National Trust in East Anglia

Back in September I was explaining how our limited use of National Trust membership was causing Mister E and me to query whether or not to continue with it. I am delighted to say, however, that whilst journeying around East Anglia we must have visited the equivalent of a year's worth of properties.

Indeed on route to Norfolk, we took a break just off the A1 near Grantham in order to visit the childhood home of Isaac Newton at Woolsthorpe Manor. The apple season is of course, in full season in October so what better time to call as it was in the orchard here that Newton is reputed to have had his Eureka moment with gravity as well as conducting his experiments to split light. The tour around the house does not take long, but it was one of the most informative that I have visited with an introductory film in one of the farm outbuildings and, in another, hands on activities  seeking to demonstrate Newton's Laws of Motion and other discoveries.

Moving on to Wisbech in Cambridgeshire, we were admiring the impressive Georgian frontages on the North Brink overlooking the river when, partially driven by a desire for afternoon tea, we entered Peckover House and garden, originally owned by a banking family. Tea was delightful but so too was the garden with its pet cemetery, croquet lawn, vegetable plot and herbaceous borders. A real oasis of calm and beauty in the middle of a busy town. 

The North Norfolk coastline along which we drove is, of course,  owned and maintained by the National Trust for the free enjoyment of everyone and that Guildhall in Kings Lynn is also owned by the Trust albeit managed by the local council with restricted opening.

When we awoke one morning to the rain coming down in torrents, we took advantage of our membership to visit Blickling Estate, enjoying morning coffee and a browse in the bookshop before the main house opened. It is a magnificent mansion, donated to the Trust by the Marquess of Lothian and built on the ruins of the home of the Boleyn family where the second wife of Henry VIII is believed to have been born.

Then we headed eastwards towards those large sea defences and Horsey Windpump, one of the original windmills used to pump water from the fields, and now in the Trust's ownership enabling visitors to climb to the top floor with views across the Broads.

Dunwich Heath and Beach too are cared for by the National Trust and are in an area designated as of outstanding natural beauty.

Staying with friends, only a stone's throw from Sutton Hoo, obviously necessitated a visit there. It is the site of Anglo Saxon burial mounds which, in the mid 20th century revealed the burial chamber of a king, the treasure from which is now in the British Museum and which of course we saw earlier this year. Apart from some clearly disturbing piles of earth in the middle of a field there would, of course, be nothing really to see but the National Trust has put together an impressive exhibition explaining Suffolk in Anglo Saxon times and the burial customs that were followed. The home of the former owner of the site has also been preserved in its original 1930's style and looking out of the windows towards the river estuary it is easy to imagine the sound and view of RAF Spitfires flying overhead as they returned from their wartime missions.

Finally we had a day out starting at Flatford Mill where John Constable painted his famous Haywain picture and, as well as opening the land, the National Trust provide a small exhibition about Constable's work. We walked across the river into Essex to Dedham and back before finishing the day at Pin Mill, again in the care of the Trust, with wonderful panoramic views over the River Orwell and the scene for Arthur Ransome's novel, "We Didn't Mean to Go to Sea."

Now what would we have done without those membership cards?