A Walk Through The Forest

You never know who is watching you when you walk through a forest.

I had a text to ask would I do two tours today. I set off early but got caught up in some roadworks and made it by the skin of my teeth. Neither tour was particularly busy so we are going to try them again next week but start a little later. I think that it may have been the weather which was excellent. The property was busy but most people preferring to stay out in the beautiful grounds rather than come into the house.

We decided against going to see the new museum which opened at Norton Priory so we stayed and had a light lunch before wandering around the grounds ourselves. We called into the kitchen garden then took a walk through the woods. Over the past years they have tried really hard to make the property attractive to families with all sorts of events. And that hard work is paying off.

We followed the Child Of Hale Trail, which opened earlier this year, through the woods. John Middleton was known as the Child Of Hale. Legend has it that he grew to a height of 9ft 3. So tall that he had to sleep with his feet hanging outside his window. When King James 1 was passing he invited Middleton to court in London where he wrestled the King's champion and duly beat him. The King rewarded him with fine garments, there is a portrait of him wearing them in Brasenose college, and £2, a huge sum in those days. However Middleton was mugged on the way back to Hale. He died there, impoverished, in 1623.

Throughout the wood are his giant shoes, chair and his little cottage, with his feet sticking out the window and the sound of him snoring.