Arley Hall and Gardens

As they say, "A grand day out".

We started with the Paradise Silk Mill and Museum in Macclesfield and went on to one of the most stunning English gardens I have ever seen - at Arley Hall.

Arley Hall is most definitely lived in. The interiors are homely as well as stately and the generations of the family who have lived there have left their loving mark. The leaflet includes a welcome message from the Viscount and Viscountess Ashbrook.

We avoided the worst of the rain.  We  thought about the families who worked in the silk mill, who would have found the hard life anything but living in Paradise. We enjoyed our picnics on the bus on the way between the two highlights. We had a leisurely afternoon tea and then stocked up with gorgeous and reasonably priced plants (you should have seen the bus on the way home.)

Yes - a "grand day out." with the local NADFAS.