I'm sure Bank Holiday Mondays are supposed to be for lazing about. Ours turned out to be quite an active day. We met up with our friends S and A and headed out for a good long walk in the sunshine. Mr C and I often go walking with these particular friends and know that they're up for a bit of a challenge. Hence we decided to repeat a walk from our Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire walks book
Now the book reckons this walk is 10.5 miles and should take about 5 hours. It's not a particularly challenging walk, but a nice one all the same that takes in some lovely stretches by the Ver and along the common in Harpenden itself. We left St Albans at 10am and, despite stopping for a 40 minute leisurely picnic lunch, somehow managed to be enjoying a nice cold beverage in a St Albans pub before 2pm. I'm not too sure how, but my legs certainly now ache, and my camera has a lack of photos suggesting that I was possibly too busy to take any! I'm sure it took us much longer last time.
It was definitely time to relax though once we got home, and I was able to curl up with two books that I'm enjoying right now. After reading quite a few books set in stately homes, and following my numerous National Trust visits, I was delighted to find a book in the local charity shop about the history of the Trust and some of it's holdings. The National Trust: The First Hundred Years
apparently accompanied a BBC television series that was shown around 1995, to mark the Trust's one hundredth anniversary. It's fascinating to dip into.
apparently accompanied a BBC television series that was shown around 1995, to mark the Trust's one hundredth anniversary. It's fascinating to dip into.
The second book I'm enjoying continues the theme of stately homes and what it must have been like to live and work in them. The Edwardian Country House
was again a book to accompany a television series, but this time a reality style show that placed a family inside a country house and gave them the identities of turn of the century aristocrats. Below stairs staff were also "employed" and the series looked at the challenges facing both sets of occupants. Being a reality show there was some coverage of the relationships that were between the people living there, but the majority of the show focussed on what life would have been like in Edwardian times. The series showed back in 2002 and I thoroughly enjoyed it at the time. I bought the accompanying book at a discount at the time, but over the last few years had quite simply forgotten about it. To pick it up again and remind myself is great and I'm really enjoying doing so. The book seems to be available very cheaply via amazon at the moment, so if you have an interest in this sort of thing I'd certainly advise getting hold of a copy.
was again a book to accompany a television series, but this time a reality style show that placed a family inside a country house and gave them the identities of turn of the century aristocrats. Below stairs staff were also "employed" and the series looked at the challenges facing both sets of occupants. Being a reality show there was some coverage of the relationships that were between the people living there, but the majority of the show focussed on what life would have been like in Edwardian times. The series showed back in 2002 and I thoroughly enjoyed it at the time. I bought the accompanying book at a discount at the time, but over the last few years had quite simply forgotten about it. To pick it up again and remind myself is great and I'm really enjoying doing so. The book seems to be available very cheaply via amazon at the moment, so if you have an interest in this sort of thing I'd certainly advise getting hold of a copy.
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