Anglesey Abbey

We had a fabulous day out at Anglesey Abbey today. 
Despite the gloom and cold and mud we had a lovely time.
It was our first day trip in Penny and when we got there Mr K did a great job cooking up some bacon and eggs. 
It was a bit fraught as the car park was heaving and we had to squeeze into a teeny spot and couldn't put the roof up. But it was a start - one of the reasons we bought a campervan was to make tea and bacon sandwiches in National Trust car parks!!!
We headed down to the nature area first for the Easter Egg Hunt. The Little Misses loved finding all the letters and solving the anagram.
But not as much as they loved building dens, playing in the adventure playground, telling stories in the story circle and drawing pictures in the classroom.
They collected their scrummy Easter eggs and then we headed back to the house. It hadn't occurred to me it would be open this early in the year but it was and we had a look inside for the first time. Surprisingly it was the Little Misses who were keen to go in.
There was a treasure hunt in the house too. Children had to make dice out of a template they were given and then solve the clues to be given stickers. Right up their alley!!
The house was fascinating - so much history. Etched on the windows on the library were the names of the Queen, King George V, Prince Charles, the Duke of Edinburgh, Princess Margaret. Proper royal graffiti!!
As usual it was the domestic areas I liked best - the bedrooms, bathrooms and, of course, the kitchens, pantries and sculleries. They were dressed as they would have been in the forties and fifties (see extras)
We were there past closing (just for a change!!) and we got chatting to a lovely woman who was sweeping up all the mud. She told us a lot of history of the house and when I was comparing it to Downton Abbey she said Downton is thought to be based on Anglesey Abbey. All the money came from a wealthy American heiress who married Lord Fairhaven in 1932.
I've always loved it there and today was one of the best days we've had there!