Autumn setting in

 

A month ago, everything round here was golden. Really. This was just around the corner from my house

 

Then this happened

The harvest was late in this year because it was so wet. For weeks combine harvesters have been everywhere, clogging up the roads in morning rush hour (if such a thing exists here), raising enormous clouds of dust. However late you drove home there would be headlights in the fields as every dry hour was pressed into service. 

 

The stubble faded from deep coppery gold to buff, and now they are being ploughed back to brown and grey.

Sailing away

Last weekend I had a glorious, quintessentially Norfolk experience, of going sailing on the Broads for an entirely wind powered weekend.

 I’m a sucker for beautiful things, so the almost the best part was that we were on two beautiful 1930’s wooden cabin yachts.

We were the most elegant people on the Broads that weekend. And the slowest, as there was hardly any wind, but that just made it more relaxing as we whispered along at well below walking pace. The people who know how to sail in our party (I was more of a passenger/landlubber) exclaimed how much better they sail in light winds than modern yachts. Apparently not having an engine, only a pole to punt if the wind fails, really concentrates the mind.

It is fabulously silent, all we could hear was the whispering reeds along the riverbank and occasional shouts of “ready about” and “helm to lee” and other nautical jargon. (I wasn’t quite prepared for quite the level of special language, which makes it very difficult for the non sailor to help out. What can you do with an instruction to scandalise the forepeak?)

The cushioned benches in the tiny cabin were actually very comfortable to sleep on, and as the boat only had an oil lamp rather than electric lights, it was pretty muchhome from the pub and straight to bed. I woke up early, dying for a wee, to this.

Also the smell of frying bacon wafting across the water.

If you don’t know any sailing geeks, Hunters do a skippered two-hour sail, so you can have a go with someone who knows what they’re doing. Have a look at the Hunters website here, and check the weather. It’s an idyllic ride in sunshine but would be miserable on a cold wet weekend.

 
NB If you’re interested in reading more about art, design and culture in East Anglia, please do follow the blog to its new home at http://flatlanders.co.uk/ – you’ll find more posts on everything interesting happening in the area.
 

Hunter’s Yard,

Horsefen Road, Ludham,

Norfolk NR29 5QG,

United Kingdom 

 

Telephone/Fax: +44 (0)1 692 678 263.

The season runs March to October.

Wimpole Hall Farm and Gardens

 

Espalier apple tree at Wimpole Hall

In the last few sunny weekends of the year, the outdoor parts of Wimpole Hall near Royston are worth a lingering visit, either if you’ve got kids or are enthusiastic about gardening. 

 

I fall into the enthusiastic about gardening category, so I loved the victorian walled kitchen garden. Surrounded by beautifully mellow brick walls with fruit trees trained along the warm surface, it was a riot of vegetables and colourful dahlias when I visited. They have a demonstration greenhouse filled with cordon trained tomatoes, but comfortingly you can also glimpse the enormous modern greenhouse behind the scenes where the real work gets done. 

 

Wimpole Hall

 

 

The entrance to the kitchen garden is a perfect example of formal simplicity which I’d love to reproduce the feeling of in my own garden – it makes the whole experience like visiting a temple to vegetables.

 

They have a variety of home made scarecrows – this one is my favourite.

It seems to have a lovely knowing expression as in knowing where all those birds have gone.

For kids and followers of teh fluff, the farm is a must visit. A riot of baby fluffy and furry things, they are an outpost of the Rare Breeds Survival Trust, and you can see all kinds of breeds of goats, ducks, chickens and pigs, visit the beautifully tiled old dairy and revel in the structure of beautiful barns.

The current series of wooden barns were designed by Sir John Soane as a model farm, and they exude a homely elegance. The biggest one holds an exhibition about food production through the ages at Wimole, but it’s worth a visit for the breathtaking roof construction alone.

 

The big barn

And being National Trust, there are all the tea, cakes and plant sales you could possibly want to round off an afternoon in the pale autumn sunshine.

Wimpole Hall is open every weekend but dates during the week vary. http://www.wimpole.org/

NB If you’re interested in reading more about art, design and culture in East Anglia, please do follow the blog to its new home at http://flatlanders.co.uk/ – you’ll find more posts on everything interesting happening in the area.

Eco sneak peeks

If you’ve ever considered building your own eco-friendly Grand Design you should be in Norfolk next weekend. The Norfolk branch of the Campaign to Protect Rural England is holding four days of Open Houses in a great range of properties around the county.

They run the gamut from eco housing developments to a traditionally built cob house, via converted farm buildings, strawbale structures and an ordinary-looking suburban house with discreet eco add-ons. There is even a beautiful old watermill that has converted its wheel to a micro turbine to generate electricity. Architects, designers and householders will be on hand to talk through what they’ve learned, which could be a really useful resource if you’re contemplating going down this route.

See their flyer here for the range of possibilities and book tours by telephone ASAP as they apparently get booked out very quickly.

 

Thursday 11th – Sunday 14th September – not all properties open on all days  

Book via the Energy Saving Trust on 01733 566910

CPRE Norfolk

http://www.shape-east.org.uk/h_downloads/51.cpre/open_days_brochure.pdf

 NB If you’re interested in reading more about art, design and culture in East Anglia, please do follow the blog to its new home at http://flatlanders.co.uk/ – you’ll find more posts on everything interesting happening in the area.