Clumber Park

I have been aware of the existence of a walled kitchen garden at Clumber Park for some years. For almost as many years it has been on my list of places to go and visit. But whenever we've thought about it, it's been raining, or something else has come up, or there have been other things to do and so we have never been.

I can't say that visiting it has been right at the front of my mind recently, so I am not sure what brought it to the top of my list of things to do on Friday, when we were considering what, if anything, to do on Saturday. The forecast was quite nice. There wasn't anything urgent that we needed to do at home or on the allotment. So we went.

It's a nice drive from our place to Clumber Park, across country through Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, passing through some pretty little villages and along some pretty little roads.  Clumber Park itself is huge. An enormous estate, with people picnicking and fishing and barbecuing and strolling around. There used to be a mansion on the site but that was demolished many decades ago. There are still some buildings, including a seriously cute little cricket club house by the cricket field (where there was cricket match in progress), some older buildings, some new ones, including a visitor centre, a NT shop, a restaurant.

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So we paused for lunch, and to note that there was a lake for strolling around and various other things to do. But on another visit, perhaps. Today we had come to inspect the walled kitchen garden. And that is what we did. But we will definitely go back and explore further. We might even bring a picnic next time - although the pea and bean pie I had was amazing and The Builder's sausage and mash were also extremely tasy (I, of course, had a taste!). And it would be interesting to have a look see during the winter, although the walled garden isn't open between November and February. Plenty of other things to look at, though

I imagine that they will also not be playing cricket over the winter. This is possibly just as well. We were wandering slowly along the grass by the side of the cricket field.  I was half watching them playing and half reading a message on my phone. What I was definitely not doing was paying any attention to where I was going. I decide that I would visit the loo before heading into the garden and marched smartly off, still not paying attention to where I was going. Suddenly, I turned my ankle in a rough patch by the side of the road - and went flying.  WHOMP!  My phone went flying further. The hippos, who I had in a bag, did nothing to cushion my fall :-(  The Builder was in a quandary whether to pick me or my phone up first. Sensibly, he collected my phone and then hauled me back onto my feet.  I have a graze on my arm and a graze on my knee. But I think I might be quite bruised. I went whomp quite hard (it attracted a bit of attention, although not from the cricketers) and the whole of the right side of my body aches!!!  Still, at least nothing is broken and I still managed to get around the walled garden :-) And we collected a really pretty bridge on the way home. I was quite happy, really.

So not a bad finish to a week off work (apart from the attempt to fly without benefit of wings!). We had a very quiet Sunday, which we more or less ate and drank our way through.

And now I am back at work. And all that cleaning, tidying and organising I was going to do in the house and garden last week  remains utterly undone!  Oh well.  There's always the Christmas holiday :-D