30th August 2008 :sunshine and Snowshill Manor

The weather here haas been the best we have had this holiday, and a very enjoyable day it's turned out to be too, we spent the mornng touring around the lovely cotswold coutryside and watched the harvest being brought in, before visiting our intended destination of the day
Snowshill Manor and Garden. the manor house is built of yellow stone, as are most Cotswold houses and it is set high on a hillside above the vale of evesham.
It has extensive gardens with beautiful flowers, but the main attraction of the house is the collection of amazing crafsmanship objects of all kinds it houses.
The house was bought by an eccentricCharles Paget Wade in 1919, and was virtually in ruins. He rebuilt it, but not to live in, rather to house his incredible collection (he lived in an outhouse in the yard!!!) a statue of St George and the Dragon are on the wall outside the outhouse.
It's kind of reassuring to know there are people out there who were actually madder than me!
The house front has been altered: on the right it's 17th century, on the left 19th, and you can see the join(as Ernie Wise would say) in the stones of the wall.
The gardens are a treasure, with an incredibly ornate clock on one of the levels, and some beautiful flowers. The garden is arranged into "rooms" and is very popular with humans and insect visitors.
Admission to the house is by timed ticket, as there is limited space and so much to see, if you are ever in the area don't miss it!
Tonight is the last night of this Temporary holiday meet and people are sitting outside, it is still over 20C and looking down over the hill we can just see bourton On the Water in the distance.
It has been a memorable day!