Solihull Outing May 2017

1st May 2017 – Bank Holiday Monday. It was cold, overcast and generally miserable. The weather was typical of Bank Holidays. Running low on dosh and diesel, we decided to National Trust it on the attraction front and bin off any extra curricular eateries. A picnic was also the order of the day. I made my legendary Egg Mayonnaise, and Shani put it into different forms of bread. We filled the car fridge and then headed off to Leicester to fetch Ash.

Once we picked him up, we took a very dreary route to the first location. We went through Leicester and then the M69, M6 and M42. The last couple of miles were on slightly more interesting country roads. It appears there is a lot of greenery on the outskirts of Solihull (for those not in the know, Solihull is a few miles south/south-east of Birmingham). When we eventually found the car park, the Sat Nav having failed us, which it very rarely does, it was heaving. Luckily there was an overflow car park, in a field next to the main car park. Anyone with a 4×4 will tell you what a dream scenario that is! I proceeded to park at the farthest point away from the entrance, which gave me the most amount of driving on grass as was humanly possible. We had a quick snack on the picnic, and then headed into Packwood House.

You have to cross a road to get to the house and main grounds, although there are lots of scenic walks around the whole of the grounds. As you enter the main house area there is the obligatory shop in the Sundial building. We had a quick look, making a mental note of what to buy on the way out. Next stop was the gardens. There is a range of mad topiary in one section of the garden with ancient trees trimmed into shape. We strolled through to the end where there is a winding, circular path, almost like a botanical helter-skelter, that has a large tree with a bench at its centre. The path is not best suited to anyone who likes to eat.

 

We then went for a wander around the lake before going into the house. It was during this walk that the rain began, light at first, torrential moments later and it was joined by its best friend Hail. It cannot have lasted for more than 20 minutes or so, maybe even less, but it was enough to drive us to the house. Here we came across an anomaly – a grumpy National Trust volunteer. To be fair to the poor lady, she was having to hand out blue shoe covers to everyone in order to protect the house. An understandably tricky and annoying job. Shoes adorned with blue plastic bags, we slid our way through the building. It had been restored about a century ago to  ring it back to its Tudor glory and had a lot of interesting rooms. There was even a Dalmation hunt for children to help hold their interest. After a good hour in the house, and some interesting facts gleaned from the ever knowledgeable NT staff, we headed back to the car (via, of course, the gift shop). Back at the car we ploughed into the picnic, and decided we had just enough time for one more NT property visit.

The property in question was Baddesley Clinton. It is about 5 to 10 minutes away and is actually walkable from Packwood. It too had a packed car park despite us arriving an hour and a half before closing time. An amazing moated house which is over 500 years old, set in some lovely grounds. We watched the ducks swim around a river that runs through the estate, and kind of braches off to create little islands which are all linked by bridges. Shani and I took a tour of the house, leaving the other two to mess around outside. It always amazes me how these buildings were constructed all those years ago, without all the modern, mechanical, building equipment.

We had a coffee and fed the ducks before having a quick look in the shop and driving home. We set off around half 5 and took Ash back to Leicester first before coming home ourselves. Another fun day out, but a sad lack of driving satisfaction! Total miles: 131.2