Wimpole Hall

This Sunday, we decided that we would torture the kids with another one of those excursions to the house of some old dead person with lots of big pictures that no one really cares about. The kids were definitely wrong about this one. While the house fit the kids description as a site that only the grown-ups appreciate, the 2500 acre estate actually has a working farm that turned out to be the treat of the week. The house was built in the mid 1600s but the interesting fact is that the last owner was the daughter of Ruyard Kipling and when she died in 1976, she left it to the National Trust. The grounds were awesome and quite well kept. The estate even comes with its own set of ruins that you can see on the hill between the trees between MJ and John.

Rather then ramble on about all the details that made the kids melt, let's jump to the farm. About a half mile walk from the main house, past a field full of sheep and past a walled garden, is the farm part of the estate. It is a fully functional farm with pigs, cows, horses, goats, sheep, chickens, etc. We got to feed the goats and pet most anything that moved. In case you are wondering, Maggie wanted to take everything home with us. John got to drive the tractor and there was even an adventure park with all kinds of things to swing on. There was even a hay bale maze that was reminiscent of our days back in Indianapolis when we would take the kids to Waterman's Farm to pick pumpkins. Of course, all it takes is a stack of hay bales to entice MJ to climb and jump. We're now glad to be back home where it is warm and cozy. Three of the neighbor kids are over and we're going to laze away the rest of Sunday.