Bletchley Park and Other Places

Last Sunday and Monday David and I took another trip to Bletchley Park before our annual ticket ran out before the end of June.  A few of the exhibits changed and it was good to go back and discover new things.  We stayed at the same Premier Inn on the outskirts of Milton Keynes overnight and travelled back home last Monday stopping at two places on the way.

I took a lot of photos from last year at Bletchley Park (although it seems I didn't post them on the blog last year!) so I didn't take many, but in the Mansion I was intrigued by the windows

Just look at them!  Aren't they EPP patchwork patterns?!

David pointed out this little reminder of Slough (where I grew up) in the classroom of the education centre.

As I said, on Monday we stopped on our way home to Nuffield Place in Oxfordshire, this was the home of Lord and Lady Nuffield.  Lord Nuffield was William Morris who founded Morris Cars in Cowley, Oxford.  Although they were wealthy the house was a modest size and was left to National Trust as it was in early 1960's.  Lady Nuffield was an accomplished needlewoman and there is evidence of her stitching around the house.

 She even had a sewing room

It even included children's dresses that she made.

Our next stop was at Cliveden, near Maidenhead, which has the odd mix of an exclusive hotel, restaurant and spa in the grounds as well as the National Trust looking after the grounds.  It is quite a large estate that we didn't get to seeing all there was there, however we saw the rose gardens which really looked and smelt fantastic this time of year.

 After a longish walk we viewed the gardens at the back of the hotel

The photo does not do this view justice, it was amazing.  But was was more amazing were these gilded gates under the balcony where I was standing

A-may-zing!!

It was the start of the really hot weather so we revived ourselves with an ice cream after taking a walk away from the hotel and heading towards the water gardens.

David was snapping away when I noticed some people looking at this heron.  This is a real one, not a fake.  To get its prey it stays still for quite a length of time before getting its fish.  I liked that I also caught the reflection too.

In spite of leaving there late afternoon and being concerned about rush hour traffic, we had a good journey back home.  It was lovely just to have those two days away.

Oh yes, I had to take a selfie, just to prove we were there.

My sunhat came in useful too!