Lanhydrock

The gorgeous weather yesterday saw us heading off to Lanhydrock house, which I'd last been to on a school trip when I was about six, so don't know why I was surprised that I didn't remember it as well as I thought.

Built in the 17th century, and largely rebuilt after a fire in 1881, it's a majestic place, with around 49 rooms open to the public, both 'upstairs' with the apartments of the Robartes family, and 'downstairs' with the vast kitchens and the servants' quarters in the roof.

Although we'd bought the guidebook, the information available isn't as good as at Cotehele, where each room had a sheet identifying all the things in it - this time you just got a paragraph and notes on the pictures (apart from the one that I was interested in, obviously).

It took around an hour and a half to do the full tour, after which we adjourned to the stable courtyard for a cream tea. And the sooner they ditch those pesky metal teapots that p*ss more tea on the table than in your cup, the better. Oh, and filter your water, it tasted foul. Scones were good though.

Took a walk through the grounds, to see the church of St Hydrock, the holy well, and some beautiful flower borders (and time out to give a good glare at the moron who was throwing what looked like a banana skin into the middle of a flower bed, and had got it stuck on a bush).

The walk from the car park takes you down a winding drive through open parkland - and on the way back up, we took the option of a lift in a vintage car, letting you sit back and whizz past the rabble, thinking "I'm a lay-dee"...

See more photos here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cornishrambler