Having just joined the national Trust, I have been determined to make the most of it. Luckily I had friday off work, so we set off at 9.30am and headed to Packwood House. Its only about 50 minutes away from us and i can already see us going back there. There is a lovely cafe at Packwood, so as we were there so early, we had tea and at 11am we were ready to explore the house. The National Trust describe it as -
The culmination of a lifetime of dreams: salvaged objects and exotic pieces come together in a Jacobean meets Edwardian style. Beautiful, homely, warm and welcoming. We can't put it better than a visitor in the 1920s did: A house to dream of, a garden to dream in.
The house was originally built in the 16th century, yet its interiors were extensively restored between the First and Second World Wars by Graham Baron Ash to create a fascinating 20th-century evocation of domestic Tudor architecture.
Its a lovely house, somewhere you could imagine yourself living. Not large or opulent like Kedleston Hall for example, but a home you could be comfortable in. I was totally enchanted by the place, and was quite disappointed that Paul wouldn't buy it for us!
We had lunch at Packwoods Garden Cafe, and then made the short drive to Baddersley Clinton, our second NT property of the day -
This atmospheric house dates from the 15th century and was the home of the Ferrers family for 500 years.
The house and interiors reflect its heyday in the Elizabethan era, when it was a haven for persecuted Catholics - there are three priest's holes.
There is a delightful garden with stewponds and a romantic lake and nature walk.
We fell in love with Baddersley, its a beautiful property. A lovely house surrounded by a moat and pretty gardens. After exploring the house, we walked around the gardens and enjoyed a beautiful afternoon. In the coffee shop we had coffee's and shared a spiced apple puff...scrumpious! I am loving being a National Trust membership, in one week we have already had our money's worth and got back the cost of our yearly membership.
The final property of the week end was Ascott House which we visited on Saturday afternoon. It was a beautiful house, sadly we only got to see a small part of it. The house and gardens seem to be full of 'do not enter' or 'private' signs, restrictive and not very welcoming. The house was interesting and had an amazing collection of Ming pottery, probably worth thousands! But it was really the gardens that impressed, extensive and gorgeous. I enjoyed the long walk we had. Paul and i both agreed tho, we would happily return to Packwood and Baddersley Clinton, but Ascott probably not.
I am excited about all the other NT properties we are going to discover over the course of the next year.
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