A giant indeed

 May11th

 Aurora Borealis, lots of expletives because we missed them last night. A glance outside at 11 pm saw no sign and thinking ourselves to be too far south, went to bed!

Unbeknownst to us our Son in Law Kev, (lives in Derbyshire) WhatsApp'd us at 23.45 with the message 'Get outside people', Of course by then we were well in the land of nod so didn't here the phone bleep at all. The photos he sent this morning had us both green with envy....and they were all taken with his phone camera! 

Kev said that was a plane.

Castle Drogo was where we went to today. Both of us were up early, mainly to leave the lay-by and stop the locals of having any more distress.  One car beeped at 5 am, Ian heard it, I did not!

More of those narrow lanes to drive along before we reached Castle Drogo, appears that all these NT places around here are at in the back of beyond! Anyway, a huge car park with motorhome parking was present and with full sun on the solar panels to top up the batteries, we felt secure in the knowledge of a full charge. The walk from the entrance was down a lovely long sweeping drive, all downhill, so expected a bit of a climb on the way back! The most noticeable thing about this castle was how modern it looked. To read the history, click HERE

In short, The castle was commissioned by Julius Drewe, the retail entrepreneur who established ‘The Home and Colonial Stores’ which made him a millionaire by the age of 33.   Set within 600 acres of park and formal garden, Castle Drogo is a modern interpretation of medieval themes. The stark, block-shaped granite exterior with mullioned windows contains comfortable tapestry-hung rooms The outbreak of the First World War and the Great Depression delayed the project somewhat and the castle was not completed until 1930, a year before Drewe passed away. Drewe’s grandson and great-grandson gave the property to the National Trust in 1974. (Excerpt from the link above)

Our decision to do the castle first was a wise move, we beat the hordes and with this being another self-guided house, most of the rooms were free of people. 

jj

Before entering the gardens, a stop at the café for a cup of tea. The place was becoming packed, well it was after midday and lunch was being served. It was just a sausage roll and a packet of crisps each for us. Suitably replenished, we continued to the gardens. Again another two weeks and the colours would have been wonderful but even so, what plants did flower were very impressive and the lawns immaculately mown. With the glorious sunny weather we took our time admiring all aspects of the garden and continuing the walk through the woods, came across a sweet little house. I just had to get a photo of Ian next to it, a giant indeed as he towered over the house. Ian tried the door, and it was open, With some encouragement from me, he entered and nearly got himself stuck inside. I laughed, two ladies next to me laughed and Ian...well his expression said it all!

The gardens were beautiful, especially the Wisteria. We, too, have Wisteria growing along a pergola at our bungalow but to date, it has only ever had one opened bud to show for it.. We moved in 2004, and it was our tenant that had the pleasure of that one and only flower.

I don't know why we do it to ourselves, but leaving it to the last minute to find somewhere to stop over for the night, is something we really should address. Ian's many apps showed a lovely place about an hour's drive away. It's a disused airfield at Davidstow in Cornwell and wow, if the skies are clear tonight we may just catch a glimpse of the Northern Lights and millions of stars. This time, we won't be going to bed early!