Avocets and bankers

The day started with a visit toWelney Wetland Centre, which is linked with Martinmere in Lancashire through the Wetland Trust and the Wildfowl Trust. TSH and Diva saw avocets and their chicks, a moorhen feeding chicks and a small deer, which some local people said was very unusual. There was also a Little Egret.

The second visit was to Peckover House, a National Trust property in Wisbech. The interest here was that it was originally owned by a Quaker family who were trusted to hold people's money during the 1800s, when there were few regulations. This bank was prudently run and did not collapse as did many others in the 1860s. Since then it has been taken over by Barclays and whilst this latter bank also did not collapse in the recent crisis, the Quaker bankers might not approve of what has happened to their trustworthy enterprise.

TSH visited the gardens, which were pleasant but not special. Diva did not go to the gardens as she discovered there are two resident c**ts, about which she is extremely phobic.

A visit to a sitooterie

How many times can you send scrambled eggs back til they get them right? Well, the first attempt came without smoked salmon. The second was runny (Diva had asked for them well cooked). The third was runny and the waitress explained that this was 'because of the cream'. Diva does not like cream and cannot imagine why you would put it into scrambled eggs. 'This is the way scrambled eggs are cooked here. With cream' (said very firmly). 'Would it be possible for Chef to be asked to do them as scrambled eggs without additives?' The waitress looked doubtful and petrified at the thought of approaching Chef with such a request. Well it was possible, so Diva got excellent scrambled eggs and smoked salmon at the fourth attempt. But the toast was not buttered. She hates 'fine dining'and 'Chefs' and prefers real food.

The first National Trust stop was at Blickling, which is an opulent house with a pleasant garden walk. It had three catering outlets but only two were tested and found more than adequate. The sitooterie (yes, really, it is where you 'sit out') was tested and Diva's photo taken.

By the time of the visit to Felbrigg, it was hot and both were tired so it was just a quick visit to the interesting walled garden. No energy for the house. The drive is so bumpy that Diva dropped the satnav, which was fortunately OK.

A kamikaze pheasant nearly dirtied the front of the car. Holiday nearing its end and clothes running low.

Last day before moving on

Short drive to Bury St Edmunds, which is a lovely town which surpassed expectations and is well worth a visit. A new build shopping centre blends into the older shopping centre, which leads down to the ruins of a massive abbey. The present day cathedral is nearby. The only bad bit was when two squirrels attacked Diva by running at her full pelt, turning aside only at the last moment.

Driving out of the town was exciting because of the large hail stones which put in an appearance, hammering down on the car and ricocheting back up from the road.

The next visit was to National Trust's Ickworth, which would be an excellent destination on a fine day because of the long walks round its parkland. The interior is interesting for its extensive 'below stairs' exhibits, explaining how the servants lived in the early part of the twentieth century. And the silver in the silver room certainly had the 'wow' factor'. Enormous serving platters and ornate bowls. But forget the walled garden which is a project not yet started. A walled field, really.

Diva is worried as the lights in one of the horse houses seemed to be on all night, with people coming and going. Is it ill? Or being psyched up for the races?

Sunny all day

The whole day was spent at Anglesey Abbey, which is one of the National Trust's great gardens. It was developed by Lord Fairhaven, an American who bought the house unseen during the 1930s. He remodelled the gardens and they really are splendid and well worth a leisurely visit, as they extend over many acres.  He is the same person who bought the land at Runnymede to give to the nation, so he was very rich indeed. Having seen the inside of his house and his art collection, TSH and Diva, who are minimalists at heart, thought 'more money than taste', but this is probably very cruel.

In the wild part of the garden, a pair of Reeve's pheasants was spotted. Diva was concerned when she read that there were also snakes, but none made an appearance today.

How long will it rain?

Sutton Hoo was the first call - its the site of a burial ground which includes a grave containing what is thought to be the body of a king from the 8th century, with his long boat and his weapons and a face mask. The workmanship is impressive for that time in England, although not as sophisticated as Greek or Egyptian articles from much earlier. But the mask and the boat burial are very unusual for this country. Most of the actual objects, which were only found in 1939, are in the British Museum but there are some excellent replicas in the visitor centre. This centre is very new and delivers a lot of information without it ever seeming overwhelming. TSH and Diva saw the burial mounds in the pouring rain but they made it round the guided walk.

The excavations were done by Basil Brown, who was invited to dig by the local land owner. There is a recording of his voice, in response to a challenge that his knowledge was not great enough for him to be trusted with what turned out to be an important task. He declared that he was well qualified, because at age 15 he had gained his school certificate in geography, astronomy and archaeology!!!

The rest of the day was a bit disappointing because of worsening weather and visits to Aldeburgh and Woodbridge were extremely brief. And the forecast is bad for the next few days.

TSH had a couple of disappointments on the first night. The portion sizes in the restaurant are extremely small. The starters were a couple of mini (very mini) beetroots with tiny pieces of breaded cheese. All tasty and artfully arranged but without sustenance for someone who had eaten only one large piece of chocolate and Guinness cake since his full English breakfast. And then he thought he had turn-down chocolate. Diva was a bit doubtful as the box on the pillow had 'Molton Brown' on it so there was a risk of it tasting a bit soapy. And it turned out to be 'temple soother'. TSH is not a believer in such products as 'temple soother' but Diva thought it smelled nice.

Moving on via the monastery

First call Fountains Abbey, which is the ruin of a Monastery alongside 18th century pleasure grounds with Follies. Lovely visit on a fine day - it takes all day to see everything. The interesting  thing about this spot is that the gardens pre-date Capability Brown. While CB and his followers and their dedication to 'natural' gardens (which weren't natural at all) produced beautiful landscapes, they mostly swept away all traces of what went before. But for some reason this didn't happen here and there is funding to restore the full glory of the 18th century formal gardens. It will take a few years to achieve but it is well on its way to being stunning.

Final hotel of this trip was the Samling at Ambleside. The food is special but at least partly about the performance, and Diva in particular thought it a bit pretentious. But it was exciting when they brought the sorbet set in a double skinned bowl. The outer bowl contained dry ice and pouring hot water into it produced a large amount of water vapour. Excellent dessert consisting of rhubarb prepared in several different ways, including rhubarb crisps!