We checked out after breakfast and decided that popping into The Shed for a coffee with Anne before heading home was just too lovely an invitation to miss! We found her at work stitching and were made very welcome as we chatted about all sorts. I really hope to be back soon, hopefully for an actual workshop!
After a good couple of hours, we left the motorway in search of our halfway stop. The sat nav took us cross country, and as we drew up to crossroads in a village it looked familiar. We realised we had been here before, in fact bought groceries in that very shop, while we had been aboard Daisy on the Grand Union Canal last year!
Anyway, a little further we got to Canons Ashby which proved another gem.
John Dryden was given the estate by his father-in-law in the C16th and using masonry from the fallen priory buildings, he built the Tower House, a style more usually found further north. The house has been much altered by later Drydens who have lived here for 400 years. The most famous was a later John Dryden who was the first Poet Laureate in 1668.
We only had time for a quick tour of the house, but treasures included a splendid room with this grand fireplace. Apparently at one time it was painted white, at which point the beautiful Delft tiles were added, but now the white paint has been removed, they look a little incongruous but just show another layer in the history of the house.
During restoration in 1990, these painted murals showing a scene from the story of Jeroboam which date to around 1600 were revealed.
Also, rooms which had been used by the family decorated with coats of arms later became the servants dining room!
After tea and cake and a short drive to the M40, we found we were only about an hour from home, so we will definitely be back for a better look.
One last thing, I’ve just finished The Vanished Bride by Bella Ellis in which the Brontë sisters go sleuthing to solve a mystery. I love the way fiction can make history more accessible and having been to the Parsonage, I could imagine them sitting in the dining room talking over their strategy. Bearing in mind the sisters felt themselves just as capable as men given half a chance, I thought storyline seemed perfectly possible and it was a pretty good yarn.
So that’s it, our Yorkshire Tea Break is over, can’t stop to natter, it’s time to get on!
Off Travelling Together 