Hot Mottisfont

Our last full day with our Southampton friends before we move on to spend a few days in a posh spa hotel.

We visited Mottisfont NT, a house crafted from a priory founded in 1201, alongside the River Test. The world-famous collection of old-fashioned roses was past its best, but the house and gardens were still impressive. And it was very hot. 30°C today.

In the extras:

Spirit Of Reasoning - a mosaic by Boris Anrep, c 1913
A section of the trompe l'oeil in the Rex Whistler room
Damselflies doing what they do.
A duckling

We didn't get held up by any ponies or donkeys today, but we did get stuck at a broken level crossing for 30 mins or so. The barrier came down just as we rounded the corner. Then these three cyclists came along. No sign of a train though. The cyclists got fed up waiting and crossed anyway. Another driver used the SOS phone to discover that there was a fault and a team were on their way. We and most others (lots by now) did a three point turn and went another way. We then got stopped at another crossing, on the same line, but this time there was a train and the barriers worked.

We are in the hotel now. It is very swish. When we were checking in two guys with backpacks came up to the desk and said they had a reservation. The receptionist without even checking said 'are you sure you are not in the lodge?' They were.

One year ago:
Jigsaw