After walking a little while from the car park a very big house came into view.

The main house was closed on the day we visited, but ‘downstairs’ where the servants worked was open, the area of big houses that we find most interesting. There was a huge iron warming stove covered in lots of flat irons. Apparently it was originally used in a training school for maids.

We were amazed by the huge contraption that was used for wringing out wet clothes.

The copper boiler was huge; I was a bit worried that Nye might fall in.

A laundry maid’s life was very hard, they had to get up at 5am every day to fill the coppers with water using buckets.

The kitchens were very big too, with a huge collection of jelly moulds.

Being in the kitchen made us feel very hungry so we called into the Mansion tea room for a pasty lunch.

Here we are outside The Flight House.

Inside The Flight House there were beautiful stained glass windows.

The River Trent runs through the Estate. We stopped and watched the swans for a while.

Swans always look very serene on the the water.

This is the Chinese House. It is thought to be one of the oldest Chinese style houses built in the UK and dates back to 1746.

The bridge makes an excellent backdrop for a photo of two handsome bears!

Only staff and pigs were allowed through this gate, so I didn’t proceed and further.

The Tamworth pigs came outside to say Hello in pig language, the humans lifted us up so that we could see them.

We wondered why this cow only had one horn. She was expecting a calf soon and staying cool under the shade of the tree.

The dipping pond in the kitchen garden was dry. Gardeners would have used this to fill watering cans. Shugborough was only taken over by National Trust in 2016 and they are still in the process of restoring it.

There were beautiful flowers and vegetables available on the produce table. We thought about having some rhubarb, but being on holiday the humans had already organised our food.

When we got back to the car we sat and enjoyed a rhubarb yogurt each, eating them with rather strange bits of cutlery known as ‘sporks’.

Shugborough is a great place to visit with plenty to explore outside and inside, though we were only able to see the downstairs area as the house and Lichfield apartment are not open on Mondays and Tuesdays at the moment. Please check before you visit!

For more information see https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/shugborough-estate

Horace the Alresford Bear 21/6/2022