A Whale at Burton Constable!!

Not the best of nights, I woke with backache and Ian with a headache. Paranoia set in. Covid flashed through my mind but no other symptoms materialised. Must have been the way we rode our bikes yesterday. I felt my handlebars were too low, I couldn't sit upright and Ian has a problem with his neck (arthritis) and assumed the way he angled his head was the cause. So no lateral flow tests taken although we have them with us, just had to wait and see how the rest of the day unfolded.

We chose the wrong day to go to Burton Constable Hall. Only booking it the night before, we should have checked the weather forecast first. By the time the 10.o'clock news came on showing the weather for tomorrow, it was too late, tickets had been bought online so no going back. The day did start wet, well a fine mizzle really so we hoped the torrential forecasted would be wrong.

 The first thing that caught our attention on the long drive down to the attraction was the imposing building. This Hall was not English Heritage or National Trust so no freebie for us. It was still very reasonable though,  a tenner each to explore the house and grounds. 

After showing the tickets and wandering out into the grounds, a giant chess board grabbed our attention. Having a timed slot for visiting the house at 12.05pm we decided on a game. Got so far into it when the drizzle turned into something heavier. I was winning hands down and Ian's "This is silly, I'm getting drenched" was a cop out as far as I was concerned.

 

Anyway he eventually conceded and we departed to the courtyard to see the whale.....yep there was a whale.....the bones of a Sperm Whale to be precise, which had been washed ashore at Tunstall in April 1825. It had a nickname of Constable Moby and an account of the Sperm Whale skeleton came to the attention of Herman Melville who was inspired to include a humorous account of it in his famous novel Moby Dick.

And then there were the stables, always of interest to me being a horsey person.

Cute.

The rain was relentless. The Hall didn't open until midday and walking the grounds would have been silly. The café was open, and that's where we sheltered with hot coffee before our 12.05 slot.

Talk about good value for money. I lost count of the number of rooms we entered (I believe there to be about 30 open to the public) and most was as it had been left filled with furniture, paintings and sculptures from the Elizabethan era. None of the rooms had been themed, something NT is big on and one we dislike, we prefer the shabby sheek natural decor look.  Click HERE if you fancy a read.

It was still only mid-afternoon and the plan had been to walk the extensive grounds but not in the heavy rain. It was unanimously agreed to head for the next overnight stop at a place called Beverley. We managed to find someone who had availability for the one night and although no loos or showers, at least had power, water and more importantly elsan disposal. But on arrival we did wonder what we had come to. It was almost like an afterthought, what to do with a large garden and this was the result. Oh well it was just for one night and only £15 and the rain was still beating down so to not worry about putting the TV on and not flattening the batteries was a bonus.