Quick march

If you'd like a cup of tea

at a National Trust property after an afternoon walk,

you'd better look sharpish 

because they stop serving on the dot of 4.30.

Thus it was, as an antidote to too much sitting around 
watching television yesterday,

we set off after a very early luncheon for 

the start (and finish) of our walk at Ightham Mote,

'one of the oldest and loveliest of 

medieval manor houses to survive in England.'

It's all a bit of a blur.

Are those hares? 

They look too big to be rabbits.

Fast fading bluebells, but English not Spanish,

you can tell because the bells all hang from the 

drooping underside of the stem

rather than rotating round the thicker upright stem.

I had never realised that the white horse-chestnut 

flower is flecked with yellow, pink and even orange.

The scrutiny of a sheep at some point on a walk is

inevitable but unnerving. 

By the time we reached the house our time was nearly up 

and we were gently shepherded from room to room by

accumulating volunteer guides, 

so that the house could be closed up behind us.  

This 16th century stained glass was brought to the chapel from 

Germany and installed in the early 19th century.

Furniture and fittings dating from the Middle Ages 
and the 18th century were probably brought 
gradually and haphazardly to create an antiquarian look.

The gardens were open for a little longer,

but the house deserves a more leisurely visit.

You can't rush through 670 years of history.