DAY OUT: Canons Ashby (Near Daventry)

 

Canons Ashby is a small stately home built in 1550, it was given to the National Trust in the 1980s and has since been 'restored' mostly to how it would have been in Victorian times. This is because the house was 'modernised' in Victorian times and it is hard for conservationists to remove anything more than a hundred years old... 

The gardens opened at 10am and the house at 11:30. Timed tickets for the house can be booked on arrival - the flaw in this plan really is that the gardens are very small, the whole gardens can easily be appraised within 30 minutes, and so you have this gap of about an hour where you can't get in the house but you've already seen the gardens.

This, I feel, is why the shop and cafe are cunningly timed to open at 10:30, they've got a ready made audience who are bored of looking at the fairly tiny gardens and desperate for something to kill the time until they can get in the house, what better than scones and tea? Needless to say, we didn't have tea and scones (that would be an extravagance), instead we sat in the car for half an hour eating a cereal bar that was eight months past its 'sell-by' date.

Once 11:30 finally rolled around we queued up at the door and were told that part of the house that was built in the 80s wasn't open 'because of Covid' and the need to operate a one way system. Mmmm, really? And yet it's perfectly okay for people to walk up and down the same staircase at the same time? I call bullshit on this... 

The house was actually quite nice to look around but it was quite small and we looked around the whole thing in about 25 minutes, and that included stopping to chat to a National Trust lady about the extravagant ceiling in the upstairs sitting room. 

Because the whole thing was so brief we actually ended up driving home and eating our sandwiches off plates like civilized beings instead of munching them in the car! It was perfectly pleasant, but realistically, if we had been able to go in the house straight away its plausible that we could have done the house and gardens in just over an hour, which is probably not great value for the £12.30 entry fee...

Still the gardens were nice enough...

Veitch's Blue - Echinops ritro

There must have been some sort of 'Car Show' or something going on nearby as there were several sportscars and classic cars on the road, including at least one E-type Jaguar.

Still better than Bolsover Castle.

GARDEN: 21st July 2021

 

DAY OUT: Derby Derbion Centre and Derby Museum / Art Gallery

 

Since the Museum and Art Gallery didn't open until 10:30, we decided to get there early and have a quick butchers around the Derbion Centre. It seemed quite a bit nicer than we remembered from our last visit although it definitely seems like the upstairs has the 'better' shops. We popped into Beaverbrooks to get a look at the new Aquaracers and also a special edition F1. Aside from that Rose found a top on sale in Hobbs and we stocked up on Hotel Chocolat (though somewhat limited by a short date on the Caramel slabs). We were also told that HC no longer makes any large slabs except the one with 'Happy Birthday' on it. 

Why the **** not?

It was hot today, very hot. And as we walked back to the car to stash our purchases it was already getting up into the mid 20s. But at least we went and did something rather than just sitting at home moaning about how hot it was. Instead we went to a rather tedious museum and art gallery and moaned about how hot it was!

Enthused by our recent trip to Coventry Musuem and Art Gallery (which was actually quite enjoyable) this was rather disappointing in comparison. There was no modern art at all, indeed there was only one room containing art and that all seemed to be by the same artist (Joseph Wright), who is presumably a local. Some of it was pretty good, but 30 paintings by the same artist doesn't really an art gallery make and the museum was the kind of old school museum that people mean when they say 'museums are boring'. It was also quite 'preachy', with a display explaining why 'Golliwogs' are bad (m'kay) and highlighting other faux-pas in children's books like 'Rupert and the Koons'. There was a temporary display of 'Quentin Blake's' illustrations on the top floor but about half way through that we got utterly bored and decided to go home.

By now it was as hot as hell (28C!) and we were glad to be in an air conditioned car travelling home, until we got to junction 21 where there had been an accident involving three cars piling into the back of each other. We didn't know where the accident was and chose to stick in the lane to leave the motorway, but eventually gave up and moved lanes. Just before the junction we saw the crash and the fire engines and ambulance which had come down the motorway past us... but we were able to get off and go home without re-routing to Lutterworth.

MEAL OUT: The Langton Arms (Church Langton)

 

A slightly delayed birthday dinner out for my Mum, the Langton Arms once again delivered an excellent scampi and chips for four with excellent service provided throughout the meal. Initially we weren't too sure about the puds, but I took a chance on a chocolate and mint Maquise, which turned out to be bloody lovely. A sort of dense mouse with mint leaves set into it, complimented by delicious honeycomb and coffee mascarpone - which was 100% nicer than it sounds, like a slightly less cold version of cappuccino ice cream. 

I think we will definitely be back sooner rather than later, not least because I want another go at that pudding before they take it off the menu!