Kentwell Hall
This post will be light on words, and heavy on photos (it’s a promise!)
We went to Kentwell Hall today. We can highly recommend it – especially if you can get there on a day when the Tudor reenactments are on. For an hour’s drive each way, and £10.50 entrance fee for each adult (under 5 s are free) we got to see:
Lots of sheep:
(see the big house in the background, we looked around that too – there was cooking in the kitchen, polishing in the [room next to the kitchen], cheesemaking in the dairy, pomander -making in the solar, embroidery in [the room next to the solar], a fantastic camera obscura, an alchemists’ hut, complete with alchemists more than happy to explain how to convert base metal to gold (two possible answers – 1) Sell it, 2) ... “it’s very simple but you need to bring down the heat of the sun…” etc… ) )
more sheep:
– these were teeny-tiny newborns in the lambing shed. We did see one mother-to-be panting rather heavily, but we didn’t see any arriving.
goats and cows:
more pigs:
(Tamworths – beautiful pigs – if I were to ever consent to John keeping pigs in the back garden they would have to be Tamworths, but I won’t, so it’s kind of a moot point really.)
More goats:
– apparently these goats are purely of historical interest, they provide neither good meat nor good fibre.
More cows:
– longhorns – with (to my eyes) very oddly shaped horns – they look as though they’ll grow round and poke the cow’s eye out…
A thatched hovel:
– I loved this – I think because it was the bit that reminded me most of Maihaugen – the wonderful Folkemuseet near Lillehammer that I visited when I did 3 weeks working at an asylum-seeker centre. (Most people do this sort of thing in their late teens/early twenties – I was 32 – I’m a late developer!)
Black hens with very feathery legs (click on the pic – then you’ll see what I mean):
And I’m keeping the best ‘til last:
– upstairs, above various horse-drawn vehicles, the weaving shed – there was a loom with a warp on it (I was proudly able to talk Adam through it), some huge spinning wheels (I told him “Yes, they’re spinning wheels” – sadly that’s as far as my knowledge there went) and these beautiful skeins of what I presume must be hand-dyed wool using natural dyes. Unfortunately there were no Tudors there to ask, but aren’t they gorgeous colours!
We did have a fantastic day – which is just as well since we’re not a well family – Adam’s tooth is hurting again, and on inspection, he now has a large lump on his gum – I’m guessing an abcess 
So it’s an emergency dental appointment for him tomorrow morning. Ruth still has her stomach upset – we thought she was better as she was so much chirpier, and her colour was much better, but this evening’s nappy… So it’s a doctor’s appointment for her tomorrow. My period has finally arrived (remember I’ve been complaining about hormones for about a fortnight… – but in the middle of my hormone-induced haze I’ve lost my mooncup – oh the irony!)
Oh knitting – yes, I’ve done some – I’ve only got about 10 rows of the toe left – pics when it’s finished.
*Update: I had to frog the toe last night – somehow I’d ended up with 1 dormant stitch on one side, and 3 on the other… *
four comments:
Sorry you’re all still under the weather. :( Kentwell looks fab – I love all the animal pics, and as for the yarn… :) :) :)Daisy () (link) - 18 April '06 - 08:45
Was that the monday ? we didn’t see you…The wool shed only has people in the summer but it is great! If you went to the brewery the people there were spinning/sewing and the pedler was teaching basic weaving. Great fun though :D
ruth () (link) - 18 April '06 - 11:25
There’s another Ruth! I shall be big ruth from now on to save confusion. Frog the toe??? Your day out looks absolutely fab. I do hope the children are better now.Big Ruth (glad I proof read as had typed bog ruth by mistake)!!
big ruth (link) - 18 April '06 - 18:30
Wow, Kentwell looks beautiful – what part of the country is it in?Peeve () (link) - 19 April '06 - 00:32
