OH and I are 4 months apart in age, he being the elder of the two of us, and he turned 50 at the beginning of September. He took the day off work and we headed out for a relaxing day.
Dudmaston Estate is just over the border in Shropshire, near the Severn Valley Railway (SVR is coincidentally also celebrating 50 years) and managed by the National Trust. It isn't open on a Friday, so it was a happy coincidence that OH's birthday wasn't a Friday, and we took the opportunity to visit. Dudmaston is actually lived in, hence the funny opening times, and photographs indoors are not allowed.
Happily, there were plenty of lovely things to photograph outside.
The lady emerging from the house is actually the present Lady of the Manor, I recognised her from the many personal photographs dotted around inside the house, as she walked past us. I didn't realise I had photographed her at the time.
The gardens are extensive, but while we were there we got caught in a very heavy storm, fortunately, we were in a heavily wooded part of the grounds at the time, and it didn't last long.
It is actually chucking it down in the photo above, we were chatting to a chap who was also sheltering from the rain and it turned out he lived in the next village to us.
Bad weather aside, here is a photo tour of our day out:
The lovely lake
The lake as viewed through the eye of The Watcher, a 1969 sculpture by Anthony Twentyman
The gorgeous boathouse
Boathouse selfie
Extensive views (storm approaching!)
How now brown cow!
Tea and cake (of course!)
Shepherd's hut in the picnic area
Picnicking in the orchard
Best looking loos ever!!
Never seen medlars before
...or mulberries
Birthday boy
Beautiful grounds
Old stable block, now contains the shop
More gorgeous borders
OH's birthday tea...
...at the Lock in Wolverley (old photo of mine, it wasn't raining when we got there!)
I've had some great charity shop bargains in the past few weeks, the best one being this necklace. I bought two necklaces for 50p each, one is a present so I can't show you here, and this was the other
Yes, it is gold, and it will have to be scrapped as one of the links is bent to the point of breaking. The scrap value is around £35.
I also bought these tops, one is Wallis, the other Mantaray, both were a pound. I've worn the purple Mantaray one a lot, it is so comfy.
Found these Primark jeggings in a children's clothing 50p bin, they are ladies, not children's. I don't usually buy Primark in chazzas, but for 50p it was a no brainer!
I found this lovely Prestige hand whisk too, paid £2 for it but it has plenty of weight, not like my modern one, which has now been donated to a charity shop.
We've also been busy in the garden, the summerhouse is now up and painted, both inside and out
Since taking these photos it has been painted on the outside again and is now a much darker shade of green, and the back wall inside has had a touch up, it was really runny paint!
Well, that's it for now, as of this morning the builders have been hard at work and the garage has been reduced to skip junk and is no more
We are really busy now but I will try to post some updates as we go along, and of course any bargains I may find along the way.
Birthday boy
Love this staircase!
OH's birthday tea...
...at the Lock in Wolverley (old photo of mine, it wasn't raining when we got there!)
I've had some great charity shop bargains in the past few weeks, the best one being this necklace. I bought two necklaces for 50p each, one is a present so I can't show you here, and this was the other
Yes, it is gold, and it will have to be scrapped as one of the links is bent to the point of breaking. The scrap value is around £35.
I also bought these tops, one is Wallis, the other Mantaray, both were a pound. I've worn the purple Mantaray one a lot, it is so comfy.
Found these Primark jeggings in a children's clothing 50p bin, they are ladies, not children's. I don't usually buy Primark in chazzas, but for 50p it was a no brainer!
I found this lovely Prestige hand whisk too, paid £2 for it but it has plenty of weight, not like my modern one, which has now been donated to a charity shop.
We've also been busy in the garden, the summerhouse is now up and painted, both inside and out
Since taking these photos it has been painted on the outside again and is now a much darker shade of green, and the back wall inside has had a touch up, it was really runny paint!
Well, that's it for now, as of this morning the builders have been hard at work and the garage has been reduced to skip junk and is no more
We are really busy now but I will try to post some updates as we go along, and of course any bargains I may find along the way.
