Hughenden Manor

Yesterday I went to Hughenden Manor. There is an historical manor home, working garden,  and lovely grounds/woods. I plan to go back frequently to walk in the woods and also to bask on the lawn. The weather has been lovely and it was very warm yesterday, so there were lots of people just sitting in the grass in the sun. I didn't mind joining them for a little bit to catch up on some of the vitamins I didn't get this summer. The house itself is interesting, it was owned by Queen Victoria's favourite prime minister, who was himself an interesting character. It was also used during WWII for map-making and, it seems, for directing much of the bombing of Germany, making it top of Hitler's hit list. There was a bomb that landed near the manor, by the church at the bottom of the hill. The home itself isn't particularly ostentatious, but the rooms are pretty and I wouldn't mind having high tea in the sunny drawing room overlooking the garden.Perhaps more than that though, I would love to work in the walled kitchen garden...

Yesterday was the Hughenden Apple days. The grounds have quite a few heritage apple trees, 57 according the article linked. There were apple tastings, a cider press, a juice press, apple saplings for sale and a few other things one could do. I enjoyed the apple tastings and ended up buying some, whose name is now escaping me, but have an orange outside and a lovely vanilla note. They were recommended by one of the gardeners.

I have also discovered that the tea shop regularly sells a few GF treats and there's also a genuine used book shop (1GBP for a fiction book) and lots of places to sit in the grass and read. Yes, I think I will be coming to visit more often.

Here are some pics:

these next few pictures would be panoramic if placed together