Attingham

Yesterday we were at a wedding over in Shrewsbury and seeing as we had to check out of our accommodation by 10.30 and yet weren't due to see friends in Birmingham until 3pm we decided to once again make the most of our National Trust membership and went along to nearby Attingham. I'm so glad we did as it was a wonderful way to spend a few hours.

Not only was I delighted to see the carpet of bluebells in the wood, but the rest of the grounds were also lovely and tranquil to walk around. We were also lucky enough to get in on an early guided tour of the house before it formally opened to the public for the day. Our guide was one of the conservation cleaning team who work at Attingham and in a wonderful thirty minutes she took the group round some of the house and taught us about the huge amount of work that the Trust, its staff and volunteers, have to constantly undertake to protect the house and its contents and ensure that it is conserved for future generations.

The whole thirty minutes was completely fascinating and flew by so quickly. If you ever get the opportunity to do a similar tour then I strongly recommend it. I had an inkling as to where some of my annual membership goes, but after today I really do feel that it's going to a good cause. The delicate work that goes into cleaning the properties and their contents is incredibly time consuming, but in addition to that there is also the ongoing work to protect from various insects and pests, as well as the environment itself. I walked out of the house feeling proud to be a member of a charity that is doing so much to conserve the country's history for future generations.

A walk around the grounds was certainly a welcome fresh air exposure after the wedding party excesses the night before. The grounds provide some wonderful footpaths through the deer park and woodland, and in addition Attingham is currently host to a sculpture exhibition entitled Give me Shelter.

Now, modern art is something that I find quite difficult to understand and hence some of the sculptures in this collection where a little hard for me to accept. Above is one that I did appreciate though. "How to survive in the coming bad years" by Ivan and Heather Morison is a slightly strange looking clay structure which, as the guide leaflet describes, does resemble an "oversized Dalek". Apparently it is inspired by Middle Eastern traditional rookeries and the idea of providing a shelter for birds, whilst the bird in return provide their squab for fertiliser. 

I just liked the look of it though and the strange way in which it managed to both fit into the surroundings, whilst also clashing with them. The sculpture also provides a practical purpose by being a home for local bird life and will disintegrate over time (the obvious cracks and health and safety required roped off area suggest that this may be not far away).

A lovely way to spend a few hours on a Bank Holiday Sunday.

We broke our journey back to St Albans with a quick stop in Birmingham to meet up with some old friends and the latest addition to their family. Little baby D is only three and a half weeks old and incredibly cute. I'm so glad that I had the opportunity to catch up with him (and Mum, Dad and proud big brother).