Cotehele with company

Saturday was sunny and warm - hurrah! We actually put on shorts, and left our coats and even our jumpers at home! Back to Metherell with the family. It's different with children, holding hands over roads, getting dandelion clocks blown all over the place, hearing cries of disbelief at a huge pile of cow manure in a field...

So here are some pictures of Wayne and the children: in a field, on a bridge, near a waterfall, near a stream... This time we went up to Cotehele Mill, a National trust building. (Here we are in front of it, using the automatic shot). It wasn't open until 11 am however, and it was still half past ten so we wandered on to the quay.

Here we all are near the reconstructed sail boat. Time for a nice Cornish ice-cream before going up to Cotehele House, we thought, but we had to wait a few minutes until the kiosk, too, opened at 11. I guess everyone except keen Aussies sleep in on Saturday.

Here is Eleanor next to the especially abundant bluebells before getting to the historic home. Eleanor now became our guide, as she had come here as part of her Tudor studies. (The class all were dressed in appropriate gear when they got there, too - I wish I had a photo of them.) We entered through a garden gate, and walked past beautiful rhododendrons and a pigeon house before coming up to the manor.
So, here we are in front of the manor, the camera in a tree...

The great hall was full of weaponry. Here is some. And that suit of armour is NOT balancing some antlers on his sword, while standing on a bucket. (Wayne took the photo). There were about 8 different sets of horns, with or without stuffed head attached, also around the room. I liked the curved wooden insets on the ceiling.

What was most remarkable about the whole house was all the tapestries on the walls. They were there instead of wallpaper... there were even cuts through them for doors. You had to lift up a tapestry to get to the private chapel.

Anyway, we duly trooped through all the rooms. The children had another spot-the-bit-of-furniture-or-art card to keep them amused. And here we all are in the quadrangle, plus wisteria. (The camera was on a step.)

Off we went through the woods again. Here is Jack in a part thick with bluebells. It was uphill now, and the troops were tiring. Nevertheless, we got back to town without too many complaints. Here we are near those strange stuffed dolls I wrote about last time. And, here we are enjoying a well-earned drink at the inn we parked at, at the end of our endeavours. Cheers!