Wimpole House

I may not have the name right, so don't sue!

This is an estate with manionesque house, stables and a working farm.  It has turned over a number of times and stuff was redone and torn out, etc.  But there were paintings and a lot of rooms.

I talked to the gal in the dining room about the ornate plaster work in and around the ceiling.  She siad that when the National Trust took over the house there was a false ceiling in the room.  It began to fall down and when they looked up, the plaster work and gilt master pieces were there.  Why were they covered?   Fashion!

The grounds were an active encampment of play soldiers.  It's the anniversary of the Battle of Britain and all the old soldiers with their gear and jeeps and costumes and guns were out to play.  They had tents up and chatted with the visitors.  They took turns shooting off their guns with blanks, this is Britain after all.

It was also 40s weekend and there were a lot of folks in period wear.  Hair dos and make up and suits and dresses and shoes, all wandering around.

I talked to an older gal and she was from Australia, used to live in England, hubby was American.  They were dressed in 40s US Navy uniforms.  She said she had a couple of them and had wished she'd warn the cooler of the two.

It was a sunny day and I might have gotten some sun.

We wandered around the grounds, did the house and as we came out of the house, the local air show was going on, and a Spitfire and a Lancaster Bomber made a couple of passes over the house.  I've got some pics, but you'll have to wait for a bigger computer to see those on flickr.com/pictures/rich_hume

We walked to the working farm, which was a bit of a hike from the house, probably to keep smells down.  They had some different cattle, some of which are scarce.  There is a English Long Horn cow!

David picked us up about 3:30 and we went over to the American Cemetery on the north end of Cambridge.  White crosses covering the hillside with names and dates and home states.  A lot of Americans are buried outside of the US.  There are two such cemeteries in the UK.

Quite moving.  They played a short bit of Taps as the flag was lowered for the day.

There is a chapel and visitors' center.  The center has a number of exhibits with the stories of the guys and gals that were caught up the second world war.

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Monday:  We were thinking of trying to dash into London for the day, but the old legs are still complaining about the cathedral hike, so that's on the docket for tomorrow.

We went into the village to once more take on the local bridge club.  We managed 54% and picked up 16 master points, getting us to 54 for the trip.  There might be a rank associated with that boundary, so we may have to join the EBU to get some official recognition.

We ate big at the pub post bridge and now it's blog and nap time.  Then Barb and I will plan a trip to the big city and decide what we are up for.