I started this week armed with my Royal Historical Palaces membership
and my newly acquired National Trust membership determined to make use of them. So off I went on a surprisingly warm Monday to visit
the first place on my list; Morden Hall Park.
In my small head I had decided that Morden Hall Park would
of course mean the hall as well, and after not visiting any country manors the
previous week I was really looking forward to poking around some ‘old’ houses. Morden Hall Park is gorgeous with all its lush green grass, trees and
lily pads, no doubt all courtesy of the amount of rain this country gets in a week. The walk up to the
park by the river to the park itself is like something out of a book, a
bit like Kenneth Grahame’s Wind in the Willows I suppose. Sadly to say though that
Morden Hall Manor was not open that day. It is in fact now a restaurant and not
one of those houses that they’ve decorated in period style. I would have poked
around the restaurant regardless, but I was very disappointed to find it was
closed for some reason or another.
The next day I decided I’ll visit Tate Britain, one of the
few free museums/galleries I haven’t been to and the Banqueting House (one of
the places on my Royal Historical Palaces membership). A wise person last week said that you get
tired easily when you travel (even if it is in a bus) because your brain is
stimulated from seeing and hearing so many new things which you wouldn’t
ordinarily see and hear in a day. If that’s the case well then art must over
stimulate my brain because I always seem to get a headache from visiting art galleries.
I still want to learn to paint, I just don’t want to view hundreds of paintings
and art work in a couple of hours.
Once my brain had become overstimulated by the number of
various art on display, I wandered over to the Banqueting House. Or should I
say trekked because it is an awfully long walk past a number of London’s
landmarks. I have to admit I’ve become quite immune to these now and only notice
them because of the number of tourists that mill around them and block my way. By the time I reached the Banquet House it was
closed for the day due to a private function. So back home I went, completely exhausted, with an
enormous headache and extremely disappointed.
Ham House intrigued me because of the name more than
anything else. After two failed attempts to view old houses I didn’t
particularly want to go, but my subconscious brain automatically propelled me on
my merry way. And finally I got to see the inside of a period house! It wasn’t
the most impressive house I’ve seen but at least I could get inside and see it.
I discovered that it has been in a couple of movies too – Sense and Sensibility
(2008) and Never Let Me Go. Not as impressive as Hampton Court being the
Pirates of the Caribbean – On Stranger Tides, but still interesting enough.
So even though I wasn’t all that impressed with Ham House, I’m
glad I preserved in my attempt at being a tourist. It was good to see different
parts of London at least and know that not everywhere is grey and gloomy with some parts actually being quite green and quaint. And there is a part of the
Thames that isn’t polluted, though I still wouldn't swim in it!
