Dyrham Park

Whilst staying with my parents, I think it is impossible to avoid a national trust property visit. I am not conditioned to think about coffee and walnut cake whenever I see the national trust symbol on road signs.

I'm not a massive stately homes fan- I like the grounds and the walks and very much enjoy the tea rooms, but this visit I enjoyed very much.

My dad was keen to go to this particular property- the roof is being replaced, so we were able to go up the scaffolding and see the work going on to fix it- I've never seen a tudor building reduced to it's rib like rafters before- very interesting!

The views were impressive too. I don't think I could be a roofer though- every time I looked directly down it freaked me out how high up we were.

After an afternoon tea (what else would you possible have?!) we walked to the chapel in the grounds- If you know me in person, or read this often  you will know that I really enjoy spending time in cemeteries. My mum told me I'd like this one especially- Graves dating back to the 1700s which have to be the oldest I've ever seen, and medieval graves with brasses still intact- undemolished by the victorian craze of grave rubbings!
I was very impressed!
They also had some of the original medieval tiles and a mausoleum for the owners of the stately home. All in all this has to be my favourite national trust visit!

We walked back round the grounds and saw these coots feeding their babies- they had 8 ducklings! very demanding!