Daytrip time! Rachel suggested Dunham Massey, and Rachel knows us well and her daytrip suggestions haven't failed us yet, so off we went!
I love National Trust.
We started with a snack ...
... and then we walked around in the park and looked at pretty buildings.
And deer! So many deer everywhere!
There's a mill at Dunham Massey that's over 400 years old, so obviously we had to go see it. This lady led the tour and showed us the things that were used for grinding corn ...
... and the markings carved into the windows to ward off evil ...
... and this horrorlike contraption from when the cornmill was turned into a sawmill.
Liam was three meters ahead of the rest of us the whole time, happily looking at old machinery and enjoying figuring out how everything worked before the guide told us. :)
But personally I just like to look at good type.
Then we strolled around the gardens ...
... and the kitchen garden.
<3
I loved the orangery, built in 1720.
AND it has a book nook inside!
We got back to the big house too late to be allowed to enter and have a look. Bummer!
We compensated with ice cream.
And then some more walking in the (pretty huge) park.
It was such a lovely day out with so many of the things I like: walking and history and beauty and great company. Oh, and ice cream.
And then we went back to Rachel's for scones <3
And in the evening we went to Chorlton Beer & Cider festival! My first beer festival ever! Beer festivals in the UK are very different from the ones at home. (I'm sure there are smaller local ones somewhere in Sweden, but the ones in Gothenburg are in a big convention center and I'm sure they're interesting and all ... But they're not like this.)
This one was organised by the local church (!!! That feels incredibly British to me). All the beers were in functions rooms and the cider and gin was outside in tents. And then there were a bunch of big tents with tables and chairs and some food carts and lots of people. And the vibe was SO NICE.
So many small breweries! So many beers to try!
And the Vicar's Gin Bar, of course. :)
It started to drizzle at some point and we hogged three chairs in one of the big tents. Liam and Rachel went to get bao from a food stall while I guarded the chairs (once you've found seats, you don't leave them).
These are the glasses that were included in the entrance ticket. You just carry your glass around with you, and the volunteers behind the bar fill it for you and cross the value of the drink off of your token sheet. I only got halves because I wanted to try as many different beers as possible ... and 100% of the bartenders gave me more than a half in my glass. You can see where this is heading. :)
Rachel doesn't even like beer but she does like cider. There were some truly incredible ciders - sweet and rich and still, as in not even the slightest carbonated. Question: Are these ciders to adults, what alcopop was to teenagers when I was growing up in the 90's?! Because I was never tempted by alcopop back then (for one thing, it's carbonated!) but man these ciders are gooood.
By the end of the night we were all reasonably merry. As can be expected. :) It was such a fun night!
And then we took the tram back to Didsbury, schlomped on the couch and ...
... watched a couple of episodes of the Great Pottery Throwdown. <3
And that was it for this trip, because the day after, it was time to go home. I've already described how I felt about this trip in general here, so I won't say all that again, except: I'm grateful. I'm so grateful.
Oh okay, I did take one more photo, the day after, before we went to the airport. Here's Liam at his happy place, Lakeland. :)
Redbone | Come and Get Your Love
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