The weather last Thursday was glorious, so we decided to head over to Cragside, to both go round the house, and have a walk in the glorious gardens
first stop was the old stable block
which has several displays, one of which has this sketch of the house when it was built
William Armstrong, who had the house built
this shows important events in the early years of the house (click on the photo to enlarge it)
there was also a long time line - for Malcolm this was the most important event!
I was more interested in this poster!
I took this photo for Stuart, as he is a mechanical engineer (Malcolm was in shock for weeks when Stuart said that he would not be following in his footsteps as a chemical engineer!)
this poster was actually in one of the rooms in the house, but I have included it with the other technical stuff. This was of great interest to Malcolm, as when he started work with BP, they used Tangye engines and pumps
we sat out in the sun in the courtyard at the stable block to have some excellent sandwiches for lunch
after lunch I popped into the facilities - I think it is the first time I have seen a fireplace in a ladies loo!
this is the view from in front of the coach house -we both thought it looked like Canada. I thought that from photos that I have seen, Malcolm thought that because he has been there!
this family walking in front of us provide the scale to show just how tall the trees are
this is one of the first electric lamps, mentioned in the wheel of events
I always enjoy seeing kitchens in old houses
I don't think you would be allowed to impose such strict working conditions now!
one of several patchwork quilts
the view from one of the bedroom windows
I got fed up waiting for this woman to stop looking at her phone and walk out of the photo - but then, she shows the size of the fireplace (and how can you walk past such magnificence and not look, finding your phone more fascinating!!)
out in the gardens, I wasn't entirely happy walking down the steps in the rockery
but it was worth it to see the view over the bridge
and then to see the small wooden bridge on the other side (you can see both bridges in the sketch at the start of the post)
this glass house is undergoing major renovation work
the rabbit has been back in our garden - maybe we need to get a big fence and a gate like this to keep it out?
some of the cottages in the grounds are available to rent for holidays - look at the stunning views this one enjoys
it's just as well we don't have a big tree in the garden, or Malcolm might be tempted to cut it down and carve an owl on the stump
beautiful water lilies
they almost look as if they have been carved from wax
in the rose garden
there was a riot of colour
and lovely old fashioned scents - so many modern roses have no scent
a last piece of engineering - an Archimedes screw. Normally Archimedes screws lift water to a higher level, but this one has the water running down it, turning the screw to generate electricity (thank you to my engineering guru- aka Malcolm - for the information)
and so to the Tuesday cake - we shared this delicious Palmier yesterday. It was stuffed with jam and cream ...... delicious!