Exploring New Places :: Part 2

Hello Lovelies,

Just a pre warning, this is a loooog post ( 40 photos! ) you might want to grab a cuppa and get comfy :0)

As I explained in THIS post, this year I'm trying to discover some new places that are relatively close to home.

I'm using this calendar as a source of inspiration and hoping to visit all the places it features by the end of this year...........

This was the view for March..........

A rather lovely looking country house. When I did a little on-line research about this place I found it's only open to the public on certain days.

  STANFORD HALL is still a private residence. Their web site did feature a possibility for a visit with a difference though.

A VW  show..........

Ooooh, for a family in which I'm the only female, with boys who have become reluctant to visit historical places, this  sounded a great way for us all to enjoy some family time exploring somewhere new.

 We have never been to this sort of event before and I did wonder if you were only allowed to turn up in a VW of some description........thankfully that was not the case :0)

And so on Sunday we ended up in the grounds of Stanford Hall  at this motor vehicle event........

There were all sorts of cars there, but it was the Vintage Volkswagon camper vans that most folks seemed to want to look at. 

They have such personality..........

Of course they are cute on the outside, but it's the inside us girls want to look at isn't it?

Yes, lets have a look inside. I loved the chequered flooring and little touches in this Dub........

this is the view through the back door.......lovely colour scheme and stripy curtains..........

And here's the driving end of a different van........they are all so individual...........

And many have names :0)......

These versatile little vans seemed to offer something for everyone and were even being used by the food vendors.......loved this ice cream van...................

We wandered about enjoying the large amount of vehicles there were to see.

By now we were quite close to the hall it's self..........time for my version of that calendar view.

It's quite different due to the light falling onto the front of the building..............

In fact it looks quite a different colour, but I do like my version with it's people enjoying the beautiful weather and a glimpse of classic cars. The grass looks lovely too.

Here's the calendar again for comparison..............

Happy that I'd taken my calendar photo it was time to look around a bit more.

Hello sweet Doris.............

These cushions seemed to sum up the whole atmosphere of the day to me.........

  There were lots of people about, but not too many. Everyone seemed happy to chat and to wait patiently when necessary for a look inside the vehicles.

This van stood out from a distance as something very different. Look its got a hammock suspended from the roof............

There was a friendly lady on the roof too, who told us the owner was a "Vehicle Cartoonist"....who knew there was such a profession?

 We loved the watchdog on the roof .

The owner certainly had talent...............

This whole unique camper was quite mind boggling............

there was just SO MUCH to look at.......

This little cupboard is where that Jack Russell sleeps :0)..........

Here's a complete contrast.
I had to wait a while behind two little  girls who were entranced with this beauty.....they were discussing how many friends they could get inside and where they would go.........so sweet.............

Now we were in the trade stalls, which were interesting and varied. There was a strong retro vibe which I loved. We even spotted some vintage bikes..............

This one is very like my own lovely cycle............

But a decade older............

I also have a Raleigh shopper rather like this, but mine's fold-able ( blogged right back HERE )

Many of the stalls were like this.......lots of spare parts............

But others were more appealing to me. I loved this melamine crockery..............

I'm pretty sure we had some just like this in our caravan when I was a child.............

And of course I was thrilled to spot some colourful crochet.
This stall had a whole table full of crochet blankets and some cushion covers.........

Now I felt right at home.

It was great to see handmade items. As well as crochet there were these lovely bags.....I was tempted......

Now we wandered across to more camper vans, it turned out this was the

 FOR SALE section.

Ooooh, look this one has a gorgeous crochet blanket.........

I spotted this wonderful vintage caravan from a distance and made a bee line for it. It too was for sale ( £3,700 )
I just loved it's shape and happy yellow stripe...........

And inside, to my delight, it looked original. This seventies colour scheme reminded me so much of the caravan my parents owned when I was a child.............

And I loved the little kitchen area.............

By this time we had been walking around for about three hours and I was feeling a slight sensory overload. We saw many more vans than I've shared here ( hard to believe I know !)  

Just before we decided to call it a day I looked into this beauty........sigh...........

Of all the versions I think this would be the one I would choose to own given the chance .......I loved it's cosy, old fashioned charm and calm but pretty upholstery.

Oh, and look what's on the table :0)...........

Time for one last photo of this wonderful house, looking perfect in the sunshine............

It was possible to have a guided tour on Sunday, which I would have loved....but on such a gorgeous day I was happy to stay outdoors, I really loved peeking into much smaller "homes" :0)

It was a great day out and happily the whole family enjoyed our adventure.....phew.
I hope you enjoyed your virtual visit too lovelies.
If you are in the U.K. and you fancy attending a similar event yourselves HERE'S a list.

We were all happy to relax at home yesterday, thankful for the Bank Holiday and another day off work and school.
Jacquie x

Exploring New Places :: Part 1

Hello Lovelies,

 right back in January, in my first post of 2014 in fact, I mentioned a calendar of local scenes I had bought after being being inspired by Louise at Ramblings of a Roachling. 

Louise bought a 2013 Calendar of her local area and each month did a walk around the area depicted. It seemed like a great way of getting to know places that are not far away , but that I had not visited before.

 I bought this calendar ..............

It had 12 ( well 13 actually) fairly local scenes and I wanted to use it to inspire me to get out of the usual routine of visiting the same old places.

I decided not to worry about doing the visits on the month they were depicted, but simply to aim to have visited all the places by the end of the year...........

In February the photo was of a street scene in the market town of Melton Mowbray..........

All that month I looked at this photo and felt less than inclined to make the effort to visit.

But now the days are warmer and the countryside is so pretty, a little day trip seemed much more appealing.

On Wednesday Mum and I headed off to explore. 

It's a good omen when you easily find a parking spot right outside a florist with bargain flowers, don't you think?

We ambled along and soon came to the Market square. Wednesday isn't the main market day but there were some stalls set up for business......... 

You lovelies know how much I like buildings with character and this row of shops had oodles of it, especially this one with a statue of a  Swan on a plinth ..........

I was intrigued and  searched the internet which threw up THIS interesting link to the origin of a well known phrase, one that we still use in Britain today.

This small market place looked happy and colourful in the sunshine.........

    

I do love to see an ice-cream van......always adds a cheery feel.

And here is my version of that scene from the calendar. It's almost identical............

In fact I think I prefer my version. The sky is not quite as nice, but I like the fact it has people in it. I do like to see a street scene with some life in it.

Melton Mowbray is famous for it's Pork Pies So it's not surprising that my calendar chose to include "Ye Olde Worldy Porkie Pieee Shoppeeeee"

O.K. that's not quite it's name :0).........

Here's the view a little further down the street. The impressive building in the foreground was once the corn exchange. It's now a shopping centre and sadly none of the original features remain, just this lovely facade..........

And here is the view in the opposite direction, looking back towards the market place.........

Mum and I explored the shops, it was nice to see some independent outlets as well as the chain stores. Of course we also had a look in the charity shops, but they did seem expensive compared to our usual market town.
 After a bite to eat mum headed back to the car, but I dashed off to find another view from my calendar.
This is November's image, taken in the park here..............

Not being familiar with the town I wasn't sure exactly where the park was, then I spotted this street sign.........

"Park Lane" turned out to be an interesting little place........especially when I saw fabric.........

Oh, I loved this cluster of buildings with an interesting courtyard.......and look at the sign-writing!.......

I thought it was lovely.......especially this bit.........

It's a tape measure....how perfect.

At the end of Park Lane I arrived at these impressive gates and wandered across the grass towards the trees........

Here's my version of the calendar photo........ quite different this time due to the season........

I wandered down this avenue and came to a strange sight.....lock gates in the ground............

Once again the internet cleared up this mystery ......it's to mark the course of a canal that once ran between these two rows of trees ( info found HERE) 

I do love a canal, so was a little disappointed that it had been filled in.

Happily there were rivers running through the park..........

And a large pond..........

The pavilion cafe was doing a good trade........

And there were pretty bridges to get from one side of the river to the other.............

I left the park and headed back to the car, passing more interesting old buildings........

Like this gorgeous old pub, which I've since learned dates back to the fourteenth century, and it gets it name "Anne of Cleaves" due to it being part of her divorce settlement from Henry VIII............

It was time to go and I just snapped this cute looking tea room as somewhere I would like visit another time.......

What did I come home with?........well, some Sausages from the Pork Pie Shoppe (they were really good ) and a fabric remnant from that shop on the way to the park.

But my favourite purchase was this sweet Viola hanging basket from the florists shop........... 

who could resist  these sweet and hardy , happy faced flowers...........

Melton Mowbray impressed me with it's wealth of history and cheerful, traffic free shopping.
 It was a great start to this little project and I'm really looking forward to exploring more new places this year.
Jacquie x