October 2021 Archives

I love Halloween and autumn. I love the colour of the sun against the changing foliage and the crisp fallen leaves under foot. As a child, I enjoyed carving the pumpkins, beautiful ornamental corn and gourds, making scarecrows, and dressing up in a costume to go out into the fading light trick-or-treating. This time of the year is the last "hurrah" before the days become even shorter and the coldness and bareness of winter sets in. There will be dark days filled with holiday lights initially, but then it feels such a long time before the arrival of spring and longer days again. This year, I've been struggling massively, and I've really been unable to enjoy it. Actually, the past few months have been really hard. Am I the only one, or has this whole year felt a little off? Anyway, it's too long to detail here, and I want to focus on Halloween. I found some autumnal treats and decorations around London this weekend. 

Where can I buy autumn decorations in London? The markets are a great place to look. This year, Covent Garden has a pop-up shop where you can purchase your full-sized carving pumpkin or smaller pumpkins, gourds, and squash for display. I also spotted a lot of pumpkins, squash, and gourds on sale at Borough Market.

Where can I see autumn and Halloween decorations? A lot of businesses have been dressing their doors for autumn for the past few years now. The branches of The Ivy restaurant are decorated for the autumn as is Peggy Porschens at both of their branches. Flower shops are also a good place to look too. This year, Annabel's in Mayfair has a creepy clown on display, and its eyes glow. It really is creepy! Balthazar in Covent Garden has also decorated with a demon and gargoyles, and this is lit up in red, which is more frightening at dark. There are many other smaller shops, cafes, restaurants, and businesses that have decorated for autumn and for Halloween. Also look in shop windows, such as Fortnum and Masons, for their Halloween displays! They sell a range of treats.

This brings us to Halloween treats! I don't know where to start here as there are so many places offering Halloween and autumn delights. There's too many to include, so I will just include a few. Of course, there is Humble Crumble in Spitalfields Market that specialises in crumble with all of the toppings. They feature quite often because they always do a seasonal crumble that is photogenic. This year's pumpkin spice crumble is served in a hollowed-out miniature pumpkin, and I had mine with frozen custard and topped with chocolate.

Lola's cupcakes sells cakes and cupcakes with a Halloween theme. I photographed these from their little stand in Selfridges Food Hall.

Doughtnut Time always do seasonal doughnuts, and they have several different flavours for Halloween, including these little green mummies. They also sell vegan ranges. Wheelcake Island, located in Spitalfields Market, also do a seasonal limited-time pumpkin filling for their wheelcakes over the Halloween weekend.

Whipped are selling some seasonal cakes and cookies over the Halloween weekend, including a pumpkin spice cheesecake and pumpkin cookies. Whipped are famous for their cheesecake. Not a cheesecake lover (like me), then you will enjoy their cookies.

Peggy Porschen is always a seasonal hit, and they are offering a chocolate Halloween cupcake, and pumpkin-spiced cupcake topped with pink pumpkins (pictured below). You can also get biscuits from them in different autumn and Halloween forms, and I purchased one of the ghost ones. Their cafe is always well-decorated and is a favourite in London.

Autumn mornings bring the most beautiful sunrises too! I photographed this sunrise a few weeks ago on a cold morning.

I also had a couple of trips to Eastcote House Gardens, which is looking very autumnal at the moment.

Let me know if you've seen any decorations or tasted any fabulous autumn treats in London this Halloween.

I love Halloween, and I have been having a tough time lately, so I booked myself into the Halloween-themed afternoon tea at Hilton Park Lane on Saturday. Afternoon tea is held at The Podium restaurant, and visitors have a choice of an afternoon tea for children (featuring a teddy bear to take home) or the seasonal afternoon tea. Several years ago, I visited Hilton Park Lane for their chocolate-themed afternoon tea (Chocolate-Themed Afternoon Tea at Hilton Park Lane), which I enjoyed despite it being very sweet and very filling. 

The Halloween afternoon tea came with a selection of sandwiches. I also opted for the champagne. Sandwiches include smoked salmon on brioche, coronation chicken with pineapple and raisins on brioche, egg mayonnaise on white, cucumber on brown, and tuna on brown. (I had a special selection as I have a great dislike of mayonnaise and do not eat most meat.)

I had the Darjeeling tea. After the sandwiches were completed and I'd had seconds, the three-tier treats came out.

The treats were organised as "pastries" and "fancies", so let's start with the "fancies". The first one on the top tier was the "Rocky Road Grave Stone with Marsgmallow Cherries". This was a traditional "rocky road" style biscuit with a delicious crunch and flavour with chocolate grave and skull.

The second "fancies" was the Gooey Raspberry Gel in A White Chocolate Mousse. This fancy was covered in coconut with a light mousse filling with jelly and white chocolate slab. It appears to be "blood spattered" with red splats and lines across it. I find white chocolate too sweet, so this one was a little too indulgent for me. 

I'll move on to the "pastries", from left to right in the below photo. First up is the "Blood Orange Log and Chocolate Sponge". For those who love chocolate orange, this one is for you. It is topped with a jack-o-lantern chocolate. I'm on the chocolate-orange haters as it always upsets my stomach, so this one was not for me. 

Next up is the "Spooky Lemon Meringe Cake". I thought this would be my favourite, but the sponge was too dry. This was essentially a lemon drizzle cake with meringue and lemon curd.

The third one is the Caramel Popcorn and Toffee Apple Cake. This cake was moist and had a nice flavour, so I did enjoy this.

The final pastry was the "Pumpkin and Dark Chocolate Choux". This pastry reminded me of an orange pumpkin with a spider web on top. I did not taste "pumpkin", though, and I thought it tasted more of chocolate.

The scones included a set of three toppings: salted caramel, clotted cream, and strawberry jam. Two of the scones were plain, and I also had a chocolate chip one and a raisin one. They were delicious and light.

Overall, it was a nice afternoon tea experience, though I was kept waiting around at times.

Previous Halloween afternoon teas on this blog:

Halloween afternoon tea at Waddesdon Manor
Halloween Afternoon Tea at Corinthia

Previous afternoon tea at Hilton Park Lane:

Chocolate-Themed Afternoon Tea at Hilton Park Lane

Southampton-based Whimsical Kitchen is owned by Jackie, and she creates marshmallow treats. Whimsical Kitchen started in October 2016 and sold at local markets. One of the popular products is rainbow-coloured marshmallows. In 2019, Whimsical Kitchen became very popular, and this trend continued in 2020 with the pandemic. I've been following Whimsical Kitchen since the spring of 2019 and kept failing to order treats until a week or two into October 2020. I ordered rainbow marshmallows, pastel rainbow marshmallows, and a couple of Halloween marshmallows.

The products are Instagram-able! However, you will need a larger cup as the marshmallows are very large! I only had standard-sized cups at the time, so the marshmallows did not really fit. I purchased a large mug in November, but I've not been quick enough to purchase more of the marshmallows since! D'oh!

One of the Halloween marshmallows was a large (too-large-for-the-cup) marshmallow of Jack Skelton from "A Nightmare Before Christmas".

The other item that I was able to order was the candy corn marshmallows. The marshmallows look like the popular American sweet called candy corn, but they do not taste like it; they are vanilla marshmallows cut into a triangular shape, such as the sweet.

I managed to purchase some additional items in advance of Halloween 2021. I purchased "Oh Bloody Hell" chocolate-covered marshmallow in a red velvet flavour, a biscoff chocolate marshmallow bomb, mini marshmallow pumpkins, a pumpkin "tart", a vanilla "tart", Pumpkin whipped marshmallow, and a Eyeball Screwball whipped marshmallow inspired by the sweets. The biscoff one tasted amazing in my hot chocolate! "Oh Bloody Hell" was good, but it was such a pain to eat as the marshmallow kept running out, and the chocolate was very thick on one side.

In February of this year, I ordered some new products as they were doing more chocolate-covered marshmallows, and I love chocolate-covered marshmallows. I ordered a delicious biscoff marshmallow-chocolate on a stick, two packets of the mint and chocolate marshmallows, biscoff marshmallows, sour apple marshmallows, and a white chocolate ice cream marshmallow bar. The only one that I was not too keen on was the sour apple, though I think I should have had it toasted. I was also able to try out the new cup that I purchased last Christmas.

In June, whipped marshmallow was the rage. I tried the whipped marshmallow flavours released. I had Mini Eggs, Hippo, Squashie, Banana, and a toffee flavour.

The marshmallows are delicious and much better than what you can buy in a shop. I hope that I am quick enough in order to purchase more.

West London contains an unexpected gem a ten-minute walk from Perivale tube station on the Central line. Just north of the tube station is Horsenden Hill, a wooded and pastured hill with walking trails, roaming cattle, a bakery, canalside walks, and more. Horseden Hill almost feels as though it is not a part of London. A colleague recommended Horseden Hill bakery (known as Horsenden Loaf) during the lockdown in early March this year, and I visited it for the first time in March. At that time, it was open on Wednesday mornings and Saturday mornings, and I had some time off to use, so I visited it on the Wednesday. After the lockdown ended, the opening days were changed to Saturdays and Sundays. 

Horsenden Loaf bakery and ovens were built in 2019 with the grand opening in December of that year. Then, the pandemic hit, and the bakery had to be closed for a week due to the lack of flour. However, they were able to open and have been trading since - selling bread, doughnuts, jams, and other items. The bakery produces small-batch items, and they sell items until everything sells out.

On my first visit, I bought a loaf of bread, biscuits, and doughnuts. The bread really is the best.

The items are sold at Horsenden Farm, and there is parking below, though the road up to it and the bridge over the canal is narrow.

The second visit to Horsenden Hill was made by tube at the start of October, and I purchased the cheese and onion flat bread, which is comparable to a pizza. I also purchased another loaf of bread, a filled cream doughnut, a brownie, a cookie, biscuits, and a cinnamon swirl bun. In addition to the bread, the cookie and brownies are also delicious. The brownies are gooey and chocolate-y instead of like cake. I am picky about my brownies as it seems that the British do not do a great job of baking them, and I was pleasantly surprised that Horsenden Loaf does an amazing brownie!

On my latest visit, I had a walk through Horsenden Hill to the "Gruffalo Trail". I thought that I'd check it out. The trail is short and stays around the farm in a loop walk, and it can be walked in thirty minutes easily. Along the way, visitors will see wooden sculptures of the characters in the "Gruffalo" books.

I did do a short diversion off of the trail as it was not very well sign-posted where it loops around, and this led up a pastured hill. There are cattle that roam here. I saw two older calves. They were more interested in grazing than the visitors.

The trail loops back around through the wooded area where visitors can spy the other sculptures before coming face-to-face with the title character itself.

The wooden sculptures include a mouse, a snake, a fox, an owl, and the "Gruffalo" monster.

Based in southeast London, Cat Food Cakes are cakes made by Cat, not for cats. Each month, baker Cat creates a themed subscription box of a mixture of different treats. October's box, which was shipped last Thursday, has a Halloween theme and features the smells and tastes of the autumn. There is a nice mixture of items in the box, including a special Halloween-themed gift. 

The Halloween box included the following:

Spiced Pumpkin Cake Pot: The spiced pumpkin sponge comes with salted caramel and graham cracker and cream cheese buttercream.

S'mores Brownie: This is a dark chocolate brownie with marshmallow and graham cracker.

Caramel Apple Blondie: This white chocolate blondie has caramel and apple slices. I was happy that it did not taste like white chocolate. It was delicate and delicious.

Chocolate Orange Fudge Pop: This fudge pop is chocolate orange fudge encased in chocolate. This one was not for me. Chocolate orange is a flavour that does not agree with me at all. 

Coconut Ghost Marshmallow: This handmade marshmallow is made with coconut puree and is perfect to add on top of hot chocolate.

Halloween spatula: I received the puple monster spatula, but other ones included a cat, pumpkin, mummy, ghost, Frankenstein, and other Halloween icons.

The box also included a recipe card for chocolate orange fudge.

London is currently hosting a four-meter tall Syrian refugee puppet in the form of a nine-year old girl, and this art and performance project aims to bring awareness to the many innocent lives that are caught up fleeing their home lands due to conflict, prosecution, and other bad situations. Little Amal was created by Handspring Puppet Company, and they are the group responsible for creating the horse puppets in "War Horse". Little Amal has arrived in the United Kingdom for a few days on the last leg of her journey that took her from the Syrian border across Turkey, Greece, Italy, France, Switzerland, Germany, and Belgium. She is missing her family. 

Little Amal was in the south of England on Friday, and she started Saturday morning off at St. Paul's Cathedral where she was welcomed by Londoners. A brass band played for her, and choirs sang. One of the priests (or ministers) from St. Paul's Cathedral welcomed Little Amal in a mesage, and a letter was read from Little Amal, and she presented a gift to the cathedral. 

A large crowd turned out to meet her.

Little Amal climbed the steps of the cathedral and knocked on the huge door, which was opened for her to go inside. She then joined in singing and dancing.

Little Amal then continued her journey from St. Paul's across the Thames via the Millennium footbridge where she was scheduled to participate and meet more people from Shakespeare's Globe theatre. I got to follow her in this short snippet of her journey.

Little Amal became tired of walking and rested for a minute or two.

She stopped to smell roses in front of the cathedral.

Flags greeted Amal on her journey down to the river where she would walk across the bridge. No one else was permitted to go onto the Millennium Bridge with Little Amal, so we had to wait for her to get safely across. (I assume this is due to the bridge being narrow and wobbly, and it would not be very safe for the handlers.)

I was surprised at the number of people who had come out to see Little Amal, and it really was a treasure. I was not able to follow her for long because of a long gap at Shakespeare's Globe, but others who arrived later would have followed her along the South Bank and up Westminster Bridge (which was, incidentally, the same walk that I made to on my way).

As I stopped on the Millennium Bridge looking at Shakespeare's Globe, Little Amal waved. 

Little Amal will be in London all day today (Sunday, October 23, 2021) and will then visit Oxford and Manchester and probably a few other stops along the way.

Readers of my blog may remember posts about the giant puppets in Liverpool, which you can see here:

Giant Spectacle Marionettes in Liverpool 'Memories of 1914' Commemorate World War 1
Giants Parade through Liverpool

I visited Melford Hall at the end of a long weekend in Suffolk at the start of September, and the weather was beautiful on my visit. Melford Hall's history is a varied one; it was home to medieval monks before the Hyde Parker family came into possession of it. The family still live in the house. One of its claims to fame is its connection with Beatrix Potter.

When I visited, we had a really good guide who gave us in-depth history of the house and told us about the 1942 fire. The fire was started by soldiers who had requisitioned the hall during the war. The fire destroyed one of the wings of the hall, and it was rebuilt. Originally, the site of the hall was a medieval building held by abbots of the Bury St. Edmunds monastery. The hall was primarily built in the 16th century and incorporated these medieval rooms into its layout.

The entrance to the manor opens into the Great Hall, which is thought to be the oldest part of the house.

A guest book is signed by Beatrix Potter with a little drawing of a clothed rabbit.

Off of the Great Hall (on the right), is the entrance to the wing that burned in the 1942 fire that the soldiers started in the upstairs floor when they decided to pick a lock to play cards and smoke. The wing was rebuilt, and the rooms are not nearly as lavish.

Additional rooms include the parlour and library.

Up the stairs at the top of the stairs is the boudoir, which was created for the wife as a wedding present.

It is a small room with chandelier, piano, mirrors, and several seats.

The upstairs hallway contains some paintings and stained glass windows, such as the one below that features Elizabeth I.

Further along the hallway are additional bedrooms for nursery and guests.

The connection with Beatrix Potter to the house is via a cousin of the family. She frequented the hall from the late-1800s. The below room is where Beatrix Potter stayed during her visits. Some of these upstairs rooms contain her drawings.

The original Jemima Puddle-duck is on display in the house, and these were Potter's toys that helped her make her drawings. This one was a gift to the Hyde Parker children. Potter often brought animals with her, and the children loved to see them.

There are quite a lot of Potter's illustrations around the house.

Further along is one of the main bedrooms.

There are some lovely views over the grounds from the upper windows.

Near the exit and cafe is a series of Potter's drawings of different items or areas around Melford Hall. Her studies of different objects helped her in her illustrations, and visitors may recognise many that she used in her illustrations.

A garden room or gate house could also be visited, and it sits at one corner of the garden.

National Trust have been managing the property since 1960, and it was first opened to the public in 1955. It is a pleasant visit, but the property has few opening hours for the house. I would recommend a visit if you are in the area.

A trail of elephants have come to the city of Worcester for ten weeks during the summer. Each of the elephants has been painted or designed by an artist. The elephants were on display across the city from the middle of July unti, the beginning of September, and I went to visit them at the end of August. The elephants are part of Wild In Art trails, and their purpose is to raise charity for St. Richard's Hospice. An elephant design was chosen to represent the trail due to the elephant's memory, and the trail hopes that visitors will remember their fun looking for them for many years.

"Inky the Elephant" - Helen Haynes

"Alex the Cleaniphant" - Shilpi Sharma

"The Pears" - Sue Guthrie

"Azalea" - MrASingh and "Silverella" - Lena Kibbler

"Lucy Lavdender" - Lissie Art

"Zentangle" - Neil Morris

"Worcester in Porcelain" - Alice Pickworth

"Dare to Bee Different" - Betti Moretti

"Muddy Walks" - Sophia Wolsey and "Wild World" - Rachel and PhillippaCorcutt

"The Gardener" - Rachael and Phillippa Corcutt and "The Elephant Tree" - Marinie Mauri

"Sundar" - MrASingh

"Jackson" - Cherrie Mansfield

"Strawberrelephant" - Matthew Smith and "Global Warming" - INKIE

"Hive in the Mind" - Jess Perrin

"It's What's Inside that Counts" - Sian Ellis

"Woolyphant" - Reilly Creative

"Life's Snakes and Ladders" - Sally Adams and "What's the Elephant in the Room" - DRPG Creative Team

"Leave the Herd Behind" - Kathleen Smith

"The Panda" - Steve Johnson

"We Are the Music Makers" - Sophie Handy

"Porcelain Elephant" - Amy Bourbon

"An Elephant Never Forgets" - Katie Hodgetts

"Wellyphant" - Sarah Roberts

"Ash" - Popbangcolour Ian Cook

"Sundown Stroll" - Kristina Butigan

"Inky the Elephant" - Helen Haynes

I really enjoyed my visit to Worcester at the end of August to see the elephant trail, and walking the trail in sunny weather was the perfect day.

Today's post covers a visit with neighbours to Arens Bar and Restaurant in Ruislip where we enjoyed bottomless brunch. Except not everyone liked Prosecco, and the whole table must have the same menu. So, we ordered brunch and I ordered a bottle of Prosecco as I would not have wanted more than a bottle anyway, and I spied a special Halloween cocktail on the menu and ordered it too. I had previously visited the Arens restaurant in Eastcote for Sunday lunch, but they are no longer in that venue now and have moved to Ruislip. (You can read about that here.)

So, we could choose our own brunches, but between booking over two months ago and actually visiting, they had removed the waffles and pancakes from the bottomless brunch option, and three days before the booking, they raised the price by an extra five pounds. *Crying* So, I went with a full English breakfast. I don't like sausages, baked beans, nor black pudding, so they substituted those. The breakfast was very tasty. There were many other items on the menu for the brunch - the various egg dishes that always are popular, halloumi, salmon, and burgers. They also came with a selection of Danish pastries.

The Halloween cocktail was super-strong! I prefer a fruiter "I cannot taste the alcohol" cocktail, and this one really made me tipsy. It was dry gin over ice and Chambord in a syringe! It came with a gummy eyeball, and it just looked super creepy. The crushed ice looked like brains with the red Chambord.

The Arens in Ruislip is more like a bar with a large outside area with many tables. I imagine that it does get very busy in the evenings. It's not the same atmosphere as the Eastcote branch had with its chandeliers, mirrors, and luxury black granite and silver "feel". To get into the autumn mood, orange and white foilage and pumpkins were dotted around. 

Afternoon Tea at Arens was always on my "to do" list, but they seem to have removed this now. Maybe they will bring it back, but I would return for the brunch or their Sunday roasts again. I had ordered one of their Sunday roasts during the lockdown when they were doing the takeaway. Overall, it was a great afternoon out.

On 20th September this year, Nine Elms and Battersea Power Station stations on the Northern Line of London Underground opened. Battersea Power Station is the end of the line on the branch, allowing people to get to this part of London easier. In the past decade, the old power station and the area around it has been converted into flats. Nine Elms is just up the road in an area that has been transformed from warehouses, older buildings, and vacant ground into a new hub of flats, workplaces, and the U.S. Embassy. In 2019, the company that I had accepted to work for were busy creating a new office here, and we were expecting to work here from June of 2020. 

I visited the new office once toward the end of August for a meeting and then again toward the end of September, just before the line was open. At the beginning of the month, I visited the office again and had a chance to use the Northern Line extension at Nine Elms. Here are some glimpses of the escalator and the platform. The platforms are wide and open so that you have both directional trains running along the same platform with plenty of space. The design is similar to any new underground or overground station built in the past twenty years; it reminded me of Canada Water or Canary Wharf but without the protective doors along the rails.

The whole area of Nine Elms between Vauxhall and Battersea Power Station is still a construction site. To get to Embassy Gardens, there is a scaffolded walkway along New Covent Garden Market and underneath a mainline rail bridge. 

The first building seen when crossing underneath the rail-line is towering buildings with a unique building at the end of the road. This is the new U.S. Embassy, which was moved from Grosvenor Square. It's not an attractive building. Surrounding it are fountains and water features, some cafes or restaurants, residential blocks, a small children's play area, and offices.

The new office is on one side of the embassy with reconstructed wetland and a miniature park. There is currently construction taking place on both sides of the building.

One of the new residential towers has gained a lot of press because it has a swimming pool with a glass ceiling suspended in mid-air between the two buildings.

The area around the embassy looks quite attractive, and I can see it being busy when more people go into the offices and when more of Nine Elms has been constructed. 

Someone asked me what was here (at Nine Elms) before they built over it. I remember it being filled with older buildings, ware-house type buildings and shops, residential areas, and empty land. I did not need to visit here as there was nothing really to visit. Maybe one of my readers can answer that a bit better.

My visit to Landguard Fort in Felixstowe took place at the beginning of September, and the Suffolk Regiment Living History Society were hosting events at the fort and demonstrating the life of soldiers and firearms and grenades, so it was a great atmosphere in addition to lovely sunny weather. This fort is well worth a visit because of its varied history; its history dates from the 1500s and up until the Cold War. It is a Grade I listed building, and there is so much to explore.

The fort was originally known as Langer Fort, and it was first built around 1540. In 1667, the Dutch landed 2,000 men on the beach at Felixstowe in attempt to sieze the fort. There is a reconstruction of this battle on video at the fort. The Dutch were held back by 500 men at Felixstowe. A new fort was built in 1717 and remodelled later on for additional security and defense. 

During the second World War, the fort was used as a balloon launch site. Hydrogen-filled balloons with steel wires intended to damage power lines in Germany were launched.

In addition to exploring the rooms in the fort, visitors can see some items and interact with some of these displays.

The showers, baths, and sinks were the first set of rooms to explore.

There are various anti-aircraft guns and cannons around the site.

The cobbler's shop was one of the rooms as mending shoes was highly important to the life at the fort. Apparently, the glue used to mend the shoes smelled really bad because it was made from animal byproducts.

The mining room and area was next to explore. The mining room was built at the end of the 1800s for submarines to protect the estuary. The mines would have been transported by a narrow tram onto the jetty with adapted boats used to fit them to the submarines. A couple of these deactivated mines are on display as they were previously used as buoys at Ipswich.

The room below is one of the entries into the magazines. The soldiers had to de-robe and put on special clothing and boots for handling the weapons. Their usual boots may have created sparks, so the spcial uniform prevented this.

The magazine is below, and it was used for storing gunpowder, ammunition, and shells. Shells and cartridges had special lifts to put them on the top level with a pulley.

An example of one of the cartridge lifts is below.

The soldiers gave a demo to us on firearms and grenades.

Fire buckets are located around the site for safety reasons. In this section is the fort clock - the Landguard fort clock. My photograph did not come out very well as it is behind glass and behind a door. It was made in 1747, and it has to be wound every eight days.

The middle of the fort contains living quarters and offices. Today, it contains a gift shop and 1940s vintage tea room.

Opposite the living area are some of the important rooms, such as the control room.

Telecommunications was important, and visitors could try their luck with the morse machines. There are a few rooms to look at here for radar, radio, and other telecommunications.

Various offices are set up, but most of the rooms were shut. Visitors could only peer through a window for a glimpse of the interior of the rooms.

The commanding officials had their own toilets.

The 1940s tea room serves drinks and snacks to visitors.

The barracks is set up in another room, and eight men would have been in one room.

The Suffolk Regiment completed some marching around the fort for the remaining visitors at the end of the day.

The last room to see was an office and the prison cell, which leads off of the office. The cell was for soldiers who needed disciplined for being late, drunkeness, gambling, fighting, and so on.

I was not sure what to expect at Landguard Fort, but I really enjoyed my visit. There is so much to see here, and it is all very interesting as it spans different centuries, and the rooms are like a maze with little expectation of what awaits around the corner.

Moseley Old Hall in Staffordshire was built around 1600 by a wealthy wool merchant and Roman Catholic Henry Pitt. Pitt died a couple of years later and was passed to his daughter Alice Whitgreave. The house is the most famous for hiding King Charles II from Cromwell's troops after he fled from the Battle of Worcester in 1651. The bed that the king slept in and a priest hole where he hid is located at the property. We had an amazing tour guide who told us the history of the property. 

The house was on the main road at the time, but it is now firmly in the countryside and down a lane. The exterior of the house was changed in the late 1800s as it was in poor condition.

The first room toured is the kitchen, and it was used for food preparation and brewing. The escaped king would have had a meal prepared from here and met with the priest of the house (as the family were Roman Catholic).

Up the stairs is a priest hole where King Charles II hid when the troops came to look for him. The priest hole is near to the room Charles II stayed in, and it is only 5 foot by 4 foot. Charles II was 6' 2".

The room that King Charles II stayed in contains the original bed he slept in. Charles II was only 21 at the time. He was given food to eat in front of the fire here, and the priest washed his feet as they were cut from shoes that were too small. The king was also given new clothes and caught up with his old friend at the house. 

The room next to the king's bedroom also contains a window that looks out and over the main road. The soldiers were seen arriving on the road, which gave notice for the king to hide.

The last space to visit was closed, but it is the attic. The attic holds a chapel and servant's quarters. It also contains look-out areas to watch for anyone arriving at the house. The items in the chapel could be quickly hidden in case someone came to look for anyone practicing Catholicism. Hopefully, the attic will be reopen again soon.

Downstairs is the Great Hall, which was the most luxurious room in the house to show off the wealth and power. We were given an introduction to the room and the placements of the table. The best chair, cutlery, plates, were reserved for the head of the house. The hierarchy of tableware descended from there with the servants eating from wooden plates. The salt, which was an expensive item, was reserved for the head of the table

The staircase leads up from the Hall.

The Parlour was the last room to visit. It contains a dispay cabinet with Charles II's signature in a letter to the house.

The final room was for the exit, and it has not been decorated up.

After visiting the house, I had a quick walk around the gardens. The knot garden is re-created from 17th century gardens, and it was being maintained during my visit.

Moseley Old Hall was given to the National Trust in 1962, and it did not include furniture. The house needed a lot of work done to protect it, and these works were completed in 1981. It's well worth a visit, and the volunteers are very knowledgeable and give a lot of information on the property.

Craft Gin Club sends members a full-sized bottle of gin with mixers, snacks, and the magainze "Ginned!" each month to subscribers. The magazine contains a wealth of information on the "gin of the month" as well as special gin-inspired features and cocktails. For October, the month's features are extra special with Halloween on its way. This month's gin is made in Galway, Ireland, and is from Micil Distillery. Micil Distillery is the first legal distillery in Galway since 1911; the family has 170 years of distilling. Micil Distillery Spiced Orange Gin is the gin of the month, and it has been created as a special edition for Craft Gin Club. The ingredients of the gin are from Galway with additional orange flavours. 

Personally, the gin of the month was not my favourite this time, but the subscription box allows me to discover brands that I like. In addition to the gin, subscribers receive a selection of mixers and snacks. 

Troughtons Raising Spirits Premium Indian Tonic is the tonic provided to pair with the Micil Distillery Spiced Orange gin for a simple gin and tonic. Troughtons is made using spring water from County Armagh.

Garnishes of blood orange and cardamon are provided in this month's box to add to the gin and tonic.

A miniature bottle of Angostura Orange Bitters is included to create cocktails in the recipes in the magazine.

This month, subscribers will receive a snack of Pipers Pitta Chips in either the Sweet Chilli and Sour Cream flavour or the Garlic and Herb flavour. I received the sweet chilli and sour cream; I am not fond of sour cream flavour of crisps, so it wasn't one that I'd try again. Pipers have been making crisps since 2004.

We also received a mixer in the subscription box this month - The Soho Juice Co mixer in the blood orange, raspberry and ginger flavour. The cans are plastic-free, and the ingredients are free from artificial preservatives. A recipe in the magazine uses this mixer.

Gnaw Irish Cream Milk Chocolate hand-crafted chocolate bar was another snack in the box, and the chocolate is a creamy texture with a hint of Irish Cream. This was paired with one of the cocktails, and the sweetness complimented the spicy orange gin.

One of the feature mixers in the box is Bibite Polara Green Mandarin, a bright green mixer and perfect for creating Halloween cocktails. Bibite has been making mixers in Sicily for 60 years, and this had a gorgeous flavour. This is also paired with the Banshee Cocktail Syrup, created by Craft Gin Club, to create the monthly cocktail, which is a bright green colour this month!

The final snack this month is from Devon-based Burts Hand-Cooked Potato Chips. The flavour, in keeping with the Irish theme, is Guinness. 

Audley End House, located in Essex, dates from the 17th century, and it is one of the best Jacobean houses in England. The existing house is only a third of its original size, and it is under management of English Heritage. It was the site of Walden Abbey monastery, and the abbey was converted into a house by Thomas Audley, who was given it by Henry VIII. Elizabeth I visited the house in 1578, and the house was demolished in place of a grander one for entertaining James I, but the cost of the building may have been stolen from the king as the family were found guilty of embezzlement. Charles II bought the house for a royal palace but gave it back to the disgraced Suffolks in 1701. I visited the house in early September.

Capability Brown sculpted the parkland and created monuments for it, and the walled garden and kitchen garden were restored in 2000 to appear as it would have done in Victorian times. It was opened by Prince Charles. The garden contains 120 apple varities of apple.

A tour of the house was first on the agenda. The house contents still belong to the last family to inherit the house, the Barons Braybrooke, and photography inside the house is not permitted. The house contains a great collection of items and paintings with a stunning great Hall. The nursery was interesting and covered with multiple rooms, and adjacent is the coal room, which is a feature that I had not seen in a mansion before. The coal was used to heat water.

After the visit to the house, I explored the formal gardens, which are beautiful.

Next to the house are a couple of working buildings: the creamery and the laundry. The creamery showed how milk was transformed into cream and butter.

The laundry mentioned how clothing would be washed. Both of these tasks are completed without too much effort in today's world, but they would have required much effort and been very manual in past ages.

The grounds at Audley End are extensive, but I did not get to explore them on this visit, sadly, but as the whole house was not yet open, I will return at some point anyway and know what to expect.

The walled garden is a short walk away from the house.

A lot of vegetables and fruits were growing and ripening during my visit, and there are some beautiful flowers.

I will definitely be visiting Audley End house at some point in the future. There is so much to see and do here, and I suggest that visitors plan half at day (at least) to make a visit.

Three weeks ago, I went to check out this year's Frieze Sculpture festival in Regent's Park. Normally, Frieze Sculpture takes place in Regent's Park every July through October and brings many visitors to the park to enjoy visiting the free artwork. Last year, it was held in October, and this year, it arrived in September. This year, the theme is on powerful structures and environmental concerns.

"Pineapple" - Rosie Wylie

Wylie has been creating pineapples since 2013, and this large white and red sculpture of a pineapple invites visitors into the Regent's Park area.

"Meditation Tree" - Ibrahim El-Salahi

The artist was inspired by the Haraza Tree and uses the tree series of sculptures to investigate the body and tree metaphor that links earth and the heavens.

"Stack 9 Ultramarine Blue" - Annie Morris

This series of bronze organic sphere shapes have been painted and stacked on top of each other and sybolises a balance of motherhood and belonging.

"Lovers in The Regents Park" - Rasheed Araeen

These prisms interlock in different ways and symbolises a minimum shape and form.

"Event Horizon" - Stoyan Dechev

Thundercloud and lightning has multiple symbols in society and mythology.

"Environment de Transchromie Circulaire" - Carlos Cruz-Diez

This uses semi-transparent coloured shapes to encourage interaction and changes to the sculpture by the landscape and other visitors around it whilst observing it. The colours and shapes change.

"Quantum Shift" - Gisela Colon

The large sculpture appears to be not of this earth with the shape and reflection; it appears as if an alien creature. The artist uses classic shapes to create futuristic energy.

"Palanquin" - Anthony Caro

This sculpture appears as a room or bus stop with its interior space. It encourages the viewer to interact with it.

"Untitled" - Tatiana Wolska

This artist's sculptures are on display in two areas in London this year; they are also on display at Sculpture in the City (see my post about Sculpture in the City 2021 here). The artwork is light-weight and has an organic biomorphic form to be placed into the urban or natural environment to highlight plastic waste. The sculpture appears to be living.

"Untitled" - Hose Pedro Croft

This large-scale sculpture includes several rectangular planes of different colour placed against each other. Some of them are solid colours, and some of them are semi-transparent and create their own shapes. They appear to hold each other up.

"Fragment of Serpentine Pavilion for Frieze Sculpture Pak, 2021" - Counterspace

I did not visit the Serpentine Pavilion this year or the past few years. The fragment represents places of meeting and belonging across London.

"Muamba Grove" - Vanessa Da Silva

These shapes appear as though they are organic almost-human forms. Unfortunately, there was someone playing guitar in the middle of the sculptures, so I could not get a better photograph of these playful-looking sculptures.

"Play Sculpture" - Isamu Nogughi

This sculpture is made from sewer pipes. It reminds me of red lips.

"Biosgimature Preservation" - Jorge Otero-Pailos

This sculpture is made from security fencing that surrounded the U.S. Embassy in Oslo and highlights the militarisation of public spaces caused by 9/11.

"Untitled" - Solange Pessoa

These "stones" appear natural, and they are part of the artist's "Skull" series.

"Induk Monster" - Yunizar

These bronze sculptures appear as creatures - natural but man-made at the same time.

There was one sculpture on the map that has not been placed, and I am not sure if it will actually be placed. So, don't worry if you cannot locate all of the sculptures. There is also another "sculpture" that will only be placed during Frieze week for visitors to interact with.

This wraps it up for Frieze Sculpture in Regent's Park for 2021. For previous years, see my posts below:

Frieze Sculpture 2020
Frieze Sculpture 2019
Frieze Sculpture 2018
Frieze Art Fair 2017

When I was in Leicester at the end of August this year, I noticed a wonderful mural of foxes and a trophy. The artwork is by street artist SMUG (also known as Smug One), Sam Bates. SMUG is based in Glasgow but was born in Australia. There are several murals by SMUG in Leicester, and the newest one is the mural off Walnut Street, which appears to be on the side of a club or pub. 

The mural actually celebrates Leicester City's win against Chelsea, which won them the FA Cup. Leicester City are known as "The Foxes".The blue and yellow are the colours of the team. Apparently, they used to play here.

The mural was painted in July of this year. There is additional football-related street art around the area.

Seventeen hog sculptures have been placed around Basingstoke to help support local businesses and to get people back into the city. Known as Hampshire Hogs, the sculptures were placed in mid-August and were on the streets until mid-October. I saw them in early October on a visit back to the city that I lived and worked in for nearly ten years, but by the time that I saw them, many had been either taken off the streets of encased indoors or behind ropes because people had been damaging them. Walking out of my way to visit a sculpture that had been removed due to damage was disheartening.

I was still able to see a few of the seventeen hog sculptures. Some of the sculptures depict imagery relevant to Basingstoke.

"Down and Town" - Samantha Emmons

"Sea Sweetie" - Katy Stevens

"Di Vyne" - Mary Chatburn

"Sunbeam" - Sian Storey

"Winton" - Amy Goodman

"Flower Power Pig" - Rachel Davis

"Tommy the Hog" - Catherine Knighton

"The Elves of War Memorial Park" - Liam Kelleher

"Heritage Hog" - Students of BCoT

I have previously covered artwork by street artist Voyder in London, and this is the first time I have seen the artist's work outside London. In 2019, Voyder collaborated with other street artists in a street art festival in Leicester called "Bring the Paint". The artist produced two murals for the event. One of the murals is on Calais Hill, a bit of a boring street with a parking garage and not much else. The other one is located in an area with a lot of street art, Midland Street.

The Calais Hill mural features what appears to be a blurry ghost image duplicated and layered with different colours. Over the top of the image is the artist's trademark "Voyder" tag in script text. It appears to be tagged over the image in spray paint. 

The other mural shows a portrait of a Superman-esque man with the background of sky and a broken wire fence with the text "all you see is crime in the city" grafitti on a building. The artist's tag can be made out underneath the portrait. Cars had parked in front of the mural as it is in a parking area, so getting a great photograph was not possible.

I discovered both murals in the summer of 2021, and they were both in good shape.

More work by Voyder on this blog can be seen here:

Halloween Street Art (2018 and 2019)
Meeting of Styles Wall 2018
Bristol Upfest 2015

Over 1,800 acres make up the Ickworth estate in Suffolk, which has been managed by the National Trust since 1998. Ickworth House is the neoclassical building on site, and part of the building is a museum today, and part of it is a luxury hotel. The house was built in the early 1800s, and it was built as an art gallery. Unfortunately, the owner's collection was taken by Napoleon.

The estate was given to the National Trust in 1956 with a 99-year lease on the 60-room east wing. The lease was sold in 1998 to the National Trust, and it is now run as The Ickworth Hotel. The west wing at Ickworth was left uncompleted until 2006 with a partnership as a centre for conferences and events.

The rotunda, the main part of the house, started renovation in 2019. The house was built from inspiration of an Italian design. Friezes are located around the rotunda.

The items on display are changed from time to time, and there is a collection of paintings, silver, and porcelain.

In the entrance hall, which is looking dark at the moment due to the scaffolding still in place, is a statue depicting "The Fury of Athamas", a Greek story about a man killing his son.

A few of the rooms were open to either peek inside or walk around, but the majority of the house was not yet fully open to the public. 

After looking around the house, I explored the formal gardens, which do look beautiful in the sun.

I then decided to go on a wander to see the lake and walled garden. On the way to it is St. Mary's Church. I peeked inside to have a look before continuing on my way.

The walled garden is primarily empty today. It did have some fruit trees. There is a large lake at the bottom.

I resumed my walk around the estate, which led me through woodland and bordering pastures and meadows of grazing sheep. 

The path led me through a pasture amongst the grazing sheep, but there was not a clear way to exit the pasture for some reason, and I had to climb over a locked fence. I must have taken a wrong turn somewhere, but I did not see any other place to go. 

Ickworth is a remote place, and there are some decent walks here, but the house/museum seemed a bit cold and dark to me. It felt as if it lacked "soul", which is strange because it is a highly-decorated building and certainly built to look luxurious. It just felt like it was missing something to me. I will have to re-visit it at some point; a lot of the house was locked down, and the dark entrance hall (due to scaffolding) probably was not the best for the house to show off.

Castle Kennedy Gardens is one of the garden highlights of Dumfries and Galloway in Scotland with beautiful landscaped gardens, the ruins of a castle and the grounds of a newer castle on the edge of lakes. Castle Kennedy (the castle) dates from the 1607 and was a mansion house built on the site of a 14th century castle. It is located between the white loch and the black loch. The newer castle, known as "castle of the inch" (Lochinch) was built in the 1860s. The gardens are inspired by Versailles. 

Castle Kennedy burnt down in the early 1700s, and the ruins were used as a focal point for the new formal gardens that were created in the 1730s. No photographs of Castle Kennedy before the fire exist today. In the 1860s, Lochinch Castle was built as a Scottish-style castle. The family still own the estate, but the gardens are open to the public. The location of the gardens from the sea means that the temperature is mild all year, so rhododendrons and other plants that normally do not like the Scottish weather thrive here.

During my visit in late July, the Tin Van Pizza was selling fresh pizzas. I enjoyed a pizza, and it was very delicious. Afterwards, I had a slice of blueberry cake from the little cafe and tea room on site. I actually had to take this one away with me because the pizza was so filling.

One of the best parts of the garden to explore in July and August is the walled garden, which is located next to the ruins of Castle Kennedy. The castle ruins cannot be entered.

On the other side of the gardens, with views spanning down a hill toward the lake, are avenues of mature trees of different varieties.

The gardens are landscaped with various focal points in different directions.

In the valley is a round pond filled with lilies.

The grounds expand off toward the direction of Lochinch Castle, and Monkeypuzzle Avenue is one of the highlights of the garden with mature monkypuzzle trees on both sides. I'm personally not fond of these types of trees (or pine trees generally), but they are unique.

At the end of the tree avenue are stretching views of Lochinch Castle, built in the mid-1800s and currently lived in by the estate owner. This castle is not open for visits, but visitors can walk closer to the castle and in some of the grounds, but the majority of the grounds is off limits to visitors.

From the viewpoint is also lovely views of the lake, and a little further along reveals the other lake. Belted Galloway cattle graze in the distance.

I had a wander around the castle grounds in the area permitted.

After seeing Lochinch Castle, I walked back along the top of the landscaped gardens, which are really beautiful with lake views. The sun was attempting to shine, and I can imagine the gardens looking more spectacular in the sunshine.

There are so many vantage points and areas of interest. 

The little bridge crosses a small vallley with rhododendrons underneath it and views over the round pond.

An expansive view of landscaped garden brings the focal point back to the castle ruins. A swing is located here to sit on. Unfortunately, there were a few wasps hanging out at the swing, so I did not stay around there for long.

After the afternoon at Castle Kennedy Gardens, I went along the coast to have a meal in the pub, Cock Inn, which has tasty and filling pies. The beach was filled with shells, sea glass, and polished rocks, and I enjoyed having a quick look around where a family was looking for miniature shells called cowry.

Castle Kennedy Gardens looks like it is worth exploring in the spring when the daffodils and rhododenrons are in bloom too, and I've read that the walled garden also looked wonderful in September.

Gratitude is an art installation organised by Wild in Art, and it features over fifty sculptures designed by different artists in different styles. The sculptures aim to raise charity for the NHS and key workers during the pandemic through NHS Charities Together. The sculptures are decorated primarily with the pandemic in mind and feature different imagery that was familiar during the pandemic. The sculptures appeared in Manchester and Birmingham before finishing their tour at London in the grounds of Southwark Cathedral. The sculptures will be on display from October 1-10, so you still have a few more days to see them.

"Us" - Karis Viola Lambert

"Faces of Lockdown" - Hammo, "Courage" - Pam Hogg

"Faces of Lockdown" - Hammo, "Thank You All" - Oguzhan Secir

"Life Force" - Kate Malone

"You Are Blooming Marvellous" - Marcella Wylie, "Making History" - Karia Viola Lambert

"Faces of the Front Line" - Bronte Palmer

"Super Stars" - Edward Luke Thrush, "The Joy of Pets" - Matt Joyce

"www." - Jenny Leonard

"Faces of the Front Line" - Bronte Palmer, "Say it With Flowers" - Sue Guthrie

"www." - Jenny Leonard, "Nation's Embrace" - Holy Moly

"We Can Be Heroes" - Jess Perrin, "Our Heroes in Blue" - Dame Zandra Rhodes

"Fly Me A Rainbow" - Jina Gelder Illustration, "Creative Resilience" - Jodie Silverman

"Not All Heroes Wear Capes" - Sally Chinea, "Together" - Sally Chinea

"Community" - Will Barras, "Double Bubble, Toil and Trouble" - Guy McKinley

"Hans" - Tim Sutcliffe, "Peace of Mind(fulness)" - Betti Moretti

"Pieces" - Mister Phil, "Good Timber" - Gail Stirling Robertson

"Life Force" - Kate Malone, "Bob" - Kitty Joseph

"Forces Unite" - Mik Richardson, "Rise" - Megan Heather Evans, "Clap for Heroes" - Donna Newman

"Hugs and Kisses" - Piers Atkinson, "Clap for Heroes" - Donna Newman

"A Hug for the World" - Judith Berrill, "Back to Nature" - Laura-Kate Draws, "Take Care of Each Other and Grow - Lockdown Hobbies" - Fernandes Makes

"Stardust" - Andrew Logan, "I Am Thankful For..." - Harkiran Kalsi

German street artist HOMBRE (Hombre Suk) created a mural in Leicester for "Bring the Paint" in 2019. HOMBRE has been painting grafitti in cartoon style illustrations from the 1990s. The artwork in Leicester is located on Belgrave Gate, a major road on the edge of the centre of the city. The shows a man with a red beard, gold chain necklace, and pale blue hat holding a box of spray paints and a spray paint cap. The artwork covers the front of a whole building.

Another mural by the artist has been created a few streets away on the lower part of a building. It feature's the artist's name and a cartoon character of a man with a red beard.

I discovered the artwork in the summer of 2021, and it seems to be in decent shape and is certainly an eye-catching piece at the edge of a small cluster of street art and opposite a church.

The Firs, located in Worcestershire and not far from Worcester, is the birthplace of Edward Elgar, an English composer. The house and museum have been managed by National Trust since 2017, but there is a five-year lease on the management of the property through National Trust. Edgar was born in the cottage and lived here for a couple of years before his family moved to Worcester. He would move around often throughout his life, but he had some fascination for the little cottage for it to be purchased by his daughter and established as a museum in 1934. The museum is a modern building with information about Elgar and a short film about his life, and visitors can also see the cottage and its garden.

The museum showcases Elgar and his life, and it includes a short film and original personal items. Elgar's study is included in the museum complete with desk, grandfather clock, and other personal items. The museum also contains manuscripts that Elgar has written on and over 11,000 letters to and from Elgar from friends, family, and work. There are also family scrapbooks and photograph albums, awards, and more.

Edward Elgar was born in the mid-1800s in the cottage, and his family lived here for a couple of years before moving to Worcester. He moved around a lot in his life. His father was a piano tuner, and Elgar would often visit wealthy homes with his father to tune pianos, so this is probably how he got interested in music without any formal training in it. His mother was a farmer's daughter, and she was interested in literature and nature. With Elgar's gifts in music, he became England's greatest composer for 200 years. 

Elgar was not wealthy, so he could not seek formal musical training. However, he managed to work in musical jobs where he provided training and took odd music-related jobs. He soon began to write music and anthems for choirs, the church, and musical festivals around the midlands. He played in orchestras and for a lunatic asylum.

He shot to fame in the late 1800s when he composed "Enigma Variations", and he started to win many awards for his ceremonial music.

Elgar was in tune with nature, and he was very much inspired (or not inspired) by his surroundings. He moved around with his family a lot, and they spent one year in London before moving back to the countryside so that he could focus on putting his mind into composing the music. Some of his work was also inspired by great stories in literature.

A piano owned by the family was also on display in the museum.

Below is an image showing Eldgar's study reconstructed.

The garden contains some interactive musical equipment and an image of Elgar on his bike. He enjoyed travelling and cycling.

The cottage has its own little cottage garden with nice views over the house.

There are three rooms downstairs to see and three upstairs. The cottage is set up like a museum with the composer's personal items scattered around along with other information.

At the end of the garden is a statue of Elgar sitting on a bench.

Elgar had a love of dogs, and his dogs are buried in the garden.

I was not familiar with Elgar or his music before the visit. I think that one item to improve would be to have the music played in the museum or house for visitors who are not familiar with it to learn more. The film had some short clips of his music, but I felt that I did not get a huge sense of understanding of it and its importance.

An elephant sculpture trail has taken over the streets and parks of Luton. Over thirty large elephant sculptures and many several more smaller elephants are located in Luton for several weeks until 8 October. The sculptures hope to raise money for local charity Keech Hospice Care. After they have graced Luton, the sculptures will be all in one place at two special events this autumn before they are auctioned. I planned a trip to Luton last week to see the sculptures.

"Elephant Juice Luton" - Sian Ellis

"Nature's Journey Illuminated" - Helen Alexander-Bristow

"Unity" - Jenny Leonard

"Joy" - Traci Moss

"Carnival" - Ryna Newell

"Lush and Leafy" - Louise Kirby

"Colour Pop Pachyderm" - iLex.Arts (Holly Foster)

1) "Shine Bright" - Beverley Sweetman
2) "Automa-trunk" - Lily Jade Searle
3) "Enjoy the Journey" - Hazel Oakes
4) "Trunks Through the Changing Seasons" - Sarah Harrison

"Elephant Juice Luton" - Sian Ellis

"Inspiring Hope" - unknown

"The Playful Elephant" - Jude Chapman

"A Transport of Delight" - Lois Cordelia

"It's Holi Holiday!" - Anne-Marie Byrne

"Flame" - Jodie Black

"Harvest of the Herd" - David Maguire

"Busy Bees" - Caroline Coates

"Flypast" - Kathleen Smith

1) "Hide and Seek" - Victoria Ashmenall
2) "We Will Rise" - Anne-Marine Byrne
3) "Nebula" - MrASingh
4) "Lutonne Town" - Megan Evans

"Trunk Full of Love" - Sian Ellis

"Artie" - Amy Bourbon

"Pop Star" - Sandra Russell

"The Elephant Says 'Why Not Now?'" - Mark Titchner

Down the back roads through the rolling hills of Galloway, Scotland lies popular ice cream dairy Cream o' Galloway. Visitors can spend almost a day here by taking one of the cheese or ice cream-making workshops, a farm tour, crazy golf, playground games (currently closed), nature trails, and other events. There is a cafe on site as well, and it serves hot and cold food (with a very limited selection of choices at present due to staffing issues), and visitors can enjoy the ice cream in the parlour.

Rainton Farm is an organic farm with 20 years of operation, and they are concerned about the welfare of the dairy farming and keep calves with the mothers whereas many farms separate them soon after birth. I had a tour of the farm to see how it compared to the family dairy farm growing up. 

Quite a few families were playing the crazy golf, which was located below the visitor centre. The playground area was roped off.

I had the soup, which I found to be really nice. The previous week, there was a large menu with hot food, but it was not available during my visit. I had the soup before going onto the farm tour.

We started by looking over the fields that the cattle occupy, and there are different herds of the cattle. A lot of the tractors and other machinery are older ones but are easier to repair.

A walk down the hill led us to another part of the farm where the cheese-making takes place. Nothing was happening then, but we had a look in the windows.

Due to the high rise in price of timber, the farm are saving money by cutting their own.

The milking station can milk ten cattle at a time, and the cattle are used to their own routines. There are 113 cattle to milk, and 40 get milked twice a day and yield 1280 liters of milk a day. The types of dairy cattle are Holstein (which is a typical breed for dairy), Swedish Red, and Montbeliard. The cattle were very late to come in for a milking during the visit. 

Some of the cattle had the preference for a certain stall to get milked in and do not like the last stalls as perhaps they can see visitors looking at them. 

After being milked, the cattle exit the milking parlour and enjoy the brush that they can rub up against for a good scratch. Some of them like to hog the brush, and the other exiting cattle push them out of the way as they want a turn on it.

After having a quick glimpse of the cattle being milked, we walked back to the ice cream parlour where we could enjoy a free ice cream as part of the tour. I had the cinnamon flavour.

I made another visit to Cream o' Galloway later in my visit of the area. Ice cream sundaes are a popular item available at the parlour. I had the "Sugar Rush" sundae on this second visit, which contained three types of ice cream: honeycomb, toffee, caramel shortbread, and chocolate. They were out of the toffee flavour, so I had to select another flavour, but I cannot remember which flavour I selected. I had had a small pot of the toffee flavour at one of the restaurants that I visited, and I enjoyed it. The chocolate was very good as well. The sundaw came with a chocolate straw and wafer.

The farm tour is family friendly and is perfect for families of children who are interested in learning about the life on the dairy farm.