Yesterday was a pretty quiet day - it actually started to snow in the morning so we had a day at home.Did some washing and took it to the laundromat in St Ives for drying and then came home for a crib tournament. So this morning we decided we had better get out and find an English Heritage property to visit and settled on Kirby which is about 38 miles away.
This old Mnsion dates back to 1570 in the reign of Elizabeth the 1st.It is a truly magnificent structure and although technically "a ruin" is still a substantial building and able to be walked through.The gardens are remarkable and a tribute to English Heritage who maintain them.
This is an unusual history because "The beauty of Kirby's decline is that it was private and without violence.The house was never burnt, ravaged, used as a quarry or assaulted by mobs.It simply lapsed". A fitting tribute paid by a 20th century architectural historian
On the way home we called into Oundle a pretty market village of great antiquity. We went into a wonderful old Pub where Len had a pint and Carol regretted having a glass of Merlot which, being French was bloody awful!!
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