Monday 15/6 Great Haywood, Shugborough Hall

We spent the large part of today exploring Shugborough Hall, once the seat of the Earls of Lichfield. In 1960 the 5th Earl, Patrick Lichfield (the photographer)  handed the hall and estate (not very big) over to the National Trust  in lieu of death duties, his father and grandfather having died only two years apart.

As part of the deal Patrick retained an apartment within the hall for a peppercorn rent on a 99 year lease. The 'apartment' runs to 20+ rooms!  He died in 2005 mad his son, the 6th Earl relinquished his entitlement to the apartment for reasons unknown.

We walked a little way down the towpath, along a short wooded track to cross the River Trent via the Essex Bridge

Just downstream of the confluence of the Rivers Sow and Trent

Up through the park to the Hall

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We did a guided tour of Patricks no longer private apartments (not by choice it was the only tour on at the time). We found out that Princess Anne still holds the record, made in 1971, of the fastest time on a  monkey bike (mini bike in Oz language) around the estate and that Princess Margaret, a frequent visitor, always slept in the blue bedroom and that the 6th Earl probably relinquished his entitlement to the apartment because his parent were divorced when he was 8 and he grew up in London with his Mum

I'm not going to bore you with more ceilings and such like, but how about this bizarre jug

After the tour we took ourselves through the rest of the house, servants quarters and carriage museum. Totally knackered and overdosed on splendour we had a lunch in the old stables - nicest salad I've had so far - and then wended our way home through the formal garden, bordered by the River Sow

Down through some lovely park, past some fields along the River Trent

And back over the Essex Bridge

To the canal where I left Lawrence to return to the boat whilst I went on to explore Great Haywood on a quest to find a cash machine. Mission unsuccessful  and down to our last 15 pounds, I splurged some of it on a latte from the converted lock house cafe and sat in their canal side garden to drink it and watch the boats go by.