The best pound I've ever spent.

No Derbyshire for me this week, I went to a wedding and stayed overnight in Nottingham (well, on the outskirts), so decided to go to Wollaton park. I was born, and brought up, in Strelley. The area was given its name after Robert de Strelley was given the lands as reward for his support of the king in the crusades. There has been a lot of building in the area (where hasn't there?), and the hotel I stayed in, the Nottingham Belfry, was on farmland I used to pick potatoes from to earn a bit of cash in the school holidays and at weekend.
What with the loss of an hour, and a late night to boot, I didn't want to travel far. The hall and grounds are only a ten minute drive, so off I went.

So here it is! The baronial pile of the Willoughby family. This huge statement of wealth was built on the backs of coal miners. Willoughby almost bankrupted himself during its construction. There is a window for EVERY day of the year - yes, 365 of them. The grounds and gardens are superb to look at, and have just undergone a massive overhaul by Nottingham council. As you can see, there is still a bit to do, and some scaffolding still remains. Unfortunately, the hall was closed to visitors on the day I went. This was offset by the steam museum being open, and all the exhibits in steam. The cost to go in? JUST A POUND! There was also a 'wartime radio' event on, with lots of Bakelite radios, cats whiskers, Morse keys etc on show. A grand re-opening is planned for Easter.
By the looks of it, they better get their skates on though!

A short walk across the grounds brought me to this - a showman's engine in the usual stunning condition, lovingly polished, cleaned and oiled, and proudly shown off.




A fire like your Mam (or Gran?) used to have - ROARING up the chimney, and something nice cooking in the oven.
If you're over 40, you'll probably shout; "oh WE had one of those!" to at least one of these radios.
I can see my sisters Dansette, and my own old Philips.

The rest of the collection.

This is the famous 'cats whisker' radio set. I could hear a station on the headphones too! My Dad always had these. I wasn't really interested, but my brother was, and went as far as getting his A radio amateur ('ham') license (G0FOG for the hams among you).

An amazing and extensive collection of old tractor seats, lovingly painted.
They remind me of the artefacts you see on narrow boats, don't you think?

Inside the steam museum - the BEST pound I've ever spent!
The sound of the different engines, the chuffs and puffs, the labour and the ticking, was really music to my ears.
This was my attempt to capture it.

There was also an old fashioned (what else?) blacksmith. He was making a huge spit roast for the fireplace in the newly refurbished hall. The skill and accuracy he displayed while he worked was mesmerising. I stood there for many a while watching. He showed me some of his fine handiwork in an album. A very clever man, with a really artistic angle to his work. Some of the stuff he has made looked as though it would be impossible to fashion from metal, it was so intricate.

After the museum, it was down the grounds to the lake. Wollaton has a lovely lake, and a lot of earnest duck-feeding was going on. They were full up though, and if you look, you can see whole slices of bread untouched in the water.

Looking back to the hall from the far end of the lake (zoomed shot).
You can see the famous camellia house on the right (pictures lower down)

A lovely patch of reeds, I was stunned by the way they caught the sun when I looked back at them (next picture).

This picture isn't bad, but it can't do justice to how they looked in real life.

Walking up the gardens to the camellia house. The gardens are being extensively re-planted and drawn up to plans from when the garden was first designed. It should be really good in Summer. I plan to go back and take a look.

I remember walking around the camellia house with my Mum, many years ago.
For now, the doors are locked, but this is the view along it.

Looking to the camellia house from the lawns at the rear of the hall.

The rear of the hall, also shrouded in readiness for the grand re-opening.

A little bit of digital wizardry, and the fence around the hall disappears!
Looking back to the hall before I went off to visit Nottingham.