVkYIlZ2-JcUoiDccPqq8-DOwjXPQ/s1000/leith-hill-place.JPEG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Leith Hill Place" border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRS-4q-Wji8t5SFjQEB_qd7wPUKp-ewVvGKHGDuC9G2v91p149zlcd9TJQgEEoVgcd3VKuQhVX5js0wFlVUxvwklHZyh1B3E08g9xgs70UvZQrSzEWsH1FiydwGILpglCkrdMQ2ny5PEvW0dM9V3QwlpGtuYk9_fVkYIlZ2-JcUoiDccPqq8-DOwjXPQ/w320-h240/leith-hill-place.JPEG" title="Leith Hill Place" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In one building, Leith Hill Place attempts to explain the lives and achievements of three highly distinguished people:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Josiah Wedgwood</li><li>Charles Darwin</li><li>Ralph Vaughan Williams</li></ul></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>The Wedgwoods</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Let's start with Josiah Wedgwood. Josiah joined his family pottery business in 1744 but in 1759 he set up on his own, determined to do something different with ceramics. His first innovation was creamware (also known as queensware after Queen Charlotte ordered a set). Creamware became an acceptable alternative to porcelain.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">But it's jasperware that is most recognisable as a Wedgwood innovation. Seen below, jasperware involved a matt finish in many shades, with relief decorations in white and other contrasting colours. The moral of the story of Josiah Wedgwood is perseverance - it took 5000 experiments to get jasperware right.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZKX0oSVQeglC1CvoVqCTsR7pHZdb6gmZ5EGqtHiB3GEHpqwMhcvBn3jeOyHnMr3f9CGl84TfnC--UVZqUGSKm6r71bKeZ9X3AC9kLdiWmsyQHWTptNgqTfFEczVDSxlm59V9FXv0U228XB5f-T3m5dBPLvoGMCsz2jfUL9I1aoyZBNylUgya1iGTfpw/s1000/Wedgwood-Pottery-Leith-Hill.JPEG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Jasperware at Leith Hill Place" border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZKX0oSVQeglC1CvoVqCTsR7pHZdb6gmZ5EGqtHiB3GEHpqwMhcvBn3jeOyHnMr3f9CGl84TfnC--UVZqUGSKm6r71bKeZ9X3AC9kLdiWmsyQHWTptNgqTfFEczVDSxlm59V9FXv0U228XB5f-T3m5dBPLvoGMCsz2jfUL9I1aoyZBNylUgya1iGTfpw/w320-h240/Wedgwood-Pottery-Leith-Hill.JPEG" title="Jasperware at Leith Hill Place" width="320" /></a></div><b><br /></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>The Darwins</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Josiah Wedgwood was great friends with the physician and naturalist, Erasmus Darwin. Eventually, Josiah's daughter Susannah married Erasmus's son Robert. Their children included Charles Darwin (who married his cousin, Emma Wedgwood) and Caroline Darwin (who married Emma's brother Josiah). </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Caroline and Josiah bought Leith Hill Place in 1847 - it was Caroline who planted the rhododendron wood. The couple had several children who grew up at Leith Hill. One of those children was Margaret Wedgwood, who married Arthur Vaughan Williams. They moved to Gloucestershire, where Ralph Vaughan Williams was born, but Arthur died when Ralph was only three and Margaret moved her family back to Leith Hill. Margaret stayed at the house until she died in 1937.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b>Ralph Vaughan Williams</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">It's actually Ralph (pronounced Raif) Vaughan Williams who gets top billing at Leith Hill Place. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>He was born in 1872</li><li>He started learning piano at the age of five, composing his first piece at six</li><li>He studied at Trinity College Cambridge, and at the Royal College of Music</li><li>In 1901, he published his first composition, Linden Lea</li><li>The Lark Ascending, one of his most famous pieces, was written in 1914 but he decided to enlist in the Royal Medical Corps and went off to war. It was first performed in 1920.</li><li>He was awarded the Order of Merit in 1935, having declined a knighthood</li><li>He died in 1958 and his ashes are interred at Westminster Abbey</li></ul><div>There's a whole room dedicated to his life and times, and his major works are all listed. I'd studied a piece of RVW music at school but I didn't recognise it in the list. I later worked out that we'd covered <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZVTpTNwuRs" target="_blank">The March Past of the Kitchen Utensils</a>, which he composed in 1909. I remain confused as to why we studied something that doesn't even warrant a passing mention at Leith Hill but it's not the first time my education has been found wanting.</div><div><br /></div><div>His very unassuming practice piano has been returned to Leith Hill Place and if you're a professional pianist they might let you play it.</div><div><br /></div><div>Ralph's brother Hervey inherited Leith Hill Place from their mother but when he died, it passed to Ralph who gave it to the National Trust. RVW's cousin and friend, Sir Ralph Wedgwood, lived at the property before it became a boarding house for a school. </div><div><br /></div></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>The cellar</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The signs pointing down to the cellar were a bit ominous - 'go down if you dare' being the general message. But it was OK - the warnings referred to the lack of a handrail and the presence of a few spiders.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">However, apart from the spiders the contents were very unexpected - it would have taken me 10 years to predict what I'd find in there and I'd still have failed. The walls are covered in murals painted in the 1960s by some friends of the Wedgwoods. The paintings are copies of those found at Knossos, an archaeological site on the Greek island of Crete. Coincidentally, I visited Knossos in October last year - you can read about that <a href="https://www.i-recommend-pleasant.com/2014/02/what-is-knossos-knossos-in-crete-has.html" target="_blank">trip to Knossos</a> on my other blog. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Another item for the list of "Things You Really Didn't Expect to Find at the National Trust".</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJZlPkw4KxPBV2MkNR32JyTvrldBKkb4ynDbmA73H8QkqqpZLEH_nko-uOAojZLEY__fADEQcfUCHuAdcStE_sps3nhlt81X1DDy6lX71MrziAyqkcnUJ116Bcb55bvj8VIKPLZvytREWed5LSilLrtauZVwNG6zorErnswfOwQ5xSIS9R3g42jxK2Pw/s1000/knossos-leith-hill-place.JPEG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Cellar murals Knossos" border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJZlPkw4KxPBV2MkNR32JyTvrldBKkb4ynDbmA73H8QkqqpZLEH_nko-uOAojZLEY__fADEQcfUCHuAdcStE_sps3nhlt81X1DDy6lX71MrziAyqkcnUJ116Bcb55bvj8VIKPLZvytREWed5LSilLrtauZVwNG6zorErnswfOwQ5xSIS9R3g42jxK2Pw/w320-h240/knossos-leith-hill-place.JPEG" title="Cellar murals Knossos" width="320" /></a></div><h3 style="text-align: left;"><br /></h3><h3 style="text-align: left;">The Leith Hill Place Scone</h3><div>If it's a scone-with-a-view you're after, then Leith Hill Place is for you. The tea room is inside the house, in what used to be the kitchen, with beautiful views over Surrey. </div><div><br /></div><div>My companions today were my sister-in-law, Thelma, and niece, Fay, who have had mixed fortunes on this quest. They loved the town of Rye and <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2018/09/lamb-house.html">Lamb House</a> but were surprisingly harsh on the scones. <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2019/01/croft-castle.html">Croft Castle</a> got a unanimous 5 out of 5 for everything, as did <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2019/07/mottistone-gardens.html">Mottistone Gardens</a> on the Isle of Wight. And then this year Fay was with me at <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2022/07/hatfield-forest.html">Hatfield Forest</a> for the rare no-scone situation that we won't go into here.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxTnLjAP8DTSCmEyqnfgAMel76myCWDWQu18wp0ULA1-fta7SXtPmHnjL_mUSSyWFyIvyM_RVB9SkPdzmfdtBK3VyAmnbXaPOmn7vtr5ZZ8qdCCrAkmxXndGF2C548NfeO0I2Up62YFSemCZuji9NGFef2rx9vwD7gZeD5xCTkcYLlYpUhoiWh4La3Dg/s1000/Leith-Hill-Place-Tea-Room.JPEG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Leith Hill Place Tea Room" border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxTnLjAP8DTSCmEyqnfgAMel76myCWDWQu18wp0ULA1-fta7SXtPmHnjL_mUSSyWFyIvyM_RVB9SkPdzmfdtBK3VyAmnbXaPOmn7vtr5ZZ8qdCCrAkmxXndGF2C548NfeO0I2Up62YFSemCZuji9NGFef2rx9vwD7gZeD5xCTkcYLlYpUhoiWh4La3Dg/w320-h240/Leith-Hill-Place-Tea-Room.JPEG" title="Leith Hill Place Tea Room" width="320" /></a></div></div><div><br /></div><div>Today the verdict was unanimously positive once again. The tea was served in bone china cups, they had decaffeinated tea, the kitchen warmed up the scones as requested, and they were very tasty. A triumph in another property where the facilities are relatively limited but the staff do a fantastic job.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9ZIFCXCyrioA5YSWI32WMgS9TFSZLlbj04ZYVMSK4AatoCirH1AaKJGuaATJUrSG_tHfDmPSholCOWhG9wi0REWlAmtyqoMzN5Kv8beqQB8Kz1IAhgvgIW1xXj1PrQjytWE5jRSDmZKqyUVTM4DOZOBNF3cwc7a6DRKepNB6ihXgXvifprz0F4EVVfw/s1000/Leith-Hill-Place-Scone.JPEG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Leith Hill Place Scone" border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9ZIFCXCyrioA5YSWI32WMgS9TFSZLlbj04ZYVMSK4AatoCirH1AaKJGuaATJUrSG_tHfDmPSholCOWhG9wi0REWlAmtyqoMzN5Kv8beqQB8Kz1IAhgvgIW1xXj1PrQjytWE5jRSDmZKqyUVTM4DOZOBNF3cwc7a6DRKepNB6ihXgXvifprz0F4EVVfw/w320-h240/Leith-Hill-Place-Scone.JPEG" title="Leith Hill Place Scone" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div>It's also possible to sit outside and enjoy your scones and tea, overlooking the spectacular view - recommended although maybe not in a downpour like we had today:</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1nDv9Ydenqa7eSsWN1SqHxfLO1nfmlbf8QOMny-mOJdepDoZzYCeoEx4e4DGQR4FWBMGZAwQ-ahbxa4cnuTKxly5bYv8NWOFueuo4yWWO3Xi-6n6nnv8qd7OO-3ePGNcRPy_q-aakA9QWgwoY87S_JvTUtcdDTnrgRAhaa-P2ZKtQU6EnUSfy0rcYlQ/s1000/tea-room-views-national-trust.JPEG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Leith Hill tea patio views" border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1nDv9Ydenqa7eSsWN1SqHxfLO1nfmlbf8QOMny-mOJdepDoZzYCeoEx4e4DGQR4FWBMGZAwQ-ahbxa4cnuTKxly5bYv8NWOFueuo4yWWO3Xi-6n6nnv8qd7OO-3ePGNcRPy_q-aakA9QWgwoY87S_JvTUtcdDTnrgRAhaa-P2ZKtQU6EnUSfy0rcYlQ/w320-h240/tea-room-views-national-trust.JPEG" title="Leith Hill tea patio views" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>I'm going to end with a big thank you to Laura, the brave Sconepal who contacted me on Twitter to tell me that I had missed Leith Hill Place from my list. I had been to <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2015/01/leith-hill.html">Leith Hill</a> in 2015 but Leith Hill and Leith Hill Place are different properties. If you know of any other hidden National Trust properties, let me know!</div><p><b>Leith Hill Place: 5 out of 5<br /></b><b>Scone: 4.5 out of 5<br />Brave Sconepals saving the day: 5 out of 5</b></p>National Trust Sconeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01097903022761280477noreply@blogger.com0Leith Hill, Dorking RH5 6LX, UK51.174468 -0.377276926.729130388051011 -35.5335269 75.619805611948976 34.7789731tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6954034038612600052.post-49211853606324661112022-10-15T12:30:00.179-07:002023-04-17T04:48:19.865-07:00Crook Hall Gardens<p>It's happened to me several times over the past 10 years of this scone quest: the National Trust has excitedly announced that they've opened another property, complete with a lovely new cafeteria. In the early days of the project, I would think 'Bravo for the National Trust saving another house/cliff/hill for the nation! I'll add this lovely new cafeteria to my list and go there forthwith! Smashing!'</p><p>But when the Trust announced in July this year that they had just opened <a href="https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/crook-hall-gardens" target="_blank">Crook Hall Gardens</a>, I'll admit that my first thought was "please God let it be within the M25". I was on the home straight, with fewer than 20 properties to go, so I really wasn't in the market for new additions to my list. </p><p>It turns out that Crook Hall Gardens is not within the M25. It's in Durham. But! This presented me with an opportunity because a) I had never been to Durham and b) my excellent friend SJ is from the area and her lovely parents still live there. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCkQxGB9g5eFiIllv8WYO0Z5P0Zjh1vQTruL-KbZ7cgFnfildayX4X5vB8JBDvYC33WNnj7rCqbyOIoFfvMWwi5bsHSFMNiM1l9K66NkjlDuLJ5BHUWOhWKYjqK59JrIQCtHY5ZXeF7A8FsTWmiOcpRwT4PuQeVlIsmq3kno1Cb3OojXHQR1mRhTyZ3Q/s1000/Crook%20Hall%20Gardens.JPEG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Crook Hall Gardens" border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCkQxGB9g5eFiIllv8WYO0Z5P0Zjh1vQTruL-KbZ7cgFnfildayX4X5vB8JBDvYC33WNnj7rCqbyOIoFfvMWwi5bsHSFMNiM1l9K66NkjlDuLJ5BHUWOhWKYjqK59JrIQCtHY5ZXeF7A8FsTWmiOcpRwT4PuQeVlIsmq3kno1Cb3OojXHQR1mRhTyZ3Q/w320-h240/Crook%20Hall%20Gardens.JPEG" title="Crook Hall Gardens" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>With a round trip for me of about 550 miles and winter closing looming, there was absolutely no room for error with this mission. I had checked the opening hours about 100 times before I set off, so you can imagine my total horror when we arrived to find a very large CLOSED sign on the cafe. Luckily we quickly established that this was an error and the cafe was in fact open, so we piled in for our scones.</div><div> </div><div>BUT! Before I get to the scones, let me tell you a bit about Crook Hall and its gardens.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>The original hall was built in 1286!</b></div><div>It's gone now but the original building was constructed by Peter del Croke, who gave the place its name. </div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>The Medieval Hall dates from the 14th century!</b></div><div>The Medieval Hall that still stands today was built in the 14th century. The place was owned by a John de Coupland who captured David II of Scotland after the Battle of Neville's Cross, when a Scottish army invaded England. Over the years the hall has been used for various purposes - it was used as a beer bottling plant at one point. </div><div><b><br /></b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCz5VBoBS1d0kHnw_hzta4LagB9rvsxTOviz3FXPHAeT_Kh_R5efNFU1tMqqeMOR93nWVO6RHph66j9WMKoaAv1qDUM5xHnP2HeIQ9LW-zwtTChNjiHqx5gKD64SA-NFXPg5WcIIAEuuKivVLa2-NqPuzJrn4GDInrbeP1NZ71EdpRYempmt6dXPzRfQ/s1000/Crook-Hall-Medieval-Hall.JPEG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Crook Hall Medieval Hall" border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCz5VBoBS1d0kHnw_hzta4LagB9rvsxTOviz3FXPHAeT_Kh_R5efNFU1tMqqeMOR93nWVO6RHph66j9WMKoaAv1qDUM5xHnP2HeIQ9LW-zwtTChNjiHqx5gKD64SA-NFXPg5WcIIAEuuKivVLa2-NqPuzJrn4GDInrbeP1NZ71EdpRYempmt6dXPzRfQ/w320-h240/Crook-Hall-Medieval-Hall.JPEG" title="Crook Hall Medieval Hall" width="320" /></a></div><p><b>The Billinghams owned Crook Hall for 400 years!<br /></b>In 1372 Alan de Billingham was given the living of the manor of Crook Hall and the family stayed here for almost 400 years.</p><p><b>The Mickletons extended in 1671!<br /></b>James and Francis Mickleton inherited the place in 1668 and extended the house in 1671, adding a new wing. </p><p><b>The Hoppers added the Georgian wing!<br /></b>The Hopper family then extended again in the 1740s with the three-storey Georgian part of the house. The house was then either let to, or was owned by, several families including the Raines and the Cassels.</p><p><b>The gardens are arranged like rooms!<br /></b>I always feel a bit mean visiting gardens in autumn or winter rather than in their moment of spring or summer glory, but Crook Hall Gardens were still lovely. There's a Cathedral lawn, with views up to Durham Cathedral, a Shakespeare garden, a pond, and a vegetable patch with an Elvis scarecrow in it. There's also a maze, which provided a bit of excitement.</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtrVDbNTwjEEtt6x-NFbmD53HGovO4-NKDU8M8b0XHttkfgQ4pSHGlWwR586-V25Jxc7P-Nqkv_h36a9BcnqooDzFtmHRepKyF_FBzFisMBUHeuL1rhDEtFQW5qBCCR53KCpmxvKYtp-qo0fjr_3EiGdusf8v-m0DQt8var9_O9JXZBMACDswxzJ94fQ/s1000/Crook%20Hall%20Maze.JPEG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Crook Hall maze" border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtrVDbNTwjEEtt6x-NFbmD53HGovO4-NKDU8M8b0XHttkfgQ4pSHGlWwR586-V25Jxc7P-Nqkv_h36a9BcnqooDzFtmHRepKyF_FBzFisMBUHeuL1rhDEtFQW5qBCCR53KCpmxvKYtp-qo0fjr_3EiGdusf8v-m0DQt8var9_O9JXZBMACDswxzJ94fQ/w320-h240/Crook%20Hall%20Maze.JPEG" title="Crook Hall maze" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>SJ and Cooper in the middle of the maze. <br />I think Cooper may have been expecting a prize.</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><b>Keith and Maggie Bell opened the gardens to the public in 1998!</b><br />I feel guilty saying this but until today I had never fully appreciated the people who take on National Trust properties before they become National Trust properties. Luckily for me, Keith Bell wrote a book about his experiences of buying Crook Hall and managing it for many years before it was sold to the NT.</div><div><br /></div><div>The book is called <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Blood-Sweat-Scones-Decades-Crook/dp/1788035283">Blood, Sweat and Scones: Two Decades at Crook Hall</a> and it's a remarkably upbeat read about an experience that must have been absolutely awful at times. Imagine buying a house that includes a medieval hall, a 17th-century building and a Georgian building, plus a huge garden. The descriptions of costly roofing projects scared the life out of me, never mind the ghosts that inhabit the place. Yet Keith and Maggie opened the place to the public and even turned it into a wedding venue.</div><div><br /></div><div>But what I find inspirational is that Keith and Maggie, like all the other people who stepped in to rescue buildings using their own money before the NT took them on, did so without knowing that the NT would eventually take over. The Jenners at <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2022/08/lytes-cary-manor-scones.html">Lytes Cary</a>, the Lyles at <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2022/08/barrington-court-scones.html">Barrington Court</a>, the Iliffes at <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2014/04/basildon-park.html">Basildon Park</a>...so many people that have loved a place so much they took on all the problems and the financial challenges that old buildings present. I could never do it, so I admire them all greatly.</div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">The Crook Hall Gardens Scone</h3><div><div>But let's move on to the all-important scones. I had brought a bona fide expert with me on this mission, as SJ's mum used to work in a bakery. I was a bit worried that I might have to adjust my scoring to allow for her professional insights but she was impressed with her cheese scone, as was SJ's dad. </div><div><br /></div><div>SJ and I both had a fruit scone. I think you will agree from the picture below that it was a beauty - big, golden and full of fruit. We had a lengthy debate though about whether they were fresh - mine was definitely warm and fresh but SJ was not so sure. We'd noticed that the container on the counter had condensation on it, which corroborated the freshness, but moisture can sometimes affect the taste of scones. </div><div><br /></div><div>Anyway. I loved my scone and gave it a 5. SJ gave hers a 4. The fifth member of our party, Steph, showed huge resolve and stuck with her banana (she didn't give it a score). </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhigHgK9677O7gqAlTIC1ZZvJB25blPI2lpuwRvgUIhOD_6QoX09xAL3u_HVt15DEAfWbCsR8yP2VxWab5h_SiiqdI4Udwd26Lil2FLD9B5tugUUBJtpEL-Chmcg69J6Bk9dC_pdDODrIM5gG9v3fEGqh_6IV7obcRudktXXeKxkzobvLUyT1y0rG_I4A/s1000/Crook%20Hall%20Gardens%20Scone.JPEG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Crook Hall Gardens Scone" border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhigHgK9677O7gqAlTIC1ZZvJB25blPI2lpuwRvgUIhOD_6QoX09xAL3u_HVt15DEAfWbCsR8yP2VxWab5h_SiiqdI4Udwd26Lil2FLD9B5tugUUBJtpEL-Chmcg69J6Bk9dC_pdDODrIM5gG9v3fEGqh_6IV7obcRudktXXeKxkzobvLUyT1y0rG_I4A/w320-h240/Crook%20Hall%20Gardens%20Scone.JPEG" title="Crook Hall Gardens Scone" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>I'll end with yet another big grateful thank you to SJ and Steph. They've accompanied me on several trips this year - <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2022/03/beatles-childhood-homes.html">Beatles' Childhood Homes</a>, <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2022/03/claife-viewing-station.html">Claife Viewing Station</a>, <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2020/01/aira-force-and-ullswater.html">Aira Force</a>, and <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2020/01/plas-yn-rhiw.html">Plas yn Rhiw</a> - while in previous years, they've helped me to cover <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2019/08/fell-foot.html">Fell Foot</a>, <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2019/08/wray-castle.html">Wray Castle</a>, <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2019/08/sticklebarn-and-langdales.html">Sticklebarn</a> and <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2019/09/hardcastle-crags.html">Hardcastle Crags</a>. This project has given me some great moments but the best moments have always been when other people have come along with me and SJ, Steph and Cooper have been excellent Sconepanions. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFU3tQouRScwpDF9qW455Z9uP0gK7yTEhAciMwGIqb1rvQJ_voUNdqcsLePb-gexMtNwd5-4Kr99LeUUdtXNwXaZgtYlVVlKdgl9FwywnMIr94rVcDbvhgomnIxMkyrB0umfxXertoWYGeFOUjpKKGEAJLXT7_uQqJ2H9V6XiW8oqHBVwB7zOvQn1OhA/s1000/crook-hall-gardens-scone-cafeteria.JPEG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Crook Hall Gardens Cafeteria" border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFU3tQouRScwpDF9qW455Z9uP0gK7yTEhAciMwGIqb1rvQJ_voUNdqcsLePb-gexMtNwd5-4Kr99LeUUdtXNwXaZgtYlVVlKdgl9FwywnMIr94rVcDbvhgomnIxMkyrB0umfxXertoWYGeFOUjpKKGEAJLXT7_uQqJ2H9V6XiW8oqHBVwB7zOvQn1OhA/w320-h240/crook-hall-gardens-scone-cafeteria.JPEG" title="Crook Hall Gardens Cafeteria" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div><b>Crook Hall Gardens: 5 out of 5<br /></b><b>Scone: 5 out of 5<br /></b><b>Complexity of maze: 1 out of 5 (but it was still good)</b></div></div>National Trust Sconeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01097903022761280477noreply@blogger.com0National Trust - Crook Hall Gardens, Frankland Ln, Sidegate, Durham DH1 5SZ, UK54.7818944 -1.574231126.471660563821153 -36.7304811 83.092128236178837 33.5820189tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6954034038612600052.post-36040875404357460482022-10-08T00:57:00.222-07:002022-10-23T10:16:46.966-07:00Newark Park <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Here's a fascinating fact about <a href="https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/newark-park" target="_blank">Newark Park</a>: it's a registered war memorial. I didn't know a house and 700 acres of land could be a war memorial but the whole place was left to the National Trust in 1949 by Mrs Power-Clutterbuck, in memory of her son, James. He died in combat in 1917, after his plane was shot down by Manfred von Richtofen, otherwise known as 'The Red Baron'. And so Newark Park is officially listed on the War Memorials Register. </div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">But there are many other things you need to know about Newark Park. Firstly, it's not in Newark, but in Gloucestershire. </div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT3Lsa3Tkug3fozMbsa3UgFs4mnywseAztHuO36JIV_E4KuBs6w0BD0IBML0mP-1U1FVguLC05N19O_imX6_xRB_RqVOT_ELTP-almpNjdGMBQ8pwWDg_EcpqAGX2AcHOLtAYAvNMEA0hdIqUfs5ONFbdIW5tGNro-ncRbnvOtZnYSqR0oAjPCoyf18g/s1000/newark-park-house.JPEG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Newark Park" border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT3Lsa3Tkug3fozMbsa3UgFs4mnywseAztHuO36JIV_E4KuBs6w0BD0IBML0mP-1U1FVguLC05N19O_imX6_xRB_RqVOT_ELTP-almpNjdGMBQ8pwWDg_EcpqAGX2AcHOLtAYAvNMEA0hdIqUfs5ONFbdIW5tGNro-ncRbnvOtZnYSqR0oAjPCoyf18g/w320-h240/newark-park-house.JPEG" title="Newark Park" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><b>It was originally a hunting lodge!</b></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">A Tudor courtier with a very brilliant name built the first hunting lodge around 1550. Sir Nicholas Poyntz had purchased the land from Henry VIII, as it had previously belonged to Kingswood Abbey before the Dissolution of the Monasteries. It became his 'New Worke', hence the name. He died in 1556, deep in debt.</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPR8vHKbwyfhde0LDBGVn73Fa-2dQ66dkTuNBG-9CfMWKA4r-V6S8k2yfi_zTy8AfHaSMYc7AeoWSxcFOq9ScQqlWeVn0k8G4K__y_r6JXj3O3slC9-zBowX7sAlw0irfcq-OFGYzMXMAU0mRW6071KPk0_JKgcaCsI4sXZAb8Kaw9kisDDxS7qZ_1Aw/s1333/Tudors-Newark.JPEG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Tudor costumes at Newark" border="0" data-original-height="1333" data-original-width="1000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPR8vHKbwyfhde0LDBGVn73Fa-2dQ66dkTuNBG-9CfMWKA4r-V6S8k2yfi_zTy8AfHaSMYc7AeoWSxcFOq9ScQqlWeVn0k8G4K__y_r6JXj3O3slC9-zBowX7sAlw0irfcq-OFGYzMXMAU0mRW6071KPk0_JKgcaCsI4sXZAb8Kaw9kisDDxS7qZ_1Aw/w240-h320/Tudors-Newark.JPEG" title="Tudor costumes at Newark" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Getting into the Tudor spirit of things</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><b>The Clutterbucks turned it into a Georgian mansion!</b></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Debt seems to have been a recurring theme for owners of Newark Park - the next few people to take it on also had to sell up when they got into financial difficulties. Stability arrived in 1769, when the house was bought by James Clutterbuck. It was then inherited by his 3rd cousin, Lewis Clutterbuck who became the Reverend for the church in nearby Ozleworth. Lewis and his son (also Lewis) made a lot of changes to the property and to the gardens.</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5NKR46XHGPfdN9cxF8qiZU6ft8xG0cfkMaL82GNML31hZDp1GgPYIutzRAS3RTyT8SNULoqvupLvuF6xXuk0RItVkyK8beDbIbWZ_4oHT0Yu8euOtbUzbyTZ6WYnyHEpCkZi9yW7o1vRWQqKT7lGhLdGqdTDWG3r0iCaIGMbZmfaPlfr-2wSH0dN4_Q/s1000/Newark%20Park%20View.JPEG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Newark Park Views" border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5NKR46XHGPfdN9cxF8qiZU6ft8xG0cfkMaL82GNML31hZDp1GgPYIutzRAS3RTyT8SNULoqvupLvuF6xXuk0RItVkyK8beDbIbWZ_4oHT0Yu8euOtbUzbyTZ6WYnyHEpCkZi9yW7o1vRWQqKT7lGhLdGqdTDWG3r0iCaIGMbZmfaPlfr-2wSH0dN4_Q/w320-h240/Newark%20Park%20View.JPEG" title="Newark Park Views" width="320" /></a></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><b>The Clutterbucks rented it out!</b></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">From 1867, the Clutterbucks rented the place out to various families who also extended the place and made changes. </div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><b>Bob Parsons comes to the rescue!</b></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">The National Trust initially let the property and it became a nursing home in the 1950s and 1960s. The house and gardens deteriorated. Then in 1970 an American architect called Bob Parsons took on a repairing lease and dedicated his life to restoring the place. He had been stationed in the UK during the war and returned afterwards, living in East Anglia and London before settling at Newark Park. He died in 2000.</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRBBFxPgufJPkR3FZzB-_0pVfk4AkfLU17uTcm-J2eoiqfZD2Atjx5t26CgENo1YdiCVSWBN7HuCKzlxxI9GYjqnpb_qNMiSl6ARh5tc4pk3CW3lw0FuxiuB0bf0Mkn9cxlskl-DUGGj0Qbm-cbLDjh-dTXUfpI_hcY79KDTVY4H16wJkQfnd7FE-XgA/s1000/Bob-Parsons-Newark-Painting.JPEG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Bob Parsons Painting" border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRBBFxPgufJPkR3FZzB-_0pVfk4AkfLU17uTcm-J2eoiqfZD2Atjx5t26CgENo1YdiCVSWBN7HuCKzlxxI9GYjqnpb_qNMiSl6ARh5tc4pk3CW3lw0FuxiuB0bf0Mkn9cxlskl-DUGGj0Qbm-cbLDjh-dTXUfpI_hcY79KDTVY4H16wJkQfnd7FE-XgA/w320-h240/Bob-Parsons-Newark-Painting.JPEG" title="Bob Parsons Painting" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">I'm not sure I like this painting of Bob and his dog Trudi, <br />but he loved it so who am I to argue</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><b>It has a crinkle crankle wall!</b><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">I'm not going to lie to you, readers: I had never even heard of crinkle crankle walls until I read about them at Newark Park. I tweeted about it and then crinkle crankle walls seemed to stalk me on social media for the rest of the week. They're everywhere, apparently. Here's one <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/viewer?mid=1mGVztT8frf7Xmc09utKFDh0dYvg&hl=en_US&ll=52.25090800782715%2C1.1571853999999782&z=10">map of crinkle crankle walls in Suffolk</a>. I'm not sure how useful this will be to you, but it gives you some idea of their popularity.</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">The Newark Park Scone</h3><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">I was accompanied on today's scone mission by my oldest friends, Lisa, Sarah and Kathy, along with the young scone apprentice, Lara. It wasn't their first outing - they had also come to <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2019/10/horsey-windpump.html">Horsey Windpump</a> back in 2019. On that occasion, we travelled by boat along the Norfolk Broads so I was a bit worried that I wouldn't be able to offer the same excitement at Newark Park.</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">But Montsaye Comprehensive girls are nothing if not resourceful and we turned today's outing into an exciting affair by getting completely lost on our walk around the estate.</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Luckily, I had forced everyone to have the scone as soon as we got there. The cafeteria at Newark Park is really just a well-equipped counter with a tent for rainy occasions. I was very doubtful that scones would even be on the menu but they were and we had good weather, so our luck was well and truly in.</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHP-Bkem_rmspQ_GYFsTBJk9R7TTW8ElKis5Zb9w-l_ZzZS2ppzbzy_V-Gkd8k2sPpX_K25A2QhNMxmC3EmTwjzn9PRljZO9xDLexn3H8vZii-PRxTVK73yfoDwvXb4M3suvg9lCv3S4NbRyBDxPzKE62QTTF4YZ7RhrElydrgwGbg94ZWpEyehETd_w/s2048/newark-park-scone.JPEG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Newark Park Scone" border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHP-Bkem_rmspQ_GYFsTBJk9R7TTW8ElKis5Zb9w-l_ZzZS2ppzbzy_V-Gkd8k2sPpX_K25A2QhNMxmC3EmTwjzn9PRljZO9xDLexn3H8vZii-PRxTVK73yfoDwvXb4M3suvg9lCv3S4NbRyBDxPzKE62QTTF4YZ7RhrElydrgwGbg94ZWpEyehETd_w/w320-h240/newark-park-scone.JPEG" title="Newark Park Scone" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>The scone looked great - nice and golden and fruity. And it was tasty enough - it was a little chewy for my liking but it was lovely to sit outside on a warm October day. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgokDfWxiSma64fRSPym03d9S_6mPZl-whc3NaUxS3t_iyVI-Q8HDi_r-ph8o9GXr6XpvTAtvUpbWuYvRJSw4mQ83CFx1mB2HxA36qlaDs-d-T4lBsle_xO-swjfxGjDJk1GTRZin7R9_Yjkdk-gH787f_EpvfI4raavK2yJQ-x4Ls2ZNC9DWBXmAyr9w/s1200/newark-park-girls.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Newark Park cafe" border="0" data-original-height="818" data-original-width="1200" height="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgokDfWxiSma64fRSPym03d9S_6mPZl-whc3NaUxS3t_iyVI-Q8HDi_r-ph8o9GXr6XpvTAtvUpbWuYvRJSw4mQ83CFx1mB2HxA36qlaDs-d-T4lBsle_xO-swjfxGjDJk1GTRZin7R9_Yjkdk-gH787f_EpvfI4raavK2yJQ-x4Ls2ZNC9DWBXmAyr9w/w320-h218/newark-park-girls.jpg" title="Newark Park cafe" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Eating scones is great but eating them with brilliant people is even better - massive thanks to my lovely crew for our Cotswolds adventure. Only three more places to visit!<div><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><b>Newark Park: 4 out of 5</b></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><b>Scone: 4 out of 5 from both me and the scone apprentice; 4, 3.5, 3.5 from the others</b></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><b>Crinkle crankle wall education opportunities: 5 out of 5</b></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div>
National Trust Sconeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01097903022761280477noreply@blogger.com0Ozleworth, Wotton-under-Edge GL12 7PZ, UK51.6363862 -2.317705823.326152363821151 -37.4739558 79.946620036178842 32.8385442tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6954034038612600052.post-84385962676239622012022-09-24T02:17:00.013-07:002022-09-25T08:09:01.095-07:00Claydon<p>Over the nine years of this project, I have discovered a category of National Trust properties that I call 'Doesn't Look Like Much From The Outside But Inside It's Amazing'. <a href="https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/claydon" target="_blank">Claydon</a> in Buckinghamshire is firmly in that category.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyfzdjEKPkpYO6LBjDaFqHnZJm_e5-gvIPWqrqHBFLpmkCR6DkBP6lMQQAxsHILFM2bvNYs7uENMUqhycWrakXzoX-bhWgyKKZs30pKSGnTObCaJsH2Q1-osUIWexbVK3DKlGFd0mRZutM5IgZRI1VvStaO8pPD98QBUhKqcCApZgD8-1TiKmhOssZyg/s700/claydon-house-and-church.JPEG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Claydon House" border="0" data-original-height="525" data-original-width="700" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyfzdjEKPkpYO6LBjDaFqHnZJm_e5-gvIPWqrqHBFLpmkCR6DkBP6lMQQAxsHILFM2bvNYs7uENMUqhycWrakXzoX-bhWgyKKZs30pKSGnTObCaJsH2Q1-osUIWexbVK3DKlGFd0mRZutM5IgZRI1VvStaO8pPD98QBUhKqcCApZgD8-1TiKmhOssZyg/w320-h240/claydon-house-and-church.JPEG" title="Claydon House" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div>To be honest, I don't even know where to start with it. I'll try and begin with some of the rooms before I move on to the history of the Verney family.</div><div><br /></div><h4 style="text-align: left;">The North Hall</h4><div>The house was built for Ralph, the second Earl Verney, in the 1750s-1760s by Luke Lightfoot. He was a stonemason and woodcarver who had impressed Ralph with his work and it's easy to see why: all of the elaborate wall carvings you see in the terrible picture below are wood carvings by Lightfoot.</div><div><br /></div><div>Unfortunately, Lightfoot had his limitations. The planned house was actually three times the size of what we see today - there was originally also a rotunda and a third wing. But he made mistakes in how the house was built - a respected architectural expert at the time referred to him as "an ignorant knave" - which probably resulted in the demolition of the rotunda and the other wing after only 20 years. (The demolition of the rotunda also explains why the house doesn't have a front entrance.)</div><div><br /></div><div>During construction, it was also discovered that Lightfoot had been defrauding the Earl, and he was dismissed from the project before it was completed. (In a later court case, it was established that Lightfoot had been paid £30,000 but had only delivered £7,000 of work or goods.)</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj29AeV0XAS9d9Vlk1_H4S9IaC-12p9-70xr4rueU_cYMNkkETpYOsWj05x89ODabQt6FbCDMR8FRVXIXmplVYv_4CWqqVt3dhdeig1lhiZ_z4e3YNurGuQHLSr14uNt-7GJVGfn1uNoMJIRrvQYSNgDmOfSY-p2cJlG-Yn6qP4BRkbcSkH4HH9iA34-g/s750/north-hall-claydon.JPEG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="North Hall Claydon" border="0" data-original-height="562" data-original-width="750" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj29AeV0XAS9d9Vlk1_H4S9IaC-12p9-70xr4rueU_cYMNkkETpYOsWj05x89ODabQt6FbCDMR8FRVXIXmplVYv_4CWqqVt3dhdeig1lhiZ_z4e3YNurGuQHLSr14uNt-7GJVGfn1uNoMJIRrvQYSNgDmOfSY-p2cJlG-Yn6qP4BRkbcSkH4HH9iA34-g/w320-h240/north-hall-claydon.JPEG" title="North Hall Claydon" width="320" /></a></div><br /><h4 style="text-align: left;">The Saloon</h4><div>The sacking of Lightfoot means that there is a mixture of styles in the house. The North Hall is fully Rococo and then you walk into the Saloon, which is Palladian. It's another show-stopper of a room, however, with a huge expanse of space covered in elaborately designed fittings.</div><div><br /></div><div>You can probably guess what's coming next: the second Earl ended up in financial ruin and in 1784 work on the house stopped. The furniture was sold to cover his debts.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7Gm3k5pR1cwMxZDDCHA27xXT2rTfyrnpaKBG683S6tNwz19e4RDZi_aAhibKFMxjxeinaI5DEp5NDfbcXO0x7R8klasnwGEI0AmgARl9q9ulO84FhDJdoOAqx5hzW2JOadPfzKgxO_AdNopTzWBS7G_ESECS8-Hfwf2yLguYH9hTBETefLrBxnY4lSQ/s2048/claydon-saloon.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Saloon Claydon" border="0" data-original-height="1534" data-original-width="2048" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7Gm3k5pR1cwMxZDDCHA27xXT2rTfyrnpaKBG683S6tNwz19e4RDZi_aAhibKFMxjxeinaI5DEp5NDfbcXO0x7R8klasnwGEI0AmgARl9q9ulO84FhDJdoOAqx5hzW2JOadPfzKgxO_AdNopTzWBS7G_ESECS8-Hfwf2yLguYH9hTBETefLrBxnY4lSQ/w320-h240/claydon-saloon.jpeg" title="Saloon Claydon" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><h4 style="text-align: left;">The Chinese Room</h4><div>I had done no real research on Claydon before I visited. If I had, I might have seen the guidebook descriptions of the Chinese Room as "the glory of Claydon" and "one of the most extraordinary rooms in any English country house". </div><div><br /></div><div>But I hadn't seen any of that, so I unsuspectingly wandered into the upstairs room and was completely dumbfounded by it. The alcove is a show-stopping sight, with its intricate wood carvings. The rest of the room is also covered in elaborate decoration. I've never seen anything like it. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO4TV5ucUGv_BMdev8jYEEzteqbgCOmADoJmNSvYbmTiu9aT2RWp41ADa-Qn_qjPMPS954Ebf65RFWp-31SGfOZJ-Q1eRYrfFLS9xBGXVbq0iIxysd4VK0mFm2KKt8iK8D9qMvmQojuSILImI_9I57mtYXlNmJXRpohy0jT8DsSY2llcE-o9-5tXp-Gg/s640/Alcove-Chinese-Room.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Chinese Room Claydon" border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO4TV5ucUGv_BMdev8jYEEzteqbgCOmADoJmNSvYbmTiu9aT2RWp41ADa-Qn_qjPMPS954Ebf65RFWp-31SGfOZJ-Q1eRYrfFLS9xBGXVbq0iIxysd4VK0mFm2KKt8iK8D9qMvmQojuSILImI_9I57mtYXlNmJXRpohy0jT8DsSY2llcE-o9-5tXp-Gg/w320-h240/Alcove-Chinese-Room.jpg" title="Chinese Room Claydon" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><h4 style="text-align: left;">Florence Nightingale Bedroom</h4><div>After the jaw-dropping ostentation of the Chinese Room, you find yourself in rooms that are much simpler in style but come with huge amounts of fascinating history.</div><div><br /></div><div>In 1858, Sir Harry Verney married Parthenope Nightingale, the older sister of Florence. (Both women were named after their birthplaces - Parthenope being the Ancient Greek name for Naples.) </div><div><br /></div><div>This meant that Florence spent a lot of time at Claydon from the 1860s through to 1895. There are various rooms that provide insight into her life, her former bedroom being one of them:</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCEeXxYpjmzGw4cdcn_jDmdwTtZcjWt9NNEtVfoaOa9bvIJNi-4YHy6zfxIaZt4B8Ldv3PlWjcdAUkYPRkLU-kQCXnh3gPST1KtKupbvpV1N9z_3X14TObBdXIHgaIhprruX9SNT8zM1pygCj5M0qqApwuXcwQkwo96EtMPtLV9IMrcWBbPpqQSqUjFA/s750/florence-nightingale-bedroom.JPEG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Florence Nightingale bedroom" border="0" data-original-height="562" data-original-width="750" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCEeXxYpjmzGw4cdcn_jDmdwTtZcjWt9NNEtVfoaOa9bvIJNi-4YHy6zfxIaZt4B8Ldv3PlWjcdAUkYPRkLU-kQCXnh3gPST1KtKupbvpV1N9z_3X14TObBdXIHgaIhprruX9SNT8zM1pygCj5M0qqApwuXcwQkwo96EtMPtLV9IMrcWBbPpqQSqUjFA/w320-h240/florence-nightingale-bedroom.JPEG" title="Florence Nightingale bedroom" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>There's a portrait of Florence in her room that really didn't match the image I had of her in my mind, but I liked it all the more for that: </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyZQAMyT1vtdFTUvDbz4KwWZSGaazbkQg27vBnw7RLq3kMwEsBnXrOK7Ai9YT4TO6wFSY11bR5pZ8bx3G8YPZTNJ3N_YJltIdF5nFTsMcigkyTSKzsd_6S4THOp0uS9nPOGSlHVDAAJzr08mXTQbRSTHumtGCVdQGaUwNFMN3EtQ65KoJ_vPcXB-x8wA/s1000/florence-nightingale-portrait.JPEG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Florence Nightingale portrait" border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyZQAMyT1vtdFTUvDbz4KwWZSGaazbkQg27vBnw7RLq3kMwEsBnXrOK7Ai9YT4TO6wFSY11bR5pZ8bx3G8YPZTNJ3N_YJltIdF5nFTsMcigkyTSKzsd_6S4THOp0uS9nPOGSlHVDAAJzr08mXTQbRSTHumtGCVdQGaUwNFMN3EtQ65KoJ_vPcXB-x8wA/w320-h240/florence-nightingale-portrait.JPEG" title="Florence Nightingale portrait" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><h4 style="text-align: left;">The Claydon Museum</h4><div>At this point in my visit, I was sure that Claydon couldn't possibly have any more rooms that would wow me. But Claydon wasn't done and I walked into the final flourish; The Museum. It was created by Sir Harry Verney in 1893 to showcase his artefacts from around the world. I failed to get any good photos of his gamelan, a set of gongs and other instruments from Java. But I did get this picture of the case dedicated to Florence - it's a replica of the type of Turkish lamp that she would have used as a nurse in the Crimea when she became famous as the Lady with the Lamp.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5VmFsKRpT_-OTdaqdVJFQK5iGPV-DVsuRGN8HUzvbshteCTIqeVRJ82uRshONsMbQcnt68ISVnHmeeqy9yy6du02BcL4XqUMbGYDxWRrfgYBIoTzLLeN-8_vDrlPjkVvjXnEEArj3i9fcMH9VgF21iW_1ccTz7h12YsfPYx5Ijxl_2UwgBjOYj9yKTg/s522/florence-nightingale-lamp.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Florence Nightingale Lamp Claydon" border="0" data-original-height="391" data-original-width="522" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5VmFsKRpT_-OTdaqdVJFQK5iGPV-DVsuRGN8HUzvbshteCTIqeVRJ82uRshONsMbQcnt68ISVnHmeeqy9yy6du02BcL4XqUMbGYDxWRrfgYBIoTzLLeN-8_vDrlPjkVvjXnEEArj3i9fcMH9VgF21iW_1ccTz7h12YsfPYx5Ijxl_2UwgBjOYj9yKTg/w320-h240/florence-nightingale-lamp.png" title="Florence Nightingale Lamp Claydon" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>Until now, I have always avoided doing 'room by room' descriptions on this blog but it really is the best way to describe the Claydon experience. To be clear, there were other rooms too - I've only shared the most awe-inspiring ones.</div><div><br /></div><div>Anyway. Before I get to the scone, let me tell you a bit more about the Verney family:</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>There have been Verneys in Buckinghamshire since the 1200s</li><li>In around 1463, the manor of Middle Claydon was bought by one Sir Ralph Verney who had been Lord Mayor of London</li><li>The house was leased to a Roger Giffard, who built a house on the site of today's building as well as the chancel of All Saints church that stands next to it</li><li>In 1620, Sir Edmund Verney decided he wanted Claydon back - he bought the Giffards out of their tenancy and became the first Verney to actually live there</li><li>Sir Edmund was a very interesting man: he had served both Charles I and his older brother, who died prematurely. When Charles acceded to the throne, Edmund was a Gentleman of the Privy Chamber.</li><li>He was staunchly loyal to the King during the Civil War, even though he didn't agree with him. There's a lovely paragraph in the guidebook that explains his position: "I have eaten his Bread, and served him for nearly thirty Years, and will not do so base a Thing as to forsake him; and chuse rather to lose my Life (which I am sure I shall do) to preserve and defend those Things which are against my Conscience to preserve and defend."</li><li>Edmund was right about one thing: he did lose his life. His son Ralph had sided with the Parliamentarian cause and begged his father not to get involved but Edmund ended up as the King's Standard Bearer and died at the Battle of Edgehill in 1642. </li><li>It all gets a bit grisly in the guidebook after that: the enemy troops who killed him couldn't get the Standard from Edmund, so they hacked his hand off. That's the only bit of him that lies in his tomb in the church, as the rest of his corpse was never recovered.</li><li>Ralph was not rewarded for siding with Cromwell. He refused to sign the Solemn League and Covenant, and had to go into exile. Claydon was sequestered.</li><li>Ralph's wife, Lady Mary, came back to Claydon and found it in a terrible state. The house was returned to the Verneys and things improved under Charles II, with Ralph becoming the first baronet.</li><li>His son John was very successful as 2nd baronet and became Viscount Fermanagh in 1703</li><li>John's grandson, also Ralph, ended up as the second Earl in 1752 and it was he that built Claydon as we see it today</li><li>Claydon is located near <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2014/08/stowe.html">Stowe</a>, another NT property, which was owned by Sir Ralph's political opponent at the time. Sir Ralph upped his spending on Claydon to compete with the splendour of Stowe. Bad move, Ralph. </li><li>But the house wasn't Ralph's only financial mistake. He was patron to Edmund Burke, the philosopher and economist, who wrote that Ralph "suspects nothing, fears nothing, he takes no precautions, he imagines all mankind to be his friend". And Burke would know - he and his cousin William owed Ralph £71,000 between them and they never repaid it. </li><li>Ralph died a broken man. His niece, Mary, became Baroness Fermanagh. She took on the job of sorting out Claydon, demolishing the rotunda and other wing. </li><li>Mary died in 1810. She was the last in the ancient line of Verneys, and the title died with her too. She left the house to a half-sister who had no children, so she passed it to her cousin, Harry Calvert, who changed his name to Verney.</li><li>He married Parthenope Nightingale after the death of his first wife </li><li>My favourite fact of the whole day: Sir Harry was an MP and was known affectionately in Parliament as "the Member for Florence Nightingale" - I can't imagine there were many occasions in the 19th century when a man was known for being the brother-in-law of a woman more famous than him</li><li>The sixth baronet, Sir Edmund Verney, still farms the estate and lived with his family at Claydon until quite recently</li></ul></div><div><h3 style="text-align: left;"><br /></h3><h3 style="text-align: left;">The Claydon Scone</h3><div>I wasn't 100% sure that I actually needed to include Claydon in this project. The house is owned by the National Trust but the rest of the estate, including the Phoenix Kitchen cafeteria, is still owned by the family. The <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/p/national-trust-scone-project-rules.html">Rules of the National Trust Scone Blog</a> state that only scones baked by the National Trust are mandatory. But at this late stage of the project, I'm taking absolutely no chances of missing one.</div><div><br /></div><div>I was the first customer in the cafeteria today, so the assistant offered to bring my scone over to my table. It turned into the opening titles of Grange Hill, except that instead of a cartoon sausage, it was a ginormous scone that suddenly appeared over my shoulder.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJcac56B111BvMm6tL_I-KrHwhnayx1VLVau97fLiveotBxghbfkHLAJ8bExoz9AHUTyZGWurwbA2fbWGc4ORa8LwKuhf48AFmh_tWh73uGGaVA6i6Ulx3GttP4enfaYoG1a4DXXjHvYNhnPLnILnIS4xM8r-YhjQTt7GVU6yiswGV-luCLAjLvDQ39A/s1000/Claydon-Scone.JPEG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Claydon Scone" border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJcac56B111BvMm6tL_I-KrHwhnayx1VLVau97fLiveotBxghbfkHLAJ8bExoz9AHUTyZGWurwbA2fbWGc4ORa8LwKuhf48AFmh_tWh73uGGaVA6i6Ulx3GttP4enfaYoG1a4DXXjHvYNhnPLnILnIS4xM8r-YhjQTt7GVU6yiswGV-luCLAjLvDQ39A/w320-h240/Claydon-Scone.JPEG" title="Claydon Scone" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>It is definitely the biggest scone I have encountered in my nine years on this quest. And although that was great, it also brought problems, because the jam and the cream barely stretched to cover half the scone. On the plus side, it was warm and very fresh. </div><div><br /></div><div>I'll finish by reminding you all that, although Claydon was brilliant, there is only one National Trust property that can win the Gold Award for 'Doesn't Look Like Much From The Outside But Inside It's Amazing' and that is <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2015/05/clouds-hill.html">Clouds Hill</a> in Dorset. It's a tiny little hovel, basically, but it's where Lawrence of Arabia wrote his books. Both properties are highly recommended.</div><p><b>Claydon: 5 out of 5<br /></b><b>Scone: 4.5 out of 5<br />Number of times I said "Oh my God" or heard other visitors saying it as I walked around: at least 20</b></p></div>National Trust Sconeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01097903022761280477noreply@blogger.com0Claydon House, Middle Claydon, Buckingham MK18 2EY, UK51.9218714 -0.9554354999999998830.072359331306224 -36.1116855 73.771383468693784 34.2008145tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6954034038612600052.post-1341817333498623892022-09-11T13:30:00.018-07:002022-10-02T12:26:05.524-07:00Castle Drogo<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Which National Trust property has been the biggest surprise for you when you first set eyes on it in real life? There are loads of contenders - the quirkiness of <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2015/03/a-la-ronde_13.html">A la Ronde</a> or the romantic beauty of <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2016/04/st-michaels-mount.html">St Michael's Mount</a> are two for starters.</span></div><div><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">For me, though, I'm going with <a href="https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/castle-drogo" target="_blank">Castle Drogo</a> in Devon as my surprise package. Castle Drogo's claim to fame is that it was the last castle to be built in England and when you see it in photos </span>it ticks all the castle boxes: big, solid, made of granite, has a castellated roof for firing arrows at pesky invaders. </div><div><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">But when you finally see it in front of you, you realise it's a very modern take on a castle. It was built between 1910 and 1925, so the modern look shouldn't be a surprise. But it's </span>like someone has taken a normal castle and then gone at it with a chainsaw to smooth out the usual edges and give it a square and boxy shape:</div><div><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUKQkYRUANxTe22q9nbD6cZfP3LBseUUGqZivjAIto6Tp8Fzb7Ge6OFumVABL1JTlKMh7GwTLpUoPjMug0RNnALoBpaG7z5Ba9gp8gGnTO1dyWZDCC5F5yNerjtXfvDOkck0iKy46ky9j9MldMlNcqvVwNjaswwUvQpwjGb8-_e6C0E6g539zIJMZ5SA/s2048/Castle-Drogo-View.JPEG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Castle Drogo" border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUKQkYRUANxTe22q9nbD6cZfP3LBseUUGqZivjAIto6Tp8Fzb7Ge6OFumVABL1JTlKMh7GwTLpUoPjMug0RNnALoBpaG7z5Ba9gp8gGnTO1dyWZDCC5F5yNerjtXfvDOkck0iKy46ky9j9MldMlNcqvVwNjaswwUvQpwjGb8-_e6C0E6g539zIJMZ5SA/w320-h240/Castle-Drogo-View.JPEG" title="Castle Drogo" width="320" /></a></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div>Admittedly, it looks less boxy when you get up close to it. But then it appears almost as if half the castle has sunk into the ground and you're only seeing the top section. It messes with your mind a lot, put it that way:</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBbwN3Q2xDnXuWv_mRKgIphcLLQAocAML1cBzzuXV0UQn6yrGpUGWRe9Nf59_rwIJtrTOV0CA9KoRt_7gEdKPIJ6F7RqzFuqtVZ9ZPY1-oPOsBoup5Q8MMPy96CZW-GfPmKI_r4T_QJ1QYd4cIH4VTQulvGUCdD278NBhf-Cfm6a6zclSouIQoJeCHvg/s2048/castle-drogo-devon.JPEG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Castle Drogo" border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBbwN3Q2xDnXuWv_mRKgIphcLLQAocAML1cBzzuXV0UQn6yrGpUGWRe9Nf59_rwIJtrTOV0CA9KoRt_7gEdKPIJ6F7RqzFuqtVZ9ZPY1-oPOsBoup5Q8MMPy96CZW-GfPmKI_r4T_QJ1QYd4cIH4VTQulvGUCdD278NBhf-Cfm6a6zclSouIQoJeCHvg/w320-h240/castle-drogo-devon.JPEG" title="Castle Drogo" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>So, the question is: WHY? Let me try and explain:</div><div><br /></div><h4 style="text-align: left;">Julius Drewe makes his fortune and retires at 33!</h4><div>Julius Drewe was a grocer by trade. His mother was a member of the family who owned Peek, Frean & Company, inventors of the Bourbon and Garibaldi biscuits. Julius set up Home and Colonial Stores, which became phenomenally successful - by 1903, it had 500 stores. By then, however, Julius had retired, at the venerable age of 33. There is a family legend that he turned down the offer of a peerage for £100,000 on principle that honours shouldn't be bought. Instead, he decided to plough some of his money into something that he decided could be bought: an ancestral estate dating back to Norman times.</div><div><br /></div><h4 style="text-align: left;">Julius finds his noble ancestor, Drogo de Teigne!</h4><div><div>A genealogist had informed Julius that he was possibly connected to a Norman baron known as Drue or Drogo de Teigne. The village of Drewsteignton on the edge of Dartmoor was named after him and so that is where Julius decided to buy some land, build his castle and claim the ancestral heritage that was rightfully (probably) his.</div></div><div><br /></div><h4 style="text-align: left;">Julius commissions Edwin Lutyens to design Castle Drogo!</h4><div>The celebrated architect Edwin Lutyens completed over 400 projects during his career. He is most famous for the Cenotaph in London and Rashtrapati Bhavan (formerly Viceroy's House) in New Delhi, as well as a whole host of other houses, offices, war memorials and churches. In 1910, he was well into his stride, having already transformed a ruined fort into a holiday home on <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2016/09/lindisfarne-castle.html">Lindisfarne</a>. Julius commissioned him to build Castle Drogo with a large budget and work got underway.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiBd91twKl7mGUnTr21WvOSu7JscuDni2GHIlGRrbuth-wdWYNspEujJACSLeGmelRglxvIEyIymlLpj4Vxhmr7ymFUuF4-ub6_Wuf0xv7Xul3U3IpGJkiBiURKlHHXVrQ9BLghCvBv09FHXDmBFlZ3oCu1G-EbRWc5CEAeb7Fi9E_rul2n-aF-9fX5Q/s2048/Castle-Drogo-Front.JPEG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Castle Drogo" border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiBd91twKl7mGUnTr21WvOSu7JscuDni2GHIlGRrbuth-wdWYNspEujJACSLeGmelRglxvIEyIymlLpj4Vxhmr7ymFUuF4-ub6_Wuf0xv7Xul3U3IpGJkiBiURKlHHXVrQ9BLghCvBv09FHXDmBFlZ3oCu1G-EbRWc5CEAeb7Fi9E_rul2n-aF-9fX5Q/w320-h240/Castle-Drogo-Front.JPEG" title="Castle Drogo" width="320" /></a></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><h4>Edwin Lutyens designs everything!</h4><div>What is astonishing about Lutyens is that he designed everything, even the latches on cabinets in the kitchens (he loved kitchens apparently). How he found the time for such detail when he was simultaneously out in India trying to architect an entire city is beyond me.</div><div><br /></div><h4 style="text-align: left;">Julius and Edwin ensure the castle is comfortable!</h4><div>Like the outside, the interiors of Castle Drogo are strikingly old-modern. The walls are granite and look austere and cold but the castle always offered central heating and other modern conveniences.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguQYMLaWzeEaqDZ2UldtqJnQEdQaaVb5Rzhh8A6vE4hmqTGVh6MPiKJP5lve1YFOg_BapzsO9dWqVyBebTY0sNtLZgeT3Md52ciYnbMpyuayEhFbNvjkIOg4bAdcbuiiwXCbHTkCf4MR31dgs2GNzqF2YcGeQ6aFla5Tbgg6DV06gl6ys1VlQ6BRTXUQ/s640/castle-drogo-hallway.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Castle Drogo Interior" border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguQYMLaWzeEaqDZ2UldtqJnQEdQaaVb5Rzhh8A6vE4hmqTGVh6MPiKJP5lve1YFOg_BapzsO9dWqVyBebTY0sNtLZgeT3Md52ciYnbMpyuayEhFbNvjkIOg4bAdcbuiiwXCbHTkCf4MR31dgs2GNzqF2YcGeQ6aFla5Tbgg6DV06gl6ys1VlQ6BRTXUQ/w320-h240/castle-drogo-hallway.jpg" title="Castle Drogo Interior" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div>You can see how very liveable the whole building must have been:</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf4BYFek1dbuxbdkehv2hqmlGTJ9_BVfbZzZv-bIocNbvlyyGyVL2t-lC2TusTSMbLgX9ysP2uaCY3Tu03s3bHx0ATs4RswqRPoOHHAjbt-VKZZTYaQwXPOh7p1pez35hi3pV73H5v8IGa0w3cCchvTrzlLk6BNpKZ0uU0TQQh1njHJXoxWcx1Ra3c_w/s640/castle-drogo-drawing-room.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Castle Drogo Drawing Room" border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf4BYFek1dbuxbdkehv2hqmlGTJ9_BVfbZzZv-bIocNbvlyyGyVL2t-lC2TusTSMbLgX9ysP2uaCY3Tu03s3bHx0ATs4RswqRPoOHHAjbt-VKZZTYaQwXPOh7p1pez35hi3pV73H5v8IGa0w3cCchvTrzlLk6BNpKZ0uU0TQQh1njHJXoxWcx1Ra3c_w/w320-h240/castle-drogo-drawing-room.jpg" title="Castle Drogo Drawing Room" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><h4 style="text-align: left;">Castle Drogo passes to the National Trust</h4><div>Julius insisted that Castle Drogo had a flat roof and this caused leakage problems from the get-go. Eventually, it all just got too much for one family to manage; the guidebook tells how Anthony Drewe, grandson of Julius, wrote a letter to the National Trust to ask if they'd be interested in taking on the property. The letter contained just one sentence - "I write to enquire whether the National Trust would be interested in acquiring this house, together with the Teign Gorge stretching over to Fingle Bridge?" - and in 1974, the castle and 600 acres of land were given to the National Trust.</div><div><br /></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-TvJgSb39nRbcYeYAkVGvI6nph_fXq0UrGXm11h8MOjLSRNehmghMtbp7fFYmsbS0TUIEFs76UmMt5rKZTlmEpebgmbPUAMjQox_boDgQLjqbKLn7eFVksrqDsj-8tKmlvfRDtbsHJl6Pw4zx5DLRsZqwyyVhr_qu-MyYlLdyaGHsysNAedmsYd9_MA/s2048/castle-drogo-scones.JPEG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Stunt scones" border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-TvJgSb39nRbcYeYAkVGvI6nph_fXq0UrGXm11h8MOjLSRNehmghMtbp7fFYmsbS0TUIEFs76UmMt5rKZTlmEpebgmbPUAMjQox_boDgQLjqbKLn7eFVksrqDsj-8tKmlvfRDtbsHJl6Pw4zx5DLRsZqwyyVhr_qu-MyYlLdyaGHsysNAedmsYd9_MA/w320-h240/castle-drogo-scones.JPEG" title="Stunt scones" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>I was pleased to see some 'stunt scones' doing their thing</i></td></tr></tbody></table><div><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">The Castle Drogo Scone</span></h3><div><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">It must be incredibly difficult to run the Food & Beverage operation at the National Trust. If you take just today as an example: I started out in </span><a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2022/09/heddon-valley.html">Heddon Valley</a> on the North Devon coast in the morning. It was a truly beautiful spot but the cafeteria was really basic - the woman had to put the kettle on to make me a cup of tea. There were no scones but it didn't really matter; they had flapjacks and brownies to keep the walkers happy. </div><div><br /></div><div>Castle Drogo, on the other hand, is at the opposite end of the F&B spectrum. The visitor centre is big and visitor-centrey, with a large cafeteria serving all sorts of food and drinks. This prompted me to throw caution to the winds and wander round the castle first - I NEVER do this as I'm always too worried that all the scones will be eaten by a swarm of locusts who followed me into the car park.</div><div><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYUD2WDr98IHZ1UUmtOaIKhCcWgQ9LG8X1PqJfzbEAh4X0qvwtsLmOvcGolYyipWapXd4bIRzCUFqNKA0x3rpRMp3pp4gniU2FDdskMNPwy2e7pJFTZQdCkxCpEHPjZshWmTBa49E0jv92kkW4cC-y7tSdRgV0caLLhDR-xdvWJYTj1CeOYX68mI8Qrw/s640/castle-drogo-scone.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Castle Drogo scone" border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYUD2WDr98IHZ1UUmtOaIKhCcWgQ9LG8X1PqJfzbEAh4X0qvwtsLmOvcGolYyipWapXd4bIRzCUFqNKA0x3rpRMp3pp4gniU2FDdskMNPwy2e7pJFTZQdCkxCpEHPjZshWmTBa49E0jv92kkW4cC-y7tSdRgV0caLLhDR-xdvWJYTj1CeOYX68mI8Qrw/w320-h240/castle-drogo-scone.jpg" title="Castle Drogo scone" width="320" /></a></div><br />Castle Drogo was the fourth and final stop on my mini Devon road trip: as well as Heddon Valley, I'd also been to <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2022/09/lundy.html">Lundy</a>, which had been lovely but no scones, and <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2022/09/lorna-doone-valley.html">Lorna Doone Valley</a>, which had delivered a scone but it hadn't quite been a five-star performer. </div><div><br /></div><div>So I was overjoyed when the Castle Drogo scone turned out to be excellent. It was fresh and tasty and a good size. </div><div><br /></div><div>Only a few final scones to go!</div><div>
<b><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Castle Drogo: 5 out of 5</span></b></div><div><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><b>Scone: 5 out of 5</b></span></div><div><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><b>Oscar-worthy performance of the stunt scones: 5 out of 5</b></span></div></div></div>
National Trust Sconeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01097903022761280477noreply@blogger.com0Castle Drogo, Drewsteignton, Exeter EX6 6PB, UK50.695942 -3.811367122.385708163821157 -38.9676171 79.006175836178841 31.3448829tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6954034038612600052.post-53886749760095270802022-09-11T13:16:00.009-07:002022-10-03T04:35:52.038-07:00Lorna Doone Valley<p>I've now visited 237 National Trust properties in my quest to meet every NT scone in the land. If I sort the properties by how much time I spent researching the place in advance, then <a href="https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/lorna-doone-valley" target="_blank">Lorna Doone Valley</a> in Devon would be at the top by a long distance.</p><p>The reason for this is very simple: before I set off, I decided to read Lorna Doone, the novel. It is a very long book; 552 pages in fact.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaVah4Gq70ijnP9KLh98ZqLY5x-b5R8ri5MxThgDlh8Vf9RTSo7-8dQjNUEFpIPLkFHYtbodvjwkpZv6KPBhoP__ckfNF4HsKyo1pQSBnv28Divo3jzfDMjkzdYUSUHg_N3vb5zU3255uL-RD38mp5iTcm8t9CHDFtXcUDZVdWSBYeV1BwdKNtbEMr7A/s1000/lorna-doone-book-cover.JPEG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Lorna Doone" border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaVah4Gq70ijnP9KLh98ZqLY5x-b5R8ri5MxThgDlh8Vf9RTSo7-8dQjNUEFpIPLkFHYtbodvjwkpZv6KPBhoP__ckfNF4HsKyo1pQSBnv28Divo3jzfDMjkzdYUSUHg_N3vb5zU3255uL-RD38mp5iTcm8t9CHDFtXcUDZVdWSBYeV1BwdKNtbEMr7A/w320-h240/lorna-doone-book-cover.JPEG" title="Lorna Doone" width="320" /></a></div><p>But before I tell you about Lorna Doone the novel, I have to tell you that reading it didn't really prepare me for Lorna Doone the valley. It's very much a walking property, with lots of different routes that can take you in various directions. For example, you can walk 5 miles to the very lovely <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2019/07/watersmeet.html">Watersmeet</a>, or do an 8-mile loop to take in the medieval settlement of Badgworthy, which inspired the book. </p><p>But I hadn't really appreciated any of this in advance and I hadn't left enough time to complete any of the walks. I'd already done a jaunt through the very lovely <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2022/09/heddon-valley.html">Heddon Valley</a> earlier this morning and I was on my way to <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2022/09/castle-drogo-scones.html">Castle Drogo</a>, so time was a bit limited. </p><p>Maybe a lot of people turn up clueless like me, because when I arrived a very nice NT guide was waiting in the car park to provide walking directions. He pointed up a distant hill and then, on seeing my worried face, changed his tack to something a bit easier. And so my leisurely walk took me through a field alongside the river:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcBEsVkEVVW6_v6SsU_Xd42Gw9uAQQXrMang3wM16pb7p4UQG5fuGt4-jg4iufyKmdvz_L-FHmBcEM4tcVslmmJvH8xhjX5qDOnUc5tKeL8ntXrlCRv7mMlbjyhanNPLcQM5D029hP08tQNqDIh35h-uMsXNNw-6FJuVy05Sc_Ytq7hUFAiwMEW8Tlgw/s1000/Lorna-Doone-Valley-River.JPEG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Lorna Doone river" border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcBEsVkEVVW6_v6SsU_Xd42Gw9uAQQXrMang3wM16pb7p4UQG5fuGt4-jg4iufyKmdvz_L-FHmBcEM4tcVslmmJvH8xhjX5qDOnUc5tKeL8ntXrlCRv7mMlbjyhanNPLcQM5D029hP08tQNqDIh35h-uMsXNNw-6FJuVy05Sc_Ytq7hUFAiwMEW8Tlgw/w320-h240/Lorna-Doone-Valley-River.JPEG" title="Lorna Doone river" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">It's a really beautiful area. On my way back along the path, I took this picture below and it looks just like a painting.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieQCLnxemj-9zfgOJ3o24xLKEDW3junMOqDtGoWXFZdqhc1bGGywyCJB9x4NZ8eP-xT1DymfKN9-xIN5OPpAknItJvvPvmcSswan0T9AWMpagrUkrykdpefsDWsOLspRkoOBhW4ndKwxrd22GBFuS-L1G60Hrki61CQU9k3FKaREUQFK3E6ftADsoPMA/s1000/Lorna-Doone-Valley.JPEG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieQCLnxemj-9zfgOJ3o24xLKEDW3junMOqDtGoWXFZdqhc1bGGywyCJB9x4NZ8eP-xT1DymfKN9-xIN5OPpAknItJvvPvmcSswan0T9AWMpagrUkrykdpefsDWsOLspRkoOBhW4ndKwxrd22GBFuS-L1G60Hrki61CQU9k3FKaREUQFK3E6ftADsoPMA/s320/Lorna-Doone-Valley.JPEG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">If you haven't read the book and want a quick summary then I can oblige. Lorna Doone: A Romance of Exmoor was published in 1869 but is set in the late 17th century. It focuses on John Ridd, a farmer's son, whose father is murdered by the Doone family, a bunch of villains who live in an enclave in the area. John is brought home from his boarding school after the killing and on the way he happens to witness the Doones kidnapping an aristocratic young child. The child grows up as Lorna Doone. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Later, when they are both grown up, she meets John and they begin a secret relationship. John eventually liberates Lorna from the Doones but then her true parentage is revealed and she goes to London. The story is set against the Monmouth Rebellion, where James Scott (who was Duke of Monmouth and the eldest illegitimate son of Charles II) attempted to depose his uncle, James II, from the throne. This ended in the Bloody Assizes and the beheading of James Scott. Judge Jeffreys, who led the Bloody Assizes, is featured in the book. Anyway - a lot happens during those 552 pages before you get a very dramatic ending. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The novel is a real love letter to the area and it's fantastic that the National Trust is protecting and preserving it. You don't need to read the book to appreciate the region but it definitely helps.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">Lorna Doone Valley Scone</h3><div>I had really loved Heddon Valley during my first visit of the day but it had not been able to provide me with any scones. Yesterday's trip to <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2022/09/lundy.html">Lundy</a> had been sconeless as well. I was therefore feeling very anxious about Lorna Doone Valley - had National Trust scones become an endangered species? Or had I just managed to leave all the sconeless places til last? Was this project about to fizzle out?</div><div><br /></div><div>The cafeteria at Lorna Doone Valley is called The Buttery and it's in a lovely location by the River Badgworthy. I was extremely relieved and pleased when I saw a pile of scones on the counter. My scone was pleasant enough - it was a bit heavy and possibly a little underbaked but to be honest I was just glad to see it. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimeEwwT4ANEwVgPkyrYYfWkykTwLaCZKikGWw8j-dkZ4uOPni9lLte-byZdmOHLH6oTaR1SvC8tqVoodb9rnuic8TpQKSpczKZmvXQRMQ0oP1JfhcLMrKbQjT8mBV1xkx3Gg5voFJSzsdEBUlysnv6UqLK47sYgejMSr_V8WquYbrhCmVdVuq3ZxhjLQ/s1000/Lorna-Doone-Valley-Scone.JPEG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Lorna Doone Valley Scone" border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimeEwwT4ANEwVgPkyrYYfWkykTwLaCZKikGWw8j-dkZ4uOPni9lLte-byZdmOHLH6oTaR1SvC8tqVoodb9rnuic8TpQKSpczKZmvXQRMQ0oP1JfhcLMrKbQjT8mBV1xkx3Gg5voFJSzsdEBUlysnv6UqLK47sYgejMSr_V8WquYbrhCmVdVuq3ZxhjLQ/w320-h240/Lorna-Doone-Valley-Scone.JPEG" title="Lorna Doone Valley Scone" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>I later did some research on the author of Lorna Doone, one Richard Doddridge Blackmore, to find out exactly where he had lived in Exmoor. I was quite shocked to discover that although he had spent some of his childhood in Lorna Doone country, from the age of 22 he had lived in Teddington, which is just down the road from my own home. I might have to go over and find his grave and thank him for his book. I'll keep you posted if I find it. </div><div><br /></div><b>Lorna Doone Valley: 5 out of 5</b><div><b>Scone: 4 out of 5</b></div><div><b>Handiness of RD Blackmore's final resting place: 5 out of 5</b></div>National Trust Sconeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01097903022761280477noreply@blogger.com0Doone Valley Camping On Exmoor, Glebe House, Malmsmead, Lynton EX35 6NU, UK51.218059 -3.729264622.907825163821151 -38.8855146 79.528292836178849 31.4269854tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6954034038612600052.post-57553244073702783372022-09-11T00:26:00.011-07:002022-10-03T04:37:10.704-07:00Heddon Valley<p>I now have just SIX more National Trust properties to visit on this 10-year quest to try all the NT scones across the land. I could - and let's face it, I probably will - write a very long post about everything I have learned from this project.</p><p>But here's a quick preview of the main thing I have learned so far: if the scone is underwhelming but the property is great, you're fine. If the property is a little underwhelming but the scone is great, you're fine. You only really have a problem if the scone and property are both underwhelming. And do you want to know how many times that has happened in 10 years, readers? None. No times. It has never happened. To paraphrase the great Sandie Shaw, there's always something there to be happy about.</p><p><a href="https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/heddon-valley" target="_blank">Heddon Valley</a> in Devon is a great example of this. I unexpectedly loved Heddon Valley today. It went straight into my Top 20: a beautiful little spot perfectly set up for walking, with hills and cliffs and beaches all around.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtLhMDgLNU65yYa9mQksVR5C6uhyIe9EMqy9evTTIrQeChPdqTO19chAljGPD7MdyI_jE4i87Rc3fn4_9Zhwb3uG8bG_OeCBtcAJgrN1tqeEApKAJiubcNLXQTf5XOXgWBEgKXLO7_1sjWO51uvT5yxUoziDE8LJNgjsEXZQOW_ducIQuxT7eBGMD5Vw/s1000/heddon-valley-bridge.JPEG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Heddon Valley walk" border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtLhMDgLNU65yYa9mQksVR5C6uhyIe9EMqy9evTTIrQeChPdqTO19chAljGPD7MdyI_jE4i87Rc3fn4_9Zhwb3uG8bG_OeCBtcAJgrN1tqeEApKAJiubcNLXQTf5XOXgWBEgKXLO7_1sjWO51uvT5yxUoziDE8LJNgjsEXZQOW_ducIQuxT7eBGMD5Vw/w320-h240/heddon-valley-bridge.JPEG" title="Heddon Valley walk" width="320" /></a></div><p>The history of Heddon Valley is an interesting one. It was bought by the National Trust in 1965, having previously been part of a grand design by a solicitor called Benjamin Lake. He bought it as part of the Martinhoe Manor Estate in 1885 with plans to turn it into a fashionable holiday resort. He poured lots of time and money into it but it all went horribly wrong and he ended up in prison for embezzlement (you can read more about it <a href="https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/heddon-valley/features/woody-bays-victorian-heritage" target="_blank">here</a>).</p><p>Hunters Inn, which is still there today, was built by Benjamin. It had originally been a thatched cottage serving ale to locals from the 18th century. Benj had it rebuilt to look like a Swiss chalet, as the terrible picture below tries to show:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM63F1llMdBmsK9TPOHl9vhdEC21Bd-MWRHunU7iUElUZancvv07YnJz3ZeHbQrRIHnPh4qqSUVSNmxGXowumg9w1OV0aElAkT-Puqt8-sR-bDv1TPeGndIU6fdhL-3whbyGPmcoWTJM4SUPVJzi-PEIPjR5sXXOqrehpUtJK1dD_7srpRdR86PXblMQ/s1000/Hunters-Inn-Heddon.JPEG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Hunters Inn Heddon Valley" border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM63F1llMdBmsK9TPOHl9vhdEC21Bd-MWRHunU7iUElUZancvv07YnJz3ZeHbQrRIHnPh4qqSUVSNmxGXowumg9w1OV0aElAkT-Puqt8-sR-bDv1TPeGndIU6fdhL-3whbyGPmcoWTJM4SUPVJzi-PEIPjR5sXXOqrehpUtJK1dD_7srpRdR86PXblMQ/w320-h240/Hunters-Inn-Heddon.JPEG" title="Hunters Inn Heddon Valley" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">There are numerous walks that you can do in the area. The easiest one is a mile-long walk from the NT carpark down to Heddons Mouth, with its little beach. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCyjf7r3nXGZDvGIgojnLtnhhOUcC-xEMhMFtAZVJ3Ly-JjtCwa87_ljgMbaCaJRK1x0p6LW3Nc7M13CCLZBIvL10jy8rP00ie5J2VmxR4TixVOIATVjTkIxAKTkX--inlJKx9sROqJMQ5i2vtbGlIVtMPKqUO7fDw97tqxGYlSJFN37Z13m31gYj56A/s1000/heddons-mouth-beach.JPEG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Heddons Mouth" border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCyjf7r3nXGZDvGIgojnLtnhhOUcC-xEMhMFtAZVJ3Ly-JjtCwa87_ljgMbaCaJRK1x0p6LW3Nc7M13CCLZBIvL10jy8rP00ie5J2VmxR4TixVOIATVjTkIxAKTkX--inlJKx9sROqJMQ5i2vtbGlIVtMPKqUO7fDw97tqxGYlSJFN37Z13m31gYj56A/w320-h240/heddons-mouth-beach.JPEG" title="Heddons Mouth" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>Heddons Mouth also gives you the lovely experience of having the sea on one side and green countryside on the other (a bit like <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2022/05/penrose.html">Penrose</a> in Cornwall). I even recorded a little video for you! Get me! I'll be on the TikTok next!</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dyBrIXTvuVb_QdzNj6tjSok5oZZFsp40BSKSJksckMj1L8ncdvb9XYgEP_zK6kgbyx1jYKwwpNY3P_pKX_BNg' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br /><div>But onto the scones. If you are a regular reader, you will know that it's Scone Blog protocol to always have the scone as soon as I arrive at a property, just in case they run out/have a power cut/get hit by bad weather and have to close early (all of which have happened to me). But today I got to Heddon Valley early, so I did the walk first. </div><p>My walk had been so perfect that I didn't even think about scone availability. But as soon as I walked into the visitor centre, I realised the kitchen was a small operation and I might have a problem. (When I asked for tea, the lovely woman had to put the kettle on.) I was right: the only available sustenance was brownies or flapjacks. I don't know what I have against chocolate brownies - somehow they always feel to me like 15 Mars Bars and all their calories squashed together in one stodgy brick - so I went for the flapjack.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIrOyJxnjBXo_UGACVdE1px3AJe1bYe7gxYV3A5_BfShryz5aCUQujxgHq0T2nLfHQ8iIrT8mS33nXmDNn5PkbMGvyB7PRsDaM9wc891emvuX3ny8Sopd0r1BYVGt3a3Z_k8YF787UIHH97Kg7PQRiOgbtRZAskUpjL4oSGglPWob3bj1kANb_mC8fMQ/s1000/Heddon-Valley-Scone.JPEG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIrOyJxnjBXo_UGACVdE1px3AJe1bYe7gxYV3A5_BfShryz5aCUQujxgHq0T2nLfHQ8iIrT8mS33nXmDNn5PkbMGvyB7PRsDaM9wc891emvuX3ny8Sopd0r1BYVGt3a3Z_k8YF787UIHH97Kg7PQRiOgbtRZAskUpjL4oSGglPWob3bj1kANb_mC8fMQ/s320/Heddon-Valley-Scone.JPEG" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Was I sorry not to get a scone at Heddon Valley? Of course, but Heddon had already given me a lot to be happy about, plus I still had plenty of scone potential ahead, with both <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2022/09/lorna-doone-valley.html">Lorna Doone Valley</a> and <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2022/09/castle-drogo-scones.html">Castle Drogo</a> on my list for the day.<div><br /></div><div>So my recommendation is to visit Heddon Valley if you can - it's a beautiful little place. <br /><p><b>Heddon Valley: 5 out of 5<br />Scone: 0 out of 5 - there weren't any<br />Getting to Heddon Valley very early and being the only person on the path: 5 out of 5</b></p></div>National Trust Sconeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01097903022761280477noreply@blogger.com0River Heddon, Barnstaple, UK51.204333016332548 -3.897601945686818922.894099180153702 -39.053851945686816 79.5145668525114 31.258648054313181tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6954034038612600052.post-87898881365889776792022-09-10T06:42:00.003-07:002022-09-10T13:15:35.728-07:00Lundy<p>It takes a bit of commitment for a visitor to get to <a href="https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/lundy" target="_blank">Lundy Island</a> in Devon. A boat trip lasting just under two hours takes you from Ilfracombe harbour. You can then either get the boat back again a few hours later or you can stay in accommodation on the island. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrYSqpN18C-ylqOhuGsfi1chlIFUr19IEnFsZYhWB0V7HdhKYSIkbHDV19iqTfxr6R6lrlqUbORunPGq4OSRPnx3GUoYZkWMp-fY8-JvGmp_Och04KIPTEE6xrEJsGv3J40y_eHlh5HsLdC6atWGkPl6MkLA5MUiHmwq18ARqS_p4vVTVHDdSmC0NLQQ/s1000/Lundy-Boat.JPEG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrYSqpN18C-ylqOhuGsfi1chlIFUr19IEnFsZYhWB0V7HdhKYSIkbHDV19iqTfxr6R6lrlqUbORunPGq4OSRPnx3GUoYZkWMp-fY8-JvGmp_Och04KIPTEE6xrEJsGv3J40y_eHlh5HsLdC6atWGkPl6MkLA5MUiHmwq18ARqS_p4vVTVHDdSmC0NLQQ/s320/Lundy-Boat.JPEG" width="320" /></i></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>The large boat at the jetty is how you get to Lundy Island. <br />It stops running in October though and you need to get a helicopter instead. </i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>I had worked out before I set off that I probably didn't actually need to go to Lundy at all. It's owned by the National Trust but the island is run by the Landmark Trust, an organisation that rescues interesting buildings and makes them available for holiday rental. The <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/p/national-trust-scone-project-rules.html">rules of the National Trust Scone Blog</a> state that I only need to visit properties where the scones are provided by the NT itself.</p><p>But before anyone says "National Trust Scone Blogger, you really don't make it easy for yourself", let me tell you that this fastidiousness is caused by one thing only: FEAR. I am so fearful that I will slump over the finish line on this project, only for someone to say "You haven't been to Lundy. I was there in July and they have a huge NT cafeteria serving 15 types of scones," that I am covering places that probably don't need to be covered, just to be on the safe side. </p><p>So I went to Lundy and it was well worth it. Let me tell you a bit about it.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Lundy History</h3><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Lundy is just 3 miles long and half a mile wide.</li><li>The burial ground near the Old Light lighthouse contains four Christian memorial stones from the 5th-8th centuries.</li><li>The de Marisco family seems to have leased the island in 1150. In 1155, Henry II became king and tried to give Lundy to the Knights Templar but the de Mariscos refused to hand it over. They used it as a base for piracy.</li><li>In 1238, William de Marisco was implicated in a plot against Henry III. He was captured, found guilty of treason and hung, drawn and quartered.</li><li>To avoid further trouble, Henry III ordered the castle to be built and it was completed in 1244.</li><li>Lundy was then owned by a lot of people, including Sir Richard Grenville (of <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2019/08/buckland-abbey.html">Buckland Abbey</a> fame) and countless others. It's not clear why so many people decided to take Lundy on, only to dispose of it again - probably because it was so expensive to maintain.</li><li>William Hudson Heaven bought Lundy in 1836. He had - look away now, Restore Trusters - inherited sugar plantations in Jamaica and received compensation when slaves were emancipated. However, he ran out of money and set up the Lundy Granite Company. It thrived for a few years before the enterprise collapsed.</li><li>In 1968, the island was up for sale again. This time, wealthy philanthropist Jack Hayward of Wolverhampton Wanderers fame stepped in and gave £150,000 so it could be bought and given to the National Trust. </li></ul><h3 style="text-align: left;">Lundy Landmarks</h3><div>Lundy has had many owners and each has contributed to the island's development in different ways. I highly recommend the guidebook for a full run-down. Some of the buildings you can see today include:</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Castle</li><li>South Light lighthouse</li><li>St Helen's church</li><li>Millcombe House, built by William Hudson Heaven and known originally as The Villa</li><li>Old Light - the original lighthouse opened in 1820. Lundy is located in the Bristol Channel and was always a shipping hazard. Old Light wasn't successful - it got obscured by fog and workarounds had to be found:</li></ul></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ7pfxC1o2cZwazhXEixCdQKZotevNPTy1sRIQOdTXFDWM56VyYWNcrCvCX1dEaVnsOfQ0Epij39gwtzGH8PnJKUE5uIg7muAnzZVZx6kTuGX8y6ChBgctE-I8rjTVFnikkDrKTp0NQiGGIRa9jjzyVvTCeE1ARQQJ-734csEJ9VE8yW-ket9PT-gvdg/s1000/Old-Light-Lundy.JPEG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Old Light Lundy" border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ7pfxC1o2cZwazhXEixCdQKZotevNPTy1sRIQOdTXFDWM56VyYWNcrCvCX1dEaVnsOfQ0Epij39gwtzGH8PnJKUE5uIg7muAnzZVZx6kTuGX8y6ChBgctE-I8rjTVFnikkDrKTp0NQiGGIRa9jjzyVvTCeE1ARQQJ-734csEJ9VE8yW-ket9PT-gvdg/w320-h240/Old-Light-Lundy.JPEG" title="Old Light Lundy" width="320" /></a></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">Lundy Scones</h3><p>Lundy also has a shop and a pub but that's about it as far as sustenance goes. The Marisco Tavern never shuts apparently - it only serves alcohol during licensed hours but it's the only building to keep its lighting on even after the generators have stopped and everything else is dark.</p><p>The Marisco Tavern was originally the shop. It was built during the 1860s to serve the 300 men who worked in the quarry and it offered a "Refreshment Room" as well as supplies. (My Scottish Great Auntie Nessie always referred to a drink as a "wee refreshment" so she'd have approved of that.) Once the quarry had gone, it retained its dual purpose as pub and shop.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWGg5Wnm8IJ6D87XCLleOj2o2ZhOCAumA09VU8iQy0sBBwFZ3ejqjLedU7ShVGXSSGkD0jza3CFw8xj7Q0au3DqM7LRwAOinu0WtDzAMilSFhv33cbYFN4-xC0Y94iS8u44m9a-zmU4qB9qwOvWO3ud9AVDEfh6ZgQ5GUKhbQnBZ6Pl_Z0glCQLxE5PA/s1000/Marisco-Tavern.JPEG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Marisco Tavern" border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWGg5Wnm8IJ6D87XCLleOj2o2ZhOCAumA09VU8iQy0sBBwFZ3ejqjLedU7ShVGXSSGkD0jza3CFw8xj7Q0au3DqM7LRwAOinu0WtDzAMilSFhv33cbYFN4-xC0Y94iS8u44m9a-zmU4qB9qwOvWO3ud9AVDEfh6ZgQ5GUKhbQnBZ6Pl_Z0glCQLxE5PA/w320-h240/Marisco-Tavern.JPEG" title="Marisco Tavern" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>The Marisco Tavern, if you need a refreshment.</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>I didn't see any scones on display today and I didn't have the heart to ask if they had any. Instead, I had a piece of Victoria sponge and it was fine. </p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Lundy Wildlife</h3><div><p>Scones weren't the only thing to elude me today. Lundy is famous for its wildlife, especially its puffins. I was extremely excited about seeing some puffins but I realised a few weeks ago that this wasn't going to happen. Puffins spend the winter out at sea, bobbing about and eating fish. They only come inland in March to mate and nest and have their young. In August they go back to sea again, like little mini sailors. I hadn't missed them by much. But I'd definitely missed them.</p><p>Everyone on the boat was hoping to see a dolphin - we didn't. The boat announcer told us to beware of the Lundy ponies, adding with some interesting certainty "because they bite". I didn't see them either. I did see a seal though, so that was very exciting.</p><p>In short, I highly recommend Lundy Island to you. It might not have any scones but it's a great place to spend a few hours or even a few days if you like very dark and quiet nights.</p><p><b>Lundy Island: 5 out of 5<br /></b><b>Scones: 0 out of 5 - there weren't any<br />Someone playing the recorder very loudly - mind you, this was late in the afternoon. Maybe they just wanted us all to go home: 0 out of 5</b></p></div>National Trust Sconeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01097903022761280477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6954034038612600052.post-69663139433390519242022-08-28T12:47:00.275-07:002022-09-04T07:08:42.462-07:00East Soar<p>It's the final countdown, scone fans! Only 10 National Trust properties to go on this scone quest. <a href="https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/east-soar" target="_blank">East Soar</a> on the Devon coast was one of the final 10 and I knew it was going to be a problem. Firstly, it was the most difficult one for me to get to. But secondly, I HAD ALREADY BEEN THERE. I visited East Soar in 2019 but had been stupidly negligent about its facilities and no scone purchase had been attempted. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGPTZ_3kmhlXeU9daepLPGQMGTNAE82x1jxVbQ6y4nwjshJag8Y1E_LMUxNGhwaV-wJkTOZ1Dq7ZefLaQ11yftb-1Ip1kR93lZ-H9Bjf5cs3FNMaWDyZFTc-0m58cU9KOm5eLvTfwdsUeqrC2TCXVlmcSsbkwcQiwMjH__8yatJKjzQCEgSDpCabm7Vw/s2048/East-Soar-Views.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="East Soar" border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGPTZ_3kmhlXeU9daepLPGQMGTNAE82x1jxVbQ6y4nwjshJag8Y1E_LMUxNGhwaV-wJkTOZ1Dq7ZefLaQ11yftb-1Ip1kR93lZ-H9Bjf5cs3FNMaWDyZFTc-0m58cU9KOm5eLvTfwdsUeqrC2TCXVlmcSsbkwcQiwMjH__8yatJKjzQCEgSDpCabm7Vw/w320-h240/East-Soar-Views.jpg" title="East Soar" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Luckily for me, I have the support of my friend Kathy. We have been best friends for a long time and have helped each other through our chosen endeavours. Example of Kathy's chosen endeavours: an Ironman triathlon. I watched her doing her huge swim, I cheered her as she sped past me on her bike, and I shouted support as she ran past me several times while completing a marathon. Example of my chosen endeavours: driving around Devon looking for a scone. Yes, I do often wonder why she is friends with me but I am beyond grateful that she has persevered these past 30 years. </div><p>Anyway. East Soar is a great place for coastal walks but it also contains a lot of history. There's a very good <a href="https://www.southdevonaonb.org.uk/projects/celebrating-south-devon-aonb-at-60/" target="_blank">podcast episode</a> by an archaeologist called Bill Horner who explains how the East Soar National Trust car park was once part of RAF Bolt Head. It played an important role in World War II - its location enabled incoming enemy aircraft to be intercepted.</p><p>There's also a lot of wildlife in the area. Highland cattle, Dartmoor ponies and all sorts of other species can be spotted as you walk along:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpcvAHyTjk0a3RDfRk3Ki2bgA4TwuyW9TXnxYVwYtabvF-TuXn5n14xTJyohE7ETJjc_Fp2D0tXhkpQtmRWXysw_7I7yh8V3GNwX1rIGd-kbXatpsM_Cb6Adll-Rbnk7jRtjpiMWBtTqT_Ixj-2zRtwshyXMDmnan59yGwyZunFzpD7k5zeBB-PiOWhA/s640/Dartmoor%20Ponies%20East%20Soar.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Ponies at East Soar" border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpcvAHyTjk0a3RDfRk3Ki2bgA4TwuyW9TXnxYVwYtabvF-TuXn5n14xTJyohE7ETJjc_Fp2D0tXhkpQtmRWXysw_7I7yh8V3GNwX1rIGd-kbXatpsM_Cb6Adll-Rbnk7jRtjpiMWBtTqT_Ixj-2zRtwshyXMDmnan59yGwyZunFzpD7k5zeBB-PiOWhA/w320-h240/Dartmoor%20Ponies%20East%20Soar.jpg" title="Ponies at East Soar" width="320" /></a></div><p>Kathy was on holiday in the area and had done a recce of the East Soar scone facilities during the week. She texted me with some concerns that there might not be any and I had to explain that it didn't matter: the National Trust handbook states that refreshments are available at East Soar and, as I couldn't be 100% sure that they weren't NT, I had to go there. Even if all I found was a hole in the ground, this blog needed to report that the hole contained zero scones. To be fair, she hid her bafflement well.</p><p>She didn't hide her National Trust Scone Panic though: as soon as we got to the Walker's Hut, she basically turned into me. I was sanguine about the chances of finding a scone in a barn but she was utterly determined that East Soar would deliver. It was like having an out-of-body experience and watching an action replay of yourself at 200+ National Trust cafes over the years.</p><p>The Walker's Hut is located on a National Trust farm and is a lovely little place serving a good array of cakes and drinks. There's an honesty box for the money and you help yourself:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij7HDrMX_rttXloKhrEdiwEUxs2hauvWVPTJMWldXBW4VyhqtMpYHLROP6sFhnrxrSSxSaaw4fHCraBpT_uLZnh6d6uZBC2nV8JN-huyPx2ojXpSni6D1Dm3Rd6GMCLO85QdohTP5eck7glw6UjoiFxJ7qtZQiG2VEUx4D26ApmLynn4FDJt7ShO5lWg/s640/East-Soar-Walkers-Hut.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="East Soar Walker's Hut" border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij7HDrMX_rttXloKhrEdiwEUxs2hauvWVPTJMWldXBW4VyhqtMpYHLROP6sFhnrxrSSxSaaw4fHCraBpT_uLZnh6d6uZBC2nV8JN-huyPx2ojXpSni6D1Dm3Rd6GMCLO85QdohTP5eck7glw6UjoiFxJ7qtZQiG2VEUx4D26ApmLynn4FDJt7ShO5lWg/w320-h240/East-Soar-Walkers-Hut.jpg" title="East Soar Walker's Hut" width="320" /></a></div><p>Kathy's determination was rewarded - what I thought were baked potatoes turned out to be scones. It's almost exactly 30 years since we collected our A'level results - frankly, I think she might have been more relieved by today's scone than she was with her 3 As :)</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXl24D3_8Hx4X_dLgKIYL5V_ZuSJkcl-QHzOf5TCiXkl7_dLCVWXGKcfemjZbUd9KbOLqt32spWG8BzPNgmzemztSCJri7pMnENL_CjIZQmdE2CKFoxAH90B2QpFfGycSkc5CmH1xzpFcM_2lNNHdwNndUqH4pAkNcDKqKeOqaHsbW2YkwD50E8HrgVg/s640/East-Soar-Scones-National-Trust.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="East Soar Scones" border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXl24D3_8Hx4X_dLgKIYL5V_ZuSJkcl-QHzOf5TCiXkl7_dLCVWXGKcfemjZbUd9KbOLqt32spWG8BzPNgmzemztSCJri7pMnENL_CjIZQmdE2CKFoxAH90B2QpFfGycSkc5CmH1xzpFcM_2lNNHdwNndUqH4pAkNcDKqKeOqaHsbW2YkwD50E8HrgVg/w320-h240/East-Soar-Scones-National-Trust.jpg" title="East Soar Scones" width="320" /></a></div><p>It was a very nice scone as well - light, fluffy and very fresh. Kathy wanted to give it a 4.5 but if you are a regular reader you will know that I have a Crumbleometer that automatically deducts a point if a scone disintegrates into more than six pieces during preparation or consumption. The East Soar scone did fall apart a bit but it was still delicious.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLC1ikPFejlLMjQfCj8TrZkx4-9Gwg0l2CndC_duYKUD7xoyAHc9ZSZ381iIpFWbruN7PT5P8xYUn9cigPI14BapZbrRKnfXBWRo-IikOt2DCRDvQnLvEzPPqfS0eXX6PZ7nGClpWGsetNiRDbnYotGLcpezimtXvtqjyo7hiP9z5cU6gd-tRry8jJ3A/s640/East-Soar-Scone.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="East Soar National Trust Scone" border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLC1ikPFejlLMjQfCj8TrZkx4-9Gwg0l2CndC_duYKUD7xoyAHc9ZSZ381iIpFWbruN7PT5P8xYUn9cigPI14BapZbrRKnfXBWRo-IikOt2DCRDvQnLvEzPPqfS0eXX6PZ7nGClpWGsetNiRDbnYotGLcpezimtXvtqjyo7hiP9z5cU6gd-tRry8jJ3A/w320-h240/East-Soar-Scone.jpg" title="East Soar National Trust Scone" width="320" /></a></div><p>If you'd like to know more about my Devon road trip of 2019 where I probably came within 300 feet of the East Soar scone but failed to realise it at the time, you can read about nearby <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2019/08/overbecks.html">Overbeck's</a> (also starring Kathy), as well as <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2019/08/cotehele.html">Cotehele</a>, <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2019/08/lydford-gorge.html">Lydford Gorge</a>, <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2019/08/buckland-abbey.html">Buckland Abbey</a>, and <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2019/08/antony.html">Antony</a>. We even stopped at <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2019/08/wembury.html">Wembury</a> and <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2019/08/south-milton-sands.html">South Milton Sands</a>, even though I knew we probably wouldn't find any National Trust scones on the beach (I was correct).</p><p>Only nine scones to go!</p><p><b>East Soar: 5 out of 5<br />Scone: 4 out of 5<br />Watching someone else having the Scone Panic: 4.5 out of 5</b> </p>National Trust Sconeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01097903022761280477noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6954034038612600052.post-36332628358027525742022-08-17T22:52:00.009-07:002022-08-17T22:57:46.168-07:00Best National Trust Scones 2013-2022<p>Happy 9th Birthday to the National Trust Scone Blog! When I started this project, I really believed that I would complete it within 7 years at the absolute most. And we're nearly finished, as I only have 10 properties left to visit. But I must face facts: it is going to take 10 years for me to review every single National Trust scone. </p><p>In the nine years since I created this blog:</p><p></p><ul style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">232 National Trust properties have been visited!</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">93 scones have scored a 5 out of 5 top rating!</span></li></ul><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheQ_Kez7lWpwHcy01iBGsmWdA4fbBjiGK9t5aFfP6CgDehRIiuPF_hDyit6GtsKv1B3o31PsEI7mThUk8AN_pwtzEE6DAYr8Bgl_Ym-KRoI82jbkfZU6EBTtDHhobZUWFJKNCK8jXGHkr15OglukJFFZlxaOaDmnhpqntFsvALEyw6pgVJbHbIMVbpEQ/s640/national-trust-scone-blog-birthday.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="National Trust Scone Birthday" border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheQ_Kez7lWpwHcy01iBGsmWdA4fbBjiGK9t5aFfP6CgDehRIiuPF_hDyit6GtsKv1B3o31PsEI7mThUk8AN_pwtzEE6DAYr8Bgl_Ym-KRoI82jbkfZU6EBTtDHhobZUWFJKNCK8jXGHkr15OglukJFFZlxaOaDmnhpqntFsvALEyw6pgVJbHbIMVbpEQ/w320-h240/national-trust-scone-blog-birthday.jpg" title="National Trust Scone Birthday" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">To recap: nine years ago today, I decided it was time to up the ante on my National Trust membership. I would start a blog to help me learn about each property and I would reward myself with a scone at each place I visited.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Only National Trust properties with an NT cafe are mandatory - you can read the <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/p/national-trust-scone-project-rules.html">Rules of the National Trust Scone Quest here</a> - but I have also included below a few tenant-produced scones that I have met along the way.</span></p><p><span>So here is the National Trust Scone Blog Birthday Honours List - the 93 properties with 5-star scones, in reverse order of when I visited:</span></p><p></p><ul style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><li><a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2020/01/dunstable-downs.html">Dunstable Downs</a> - the town of Dunstable and I had fallen out many years ago, but stunning views and stunning scones means all is forgiven.</li><li><a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2022/05/carnewas-at-bedruthan.html">Carnewas at Bedruthan</a> - it's not strictly an NT scone as it's a tenant-run cafe but it was excellent so I'm including it.</li><li><a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2020/01/godolphin.html">Godolphin</a> - an absolute showstopper of a scone served in a former pigsty in a fantastic property. If Godolphin isn't on your list, add it immediately!</li><li><a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2022/04/brean-down.html">Brean Down</a> - never trust a bus timetable on Good Friday but you can trust the Brean Down scones to be brilliant.</li><li><a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2020/01/aira-force-and-ullswater.html">Aira Force and Ullswater</a> - William Wordsworth wrote a poem about Aira Force and he'd have written one about the scone if he'd known about them. </li><li><a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2022/03/claife-viewing-station.html">Claife Viewing Station</a> - the scone was triangular, suggesting it was a tenant-run scone and not strictly NT. But it was so good it deserves to be included anyway.</li><li><a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2020/01/ormesby-hall-weekday-early-feb.html">Ormesby Hall</a> - a scone needs to be good when you travel all the way from London to Middlesbrough and back in a day for it. And it was spectacular.</li><li><a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2022/02/east-riddlesden-hall.html">East Riddlesden Hall</a> - another excellent scone that was snatched from the jaws of disaster when another cafe closed early, this time due to Storm Eunice.</li><li><a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2022/01/ilam-park-dovedale-and-white-peak.html">Ilam, Dovedale and the White Peak</a> - people ask if I'm jam first or cream first. I never divulge but I will tell you that when I visit a property, I'm scone first. None of this earning it lark. It paid off at Ilam as the tea room closed due to Storm Malik and we only just got our excellent scone.</li><li><span><a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2020/01/stackpole.html">Stackpole</a> - after six months of lockdown, I made a bid for freedom in September 2020 and made it to Pembrokeshire for a fantastic scone. </span></li><li><a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2020/03/wentworth-castle-gardens.html">Wentworth Castle Gardens</a> - little did I know when I set off for Barnsley in March that it would be my last National Trust scone for months. Lucky I ate two.</li><li><a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2020/01/lavenham-guildhall.html">Lavenham Guildhall</a> - it hasn't always had the happiest of histories but the scones made me very cheerful indeed. Absolute perfection.</li><li><a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2019/08/fell-foot.html">Fell Foot</a> - my attempt to eat three scones in one day in the Lake District got off to a promising start at Fell Foot. It subsequently won Scone of the Year 2019.</li><li><a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2019/08/cotehele.html">Cotehele</a> - here's a top tip: it always bodes well when the property has a mill that produces flour for the scones. </li><li><a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2019/08/buckland-abbey.html">Buckland Abbey</a> - previous owner Sir Francis Drake might have a bit of a questionable history but there was nothing questionable about the scones.</li><li><a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2019/08/antony.html">Antony:</a> I loved Antony. I loved the name, I loved the house, I loved the scones, and I loved the fact that there's a street called Sconner Road nearby (check the photos).</li><li><a href="http://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2019/08/florence-court.html" target="_blank">Florence Court</a> - located near a mountain where a legendary horse appears every July to talk to people (and have a scone I hope, as they're good).</li><li><a href="http://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2019/08/the-argory.html" target="_blank">The Argory</a> - you can get there by canoe but however you get there, make sure you have one of their superb scones. </li><li><a href="http://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2019/08/dudmaston.html" target="_blank">Dudmaston</a> - there was a wand workshop going on when I visited and the scones had indeed been touched by magic.</li><li><a href="http://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2019/08/kinver-edge-and-rock-houses.html" target="_blank">Kinver Edge and the Rock Houses</a> - people lived in these caves until the 1960s and although rock buns may have been more apposite, the scones were super.</li><li><a href="http://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2019/08/arlington-court.html" target="_blank">Arlington Court</a> - see the house, visit the National Trust Carriage Museum, but definitely don't miss the excellent scones.</li><li><a href="http://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2019/08/dunster-castle-watermill.html" target="_blank">Dunster Castle </a>- a very old estate with a working water mill, a leather room, and very good scones.</li><li><a href="http://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2019/07/watersmeet.html" target="_blank">Watersmeet</a> - the beautiful place that inspired me to keep going with the National Trust Scone Blog did not disappoint. Excellent scones.</li><li><a href="http://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2019/07/mottistone-gardens.html" target="_blank">Mottistone Gardens</a> - Benedict Cumberbatch wasn't there but we did find some very superb scones.</li><li><a href="http://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2019/06/kinder-edale-dark-peak.html" target="_blank">Kinder, Edale, and the Dark Peak</a> - the Pennypot Cafe is next door to Edale station. Kinder Scout is not. But we all know which part of the property is most important.</li><li><a href="http://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2019/04/erddig.html" target="_blank">Erddig</a> - donkeys, a thief housekeeper who stole £30,000, and fantastic scones can all be found at Erddig.</li><li><a href="http://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2019/02/oxburgh-hall.html" target="_blank">Oxburgh Hall</a> - everybody loves a moat and everybody good scones. Oxburgh has both.</li><li><a href="http://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2019/01/croft-castle.html" target="_blank">Croft Castle</a> - Owain Glyndŵr may be buried under the floor but they don't bury the scone baking talent at this cosy castle.</li><li><a href="http://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2018/09/nunnington-hall.html" target="_blank">Nunnington Hall</a> - I went to try and solve a mysterious peacock murder case and found some very excellent scones.</li><li><a href="http://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2018/05/the-workhouse.html" target="_blank">The Workhouse</a> - I was certainly tempted to say "please, sir, I want some more" but I restrained myself, although the scones were excellent.</li><li><a href="http://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2018/05/shugborough-estate.html" target="_blank">Shugborough Estate</a> - the ancestral home of society photographer Patrick Lichfield was a picture! Ha ha!</li><li><a href="http://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2018/04/chirk-castle.html" target="_blank">Chirk Castle</a> - murder, scandal, adultery, violence, great scones...it's all going on at Chirk.</li><li><a href="http://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2018/01/longshaw-burbage-and-eastern-moors.html" target="_blank">Longshaw Estate and Eastern Moors</a> - I thought the mud might defeat me, but no - I finally found my Peak District scone and marvellous it was too.</li><li><a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2017/08/mount-stewart.html">Mount Stewart</a> - was Castlereagh a great statesman or a despicable murderer? I don't know but I do know that the scones at Mount Stewart were fantastic.</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2017/07/peckover-house-and-garden.html" target="_blank">Peckover House & Garden</a> - Lonely Planet has just announced that a cream tea at Peckover is one of the top eating experiences in the world! I concur!</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2017/06/clumber-park.html" target="_blank">Clumber Park</a> - it might have lost its house to the demolition men but Clumber offers beautiful gardens, a beautiful lake, and beautiful scones!</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2017/03/the-needles-old-battery.html" target="_blank">The Needles Old Battery</a> - chalk rocks, guns, secret missile testing. And now - outstanding scones!</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2017/02/wicken-fen.html" target="_blank">Wicken Fen</a> - home to 9,000 species of wildlife, flora, fauna and a first-class species of scone! Bravo.</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2017/01/berrington-hall.html" target="_blank">Berrington Hall</a> - even Capability Brown couldn't improve the scones at Berrington Hall - they were berri-good!</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2016/10/tyntesfield.html" target="_blank">Tyntesfield</a> - maybe one day someone will describe Tyntesfield without saying "the man who built it made his money from Peruvian bird poo" but that day isn't today. The scones were a bird poo-free zone.</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2016/10/sudbury-hall.html" target="_blank">Sudbury Hall</a> - a great house AND the Museum of Childhood starring Sooty and Sindy AND an outstanding scone! What more do you want from life.</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2016/10/melford-hall.html" target="_blank">Melford Hall</a> - famed for its celebrity resident, the original Jemima Puddleduck! Her views on scones are not known.</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2016/09/wallington.html" target="_blank">Wallington</a> - the former home of Charles Edward Trevelyan, the third most hated man in Ireland (after Oliver Cromwell and Thierry Henry), who was name-checked in The Fields of Athenry.</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2016/08/belton-house.html" target="_blank">Belton House</a> - the kids book and 80s TV show, Moondial, was set at Belton! And when I tweeted that I'd been there, the actor who played Tom responded! Fantastic.</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2016/08/felbrigg-hall.html" target="_blank">Felbrigg Hall</a> - poor old William Frederick 'Mad' Windham - all he wanted to do was dress up as a train guard and blow a whistle on the station platform at inopportune moments. Instead he ran up huge debts and lost Felbrigg. Amazing scone. </li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2016/08/hidcote.html" target="_blank">Hidcote</a> - a beautiful garden built by "a dull little man" according to James Lees-Milne but we loved it AND we loved the scones!</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2016/07/plas-newydd.html" target="_blank">Plas Newydd</a> - a fantastic scone on Anglesey! We only really went there to see the Victorian dude who dressed like Noddy Holder 50 years before Nodders was born!</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2016/07/dyrham-park.html" target="_blank">Dyrham Park</a> - superb scones AND free 17th century hot chocolate (the recipe is from the 17th century, not the actual hot chocolate)!</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2016/04/trengwainton-garden.html" target="_blank">Trengwainton Garden</a> - the 5th NT scone we'd eaten in 48 hours during our Tour of Cornwall and it was FAB!</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2016/04/trerice.html" target="_blank">Trerice</a> - a quiet little manor house near the not-so-quiet town of Newquay, with AMAZING scones!</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2016/04/trelissick.html" target="_blank">Trelissick</a> - the house may be relatively new to the NT but they've certainly got to grips with the scones!</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2016/04/boscastle.html" target="_blank">Boscastle </a>- a little Cornish fishing village that was almost washed away in 2004 - unusual scones but absolutely top-rate!</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/acorn-bank.html" target="_blank">Acorn Bank</a> - the third top-class scone on the Spring Tour to the Lake District!</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/sizergh-castle.html" target="_blank">Sizergh Castle</a> - amazing scone AND a copy of Wham!'s Greatest Hits!</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/wordsworth-house-and-garden.html" target="_blank">Wordsworth House</a> - I was moved to compose a poem about the Wordsworth House scone - I expect a call about being Poet Laureate any day!</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/saltram.html" target="_blank">Saltram</a> - everything went wrong on our first trip of 2016, apart from the scone!</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/fountains-abbey.html" target="_blank">Fountains Abbey</a> - it was in the video for Maid of Orleans by OMD! And it had fantastic scones!</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/lanhydrock.html" target="_blank">Lanhydrock</a> - our first foray into Cornwall and we were not disappointed! Fantastic scone!</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/biddulph-grange-garden.html" target="_blank">Biddulph Grange Garden</a> - they had a singing tree and a golden water buffalo but nothing could upstage the scones!</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/nostell-priory.html" target="_blank">Nostell Priory</a> - one of the best properties EVER with THREE types of scone!</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/coughton-court.html" target="_blank">Coughton Court</a> - 7 of the 13 Gunpowder Plotters were Throckmortons! Somehow they kept hold of Coughton and are still there today! </li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/tredegar-house.html" target="_blank">Tredegar House</a> - fantastic scones AND they keep a Dalek in the stables (Doctor Who is filmed there)! </li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/anglesey-abbey-lode-mill.html" target="_blank">Anglesey Abbey</a> - they have a working flour mill! You can buy bags of flour that you transform into scones that won't be as good as the ones here!</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/montacute-house.html" target="_blank">Montacute House</a> - they filmed Wolf Hall here! If only Anne Boleyn had been able to bake scones like these, it could all have turned out differently!</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/goddards.html" target="_blank">Goddards</a> - brilliant scones at the house once owned by Noel Terry, of Chocolate Orange fame! There used to be a Terry's Chocolate Apple as well! </li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/beningbrough-hall.html" target="_blank">Beningbrough Hall</a> - spectacular works of art (and a few pictures on loan from the National Portrait Gallery as well, boom, boom!)</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/sissinghurst-castle-garden.html" target="_blank">Sissinghurst Castle</a> - did you see the scones, Orlando? They were great - and fantastic gardens too, in the former home of Vita Sackville-West!</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/south-foreland-lighthouse.html" target="_blank">South Foreland Lighthouse</a> - excellent sconeage in this 'shining' example of a National Trust property HA HA! </li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/the-white-cliffs-of-dover.html" target="_blank">The White Cliffs of Dover</a> - I really was inspired to ransack the Vera Lynn back catalogue and sing "we'll meet again" to the WCoD scone - it was that good. </li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/speke-hall.html" target="_blank">Speke Hall</a> - it has the River Mersey, it has a priest hole, it has a baker on Twitter, it has fantastic scones, I LOVED it!</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/studland-beach.html" target="_blank">Studland Beach</a> - famous for the UK's most popular naturist beach, for inspiring Noddy's Toytown, and now for very good scones!</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/a-la-ronde_13.html" target="_blank">A la Ronde</a> - a round house full of trinkets AND fantastic scones, what more do you want from life? </li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/upton-house-and-gardens.html" target="_blank">Upton House and Gardens</a> - a lot of pictures, an outdoor swimming pool, and truly excellent scones!</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/treasurer-house-york.html" target="_blank">Treasurer's House, York</a> - they had a Christmas pudding scone with brandy butter that I literally still dream about!</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/hinton-ampner.html" target="_blank">Hinton Ampner</a> - lots of sheep and fantastic scones!</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/uppark-house-garden.html" target="_blank">Uppark</a> - burned to the ground a few years ago while it was open to visitors, but now restored and serving very excellent scones!</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/stowe.html" target="_blank">Stowe</a> - it costs £30,000 a year to attend Stowe school - I'd rather spend that on scones, personally!</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/charlecote-park.html" target="_blank">Charlecote Park</a> - William Shakespeare was once caught stealing a scone from Charlecote Park. Did I say scone? I meant deer.</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/bateman.html" target="_blank">Bateman's</a> - "Well I'm the king of the sconers/the tea-room VIP", as Rudyard Kipling would have written if he'd had scones at Batemans!</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/claremont-landscape-garden.html" target="_blank">Claremont Landscape Garden</a> - more of a park than a garden but who's counting - the scones were fantastic!</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/standen.html" target="_blank">Standen</a> - tests proved that the Standen scone was genetically closer to a cloud than a baked foodstuff!</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/nymans.html" target="_blank">Nymans</a> - another place that burned down (before the National Trust was involved), now serving amazing scones!</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/waddesdon-manor.html" target="_blank">Waddesdon Manor</a> - they have a mechanical elephant that flaps its ears at Waddesdon but as an attraction it's no match for the top-class scones!</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/scotney-castle.html" target="_blank">Scotney Castle</a> - the scones were EPIC. Scotney also had a Banana and Walnut Scone of the Month and Richard Gere, who filmed Yanks there!</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/dunwich-heath.html" target="_blank">Dunwich Heath</a> - they had 20 TYPES OF SCONE at the Sconeathon we attended! Sticky Toffee, Chocolate Orange, Apple & Cinnamon, Malteser...!</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/morden-hall-park.html" target="_blank">Morden Hall Park</a> - big, warm, and glazed. 'Morden enough' to warrant a five out of five (ha ha ha! Sorry.)</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/sutton-house.html" target="_blank">Sutton House</a> - Sir Ralph Sadleir of Wolf Hall fame built Sutton House - go along and see them bring out the sconies!</li><li>Quarry Bank Mill - amazing scones in one of the most fascinating NT properties ever - you can even buy a tea towel made in the cotton mill!</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/flatford-bridge-cottage.html" target="_blank">Flatford Bridge Cottage</a> - we helped bake the scones at Flatford but we gave them 5 because they were mince pie scones and they were ruddy delicious! </li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/winkworth-arboretum.html" target="_blank">Winkworth Arboretum</a> - a very understated place - not a fridge magnet to be had - but serving fantastic scones!</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/houghton-mill.html" target="_blank">Houghton Mill</a> - the Scone Blogger was very hungover but she soldiered on and tried the scone made from home-milled flour, which was DELICIOUS!</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/brownsea-island.html" target="_blank">Brownsea Island</a> - we didn't see any red squirrels, which shows that they don't have very good taste as there was a Sconeathon on the day we visited!</li><li><a href="http://nationaltrustscones.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/bodiam-castle.html" target="_blank">Bodiam Castle</a> - our very first 5 out of 5, setting the benchmark for all! </li></ul><p></p><p></p><div><span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"></span></span><ul style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span></span></span></ul><p><span><span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;">There's also a </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;">National Trust Book of Scones, which is available in NT shops or </span><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/National-Trust-Book-Scones-Delicious/dp/1909881937" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #0066cc; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;" target="_blank">on the internet</a><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;">.</span></span></span></span></p><p><span><span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;">As ever, I send my ever-lasting affection and thanks to all of the fantastic Sconepals that send in photos and show ongoing support and enthusiasm for this mad project. </span></span></span></span></p><p><span><span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;">Keep sharing your National Trust scone sightings, either on </span><a href="https://twitter.com/nt_scones" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #0066cc; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;" target="_blank">Twitter</a><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"> or </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/nationaltrustscones/" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #0066cc; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;" target="_blank">Facebook</a><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"> or </span><a href="https://www.instagram.com/nt_scones/?hl=en" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #0066cc; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;" target="_blank">Instagram</a><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;">. I love them. </span></span></span></span></p></div>National Trust Sconeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01097903022761280477noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6954034038612600052.post-33218687258971795932022-08-14T00:19:00.040-07:002022-09-09T21:47:23.172-07:00Barrington Court <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">I have a secret affection for National Trust properties where you approach the house saying things like "There it is! It's nice. Quite small and, er, I can't see any sign of the enormous multi-year roof repair project from here. Maybe they haven't started yet?" before you turn your head to the right and see the enormous Tudor house that you're meant to be looking at, rather than the random outbuilding you've been admiring for 10 minutes.</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT5PIS2ABENYqjK1tBV8D91zdsmfsHLjN5UwbmB3etgWdJlFlGE5wOeyWjmv8Kx1UsFqd1NQD828tS6Wz6-gtZIQTATVPsYky5rWbLdboAzT6WgY484Iz3XXxbPdI3lxUhzYPbIA6f2908BrpH1pDP3s1PEF76479KiPnREw8xro8AkHgmItBcLoLdXQ/s640/barrington-court.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT5PIS2ABENYqjK1tBV8D91zdsmfsHLjN5UwbmB3etgWdJlFlGE5wOeyWjmv8Kx1UsFqd1NQD828tS6Wz6-gtZIQTATVPsYky5rWbLdboAzT6WgY484Iz3XXxbPdI3lxUhzYPbIA6f2908BrpH1pDP3s1PEF76479KiPnREw8xro8AkHgmItBcLoLdXQ/s320/barrington-court.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">I'm not a heritage professional but if I was and someone told me that the building I was working in needed roof repairs, I would put my coat on and never, ever come back. I can't think of anything worse. Roof repairs take years and cost millions and cause total upheaval for something that 99% of visitors will never directly see or appreciate. It must be absolutely awful.</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkCVHmxt6vAGKp2MtbAMo_EL1HMsvGZfmDfc2Sc89Hh5yWfQsn2qlhELOfjA6HwDvh9-YcfhXUXhjL0a1D3aCLEdvpxRZOE57j8E31MApboRnx_ocZs2XOHFndl5knr3UJy2r6i9se3wsdVN_fZbdK41dPbfnRzQXkyLEOePgxqPx1UzMavihfIpGEhg/s640/roof-repairs-barrington.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkCVHmxt6vAGKp2MtbAMo_EL1HMsvGZfmDfc2Sc89Hh5yWfQsn2qlhELOfjA6HwDvh9-YcfhXUXhjL0a1D3aCLEdvpxRZOE57j8E31MApboRnx_ocZs2XOHFndl5knr3UJy2r6i9se3wsdVN_fZbdK41dPbfnRzQXkyLEOePgxqPx1UzMavihfIpGEhg/s320/roof-repairs-barrington.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Anyway. You've probably gathered by now that we didn't get to go inside Barrington Court as it's closed. But it's a fascinating place so I'm going to share some details anyway:</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>It was restored by Arthur Lyle of sugar fame</b><br />It's an amazing story: Barrington Court was gifted to the National Trust in 1907 - it was actually one of its first acquisitions. But Barrington was a partial ruin and, with no endowment money, it threatened to become a huge drain on NT resources. Luckily, Colonel Arthur Lyle came to the rescue. He was the grandson of Abram Lyle, who invented Lyle's Golden Syrup. He took on a 99-year lease of Barrington and began the long process of restoring it with his architect, James Edwin Forbes.</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Gertrude Jekyll worked on designs for the gardens</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">Jekyll was 74 when she worked on Barrington, with failing eyesight. She never actually visited the place and had to rely on drawings, biscuit tins of soil samples and visits from Colonel Lyle's wife, Elsie, who did much of the planting. I was pleased to read in the guidebook that Jekyll had a "dislike of rich people who gardened only through 'hirelings'", so she'd have approved of Elsie getting her hands dirty. (She would have approved of me too, as you won't find any hirelings in my garden. You won't find anything else either, but never mind.)</div><div dir="ltr" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQB32iS98Gptmb_MBym_0DeBKC6LDVSP3_xalKHTwNphRGSgubUfEhw-VHcRG2MMsSJuWQM2vX2GMFNfjr0OaxzuB--0wN-KBxfoFUFZ9D1lYcaH5i7WEHy1bylerzJyEx3Z4nnnjv0vMW7mWDJGkpxY9tBeMPcJUKPK3nCQu6yB8J-8URTcUOXZ9xpg/s640/white-garden-barrington.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Barrington White Garden" border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQB32iS98Gptmb_MBym_0DeBKC6LDVSP3_xalKHTwNphRGSgubUfEhw-VHcRG2MMsSJuWQM2vX2GMFNfjr0OaxzuB--0wN-KBxfoFUFZ9D1lYcaH5i7WEHy1bylerzJyEx3Z4nnnjv0vMW7mWDJGkpxY9tBeMPcJUKPK3nCQu6yB8J-8URTcUOXZ9xpg/w320-h240/white-garden-barrington.jpg" title="Barrington White Garden" width="320" /></a></div><br /></div><div dir="ltr" trbidi="on"><b>The house was completed around 1560</b></div><div dir="ltr" trbidi="on">A London merchant called Sir William Clifton actually built the house. His son John succeeded him but then it all went wrong - his son, Gervase, ended up in the Fleet Prison, where he killed himself. Gervase's son was mauled by a bear at a bear-baiting event and died of his injuries. The Strode family then acquired Barrington and extended it with an impressive stable block. </div><div dir="ltr" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" trbidi="on"><b>It appeared in Wolf Hall</b></div></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Barrington was in the BBC adaptation of Wolf Hall (as was <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2015/07/montacute-house.html">Montacute</a>, which isn't far away). It had a starring role as York Place/Whitehall, the home of Cardinal Wolsey.</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>The stables became Strode House</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">There are quite a lot of secondary buildings at Barrington. The impressive stable block built by the Strodes was restored by the Lyles so they could live there. It's a really striking building in its own right:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvEadboSnRfIIj2IhhU-0XObshECUkkG9-fAbpL77BcwYCdyo3nFitaEYGpbTqDUy_oxjQ9vA25quarkVftQ05BUpoo_2ymupQJLMOfT2dkLbHrrj1L2ZSUcmxe-pX8LUqPcpnM74GEm_-bRk2Z8aAFFHiM2kN-GYXvpSGr4GtLct-ym3hloPlFwWU6w/s640/Strode%20House.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Strode House Barrington" border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvEadboSnRfIIj2IhhU-0XObshECUkkG9-fAbpL77BcwYCdyo3nFitaEYGpbTqDUy_oxjQ9vA25quarkVftQ05BUpoo_2ymupQJLMOfT2dkLbHrrj1L2ZSUcmxe-pX8LUqPcpnM74GEm_-bRk2Z8aAFFHiM2kN-GYXvpSGr4GtLct-ym3hloPlFwWU6w/w320-h240/Strode%20House.jpg" title="Strode House Barrington" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><b>There are Artisan Workshops</b></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">The Artisan Workshops are close to the house on the estate and they were very nice, with jewellery and chairs and other items on sale:</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><h3 style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEn55IaskfNilEBlKPvOGK5Sd4O1bqAlru9TsSsDhWB6B1VsueujzQg9fyqvWKsTlnZ5fWe_gZ4x6IyVMzAq_xpvmf0-T4trYVEFXFTwKpk0Ay7w3kQjTLJNisQ74-bGMZaJF5e0zP0OuZiWlHzy4xeGc6Msa1L44oTPVktSMNMbZOOe0VmGfqGUPAvg/s640/artisan-workshops-barrington.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEn55IaskfNilEBlKPvOGK5Sd4O1bqAlru9TsSsDhWB6B1VsueujzQg9fyqvWKsTlnZ5fWe_gZ4x6IyVMzAq_xpvmf0-T4trYVEFXFTwKpk0Ay7w3kQjTLJNisQ74-bGMZaJF5e0zP0OuZiWlHzy4xeGc6Msa1L44oTPVktSMNMbZOOe0VmGfqGUPAvg/s320/artisan-workshops-barrington.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><h4 style="text-align: left;">The Barrington Court Scone</h4></span></h3><div>Barrington was the final stop on a mini Somerset road trip. We'd started at <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2022/08/lytes-cary-manor-scones.html">Lytes Cary</a>, which is a beautiful place but the scone wasn't the best. We then went to <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2022/08/knightshayes-scones.html">Knightshayes</a>, which is a barnstormer of an NT property, where the scone was a bit better.</div><div><br /></div><div>The Barrington scone didn't fill me with hope. It looked a bit over-baked and I was fearing the worst. But it was actually very nice. It was fresh and tasty and I ate all of it.</div><div><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh37jXGqS4ebPmz-vtYPDbR_7A98RktDQ-63ASsDOKFUcqyirR3TGPPvoCU7wKXeU8cqtpJcazplix26zN5zqjNNo0IweDxTi-KCw0VDr882UN6qdXyFpHxtoYlltd8nRQnRnCkvD7BZr69AIZKpQikZViXUPdXOj6yDWQdaa0mYV7FTSCgQwL2zieIMw/s640/Barrington%20Court%20Scone.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Barrington Court scone" border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh37jXGqS4ebPmz-vtYPDbR_7A98RktDQ-63ASsDOKFUcqyirR3TGPPvoCU7wKXeU8cqtpJcazplix26zN5zqjNNo0IweDxTi-KCw0VDr882UN6qdXyFpHxtoYlltd8nRQnRnCkvD7BZr69AIZKpQikZViXUPdXOj6yDWQdaa0mYV7FTSCgQwL2zieIMw/w320-h240/Barrington%20Court%20Scone.jpg" title="Barrington Court scone" width="320" /></a></div></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">I'll hopefully get to go back to Barrington when the roof is fixed, as the interiors look very impressive even if they are empty. In the meantime, I'm sending all my positive thoughts to the Barrington team - it can't be easy running a National Trust property that's actually shut.</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><b><br /></b></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><b>Barrington Court: 3 out of 5 (I'm sure it would be a 5 when the house is open)</b></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><b>Scone: 4.5 out of 5<br /><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Gertrude Jekyll's approach to life: 5 out of 5</span></b></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><b><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><br /></span></b></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><b><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Other National Trust scones in Somerset: <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2014/11/bath-assembly-rooms-revisited.html">Bath Assembly Rooms</a>, <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2014/11/bath-skyline.html">Bath Skyline</a>, <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2022/04/brean-down.html">Brean Down</a>, <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2018/08/coleridge-cottage.html">Coleridge Cottage</a>, <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2019/08/dunster-castle-watermill.html">Dunster Castle</a>, <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2018/08/fyne-court.html">Fyne Court</a>, <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2019/08/holnicote-estate.html">Holnicote</a>, <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2022/08/lytes-cary-manor-scones.html">Lytes Cary</a>, <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2015/07/montacute-house.html">Montacute</a>, <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2015/11/prior-park-landscape-garden.html">Prior Park</a>, <a href="https://www.nationaltrustscones.com/2016/10/tyntesfield.html">Tyntesfield</a></span></b></div></div>National Trust Sconeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01097903022761280477noreply@blogger.com0