Category: NT and EH

National Trust, English Heritage, museums etc.

Attingham lakeside

On By geoffspagesIn NT and EH, Photography, Shropshire hills, WalksLeave a comment

There isn’t usually a lake at Attingham, but storm Claudia visited us a couple of days ago: her baggage was prolonged heavy rain. There’s not a cloud in the sky today, but it will be very wet underfoot away from  good surfaces – and the heathland around Attingham seems to drain well. However, the Severn’s high and the waters of the Tern can’t drain at all – hence the beautiful blue lake!

View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map?X=355095&Y=310050&A=Y&Z=120

Toadstools and pumpkins

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It’s half term, it’s almost Halloween, and it’s very busy at Attingham – more cars than we’ve seen for a long time. “They won’t be going far…”
They aren’t – once we’re beyond the house, there are relatively few others around. The toadstools in the woods are past their sell-by dates, but there’s a wonderful assortment of pumpkins on display in the stable yard. (We’ve avoided the walled garden – we think that must be where all the others are)

Attingham Park NT

View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map?X=354940&Y=310040&A=Y&Z=120

Toadstools in the woods

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It’s possible I’m describing mushrooms (edible) as toadstools (not!) – but even if they were edible, I wouldn’t want to risk it (Russian roulette!) and, more to the point, would rather leave them growing there for everyone to see and enjoy. It’s a grey afternoon at Attingham, but pleasant nevertheless. Sunshine would have been good but would be wasted in the woods.

Attingham Park NT

View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map?X=354940&Y=310040&A=Y&Z=120

Cave-dwellers

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Kinver Edge and the rock houses. We’re at the southern end of that thin extension of Staffordshire sandwiched between Shropshire and the county of West Midlands – Kinver, with its wonderful rock houses and wooded sandstone ridge. The houses are in the care of the National trust (see link below), and well worth an exploration. The Edge, also NT, is a popular place for a leg-stretch – deservedly so, with its well-waymarked maze of sandy tracks, and particularly attractive on this sunny afternoon.

Kinver Edge & the Rock Houses NT

View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map?X=383220&Y=282885&A=Y&Z=120

Clun Castle

On By geoffspagesIn NT and EH, Photography, Shropshire hillsLeave a comment

We’ve visited Clun from time to time over many years, but it’s a long time since we last visited the castle. Its namesake, the GWR-designed ‘Clun Castle’, no. 7029, is possibly much better known (see Clun Castle on Geoffspages blog) – the castle itself is not the most impressive of ruins. However, it’s photogenic on its mound high above the river Clun on this bright but showery afternoon, and there are some fine views of the surrounding countryside.

View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map?X=330120&Y=280570&A=Y&Z=126

Scattered showers

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We needed a short leg stretch – where? There was a light shower at home before lunch, and the forecast said “scattered showers”. If we go to Attingham, there’s plenty of shelter. That’s just as well – the rain seemed to focus on the area. Happily we found the expected shelter (a brick arch, the trees) and didn’t get noticeably wet, but we thought our usual longer route, much of it rather open, could be tempting fate. The rain stopped (great timing) just as we left the woods. A mile or so from Attingham, on the shortish drive home, the roads were dry. I’d hoped the garden might have had a drop. No chance! Scattered indeed.

View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map?X=355280&Y=310145&A=Y&Z=120

Flight!

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Tuesday 4 August: Scotland’s National Museum of Flight is just down the road from Dunbar, at East Fortune’s former WW2 airfield. We’d better pay it a visit!

We’re not experts on things that fly, though we have taken to the air once or twice. Geoffspages’ first flight (and only one in a jet*) was many years ago, from Birmingham to Munich (a school ski-ing trip), in a BAC 1-11 – just like that one over there! Seemed very modern at the time… So did Concorde, a few years later, when it roared overhead during occasional family visits west of Heathrow. There’s one on display here! At the other end of the scale, there’s a home-made plane, based around a VW ‘Beetle’ engine (amazing!) – and just about everything in-between.

* the others: a propeller-powered cross-channel hop, a short spin (not literally) in a 2-seater Cessna, and a helicopter flight over our little corner of Shropshire. I guess I ought to try a hot air balloon one of these days, or maybe a hang-glider? Maybe not…

NMS National Museum of Flight

Flaxmill Maltings

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Built in 1797 as a flax mill, from 1897 to 1987 it was a maltings. Disused for several years after that, it’s now in a fine state of preservation. Appropriately so – it’s the world’s first iron-framed multi-storey building – predecessor of the modern skyscraper. On the ground floor is an impressive exhibition making good use of hands-on multimedia displays, and outside, the attractive old buildings are well worth a few photos (taken on the phone. I haven’t lost my memory – simply forgot to put it back in the camera…)

EH: Shrewsbury Flaxmill Maltings

Castell Caerdydd

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Cardiff Castle! Tuesday 20 May – a visit to the Welsh capital, and on this occasion, we’ll take a look at the castle. It’s quite a place! In particular the interior of the 3rd Marquess of Bute’s mansion, paid for by the south Wales miners and the sales of the coal they dug, is quite astonishing. Can’t help thinking that the lives of those human moles could have been improved if the wealth generated by the coal had been spread just a little more evenly. The castle is now owned and managed by Cardiff Council.

Castell Caerdydd
Cardiff Castle

Broomy Hill

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Sunday 25 May: Hereford – for the waterworks museum and miniature railway. The museum has “Steam Days”, twice a month during the season, coinciding with the public running days on the miniature railway. We’d thought about a visit for some time: today the time and weather seemed right.

The museum’s real fascination lies in its collection of water-pumping engines of several types, operating for demonstration purposes on steam days. The sight and sound of all these engines is mesmerising! The miniature railway operates on a satisfyingly complex layout (there’s a map on their website), with several trains running in a way that maximises that complexity. Great fun!

Waterworks Museum, Hereford
Hereford Society of Model Engineers