A Packed Day at Burghley House, Stamford

A fact of life here in the UK is that it is law that it rains if it is a bank holiday!  Well, today, shock of shocks, the sun shone, the rain kept away and I am now sitting in my study tapping away on the keyboard for this week's post (a bit late) with skin that is the reddest of reds and burning!  I was totally unprepared and had forgotten that a windy day does not blow away the UV's!!  I warn you now, this is a packed post.  So, grab yourself a cup of tea and an English muffin and settle down to look around the grounds of Burghley House, the most beautiful Tudor mansion you can ever imagine to see and it's Country Fayre.  We were surprised at how much there was to see, so much to experience...and such a long walk!  Ok, are you ready for this marathon of a tour?  Here we go...

Burghley House is ENORMOUS!  The photos really don't do it justice, there are turrets after turrets, exquisite rooms and the grounds are vast.  Flags fly from the ornate roofs...

The gates are adorned with the family crest...

Such an entrance...

However, today we were skirting around the building and venturing onto the grounds for the Fayre. The beautiful blue sky with its fluffy white clouds and vapour trails were matched by the blue and white tents that were dotted around the acres and acres of craft, animal and food shows.  Everywhere we looked, there was something of interest and what a backdrop!

So with the sky so blue, the wind blowing the flags and good thoughts over us all, we started our journey around the Fayre.

We headed to the main ring and watched the horses racing a car.  These great horses did their very best to beat the car around their courses with people shouting for either contender.

The horses won a couple of times but that was mainly with two horses and a lot of shouting from behind!

Now, have you ever heard of horse boarding?  We hadn't so we were fascinated to see this.  The horse gallops with the rider and right behind is a skate boarder being pulled along.  This was very competitive between the teams, but shall we start with a nice easy one?  This one, with the most gorgeous designed ear warmers, was a newcomer (this explains the slack line between horse and boarder, and the smile on the rider's face).  They were the slowest but they will become faster the more they practice.

Then there were the experienced ones.  This horse was brilliant and extremely fast, but then again the horse was Lord Atterbury (who came third in the Grand National in 2004)!

So fast, that his boarder (the dead pigeon team...which is why he has a stuffed pigeon on his helmet) couldn't keep his balance on the bend and down he went to the shock of the crowd.

Boarder was ok and went round again with another (slower) horse.

Towards the end they really were shouting the horses on to get through the finishing line to beat their opponents.

While this went on, the majestic Burghley House stood in the background surveying this wonderful event and so many happy people enjoying the day.

Then the noise of horses hooves and whinnying was replaced by the power of engines!  The stunt team had arrived.  This started with Aaron Stannage on a pedal bike, seemed tame enough, but what he was demonstrating was that he was a Guinness World Record Holder for the longest bicycle wheelie.

Then the rest of the stunt team started making their appearances.

Aaron Stannage back, but on a more powerful bike...

...and jumping over cars and jeeps.

His mum was set fire to by his dad!

But they did put her out!

And for a finale, Aaron went up to the top of a tower...

...and jumped onto a great big marshmallow (well, that's what I imagined it to be!).

Once this excitement had finished, we went for a walk to one of the lakes to seek out a slower pace of life, times gone by, when steam was the fastest mode of transport (apart from the horse).

These dinky little steam engines were all over the place taking people for rides.

The lions on the beautiful stone bridge were very majestic.

And the view through the side of the bridge looking over to the house was mesmerizing.

Can you tell I love taking photos of this house?!!  On the other side of the bridge there was more entertainment.  For the dogs there was the fun part of trying to get your owner into the river too...such fun!

The more I look at that photo, the more I see, the girl on the left trying her best to keep her shoes dry, the elderly man resting on the grass absorbing the life going on around him and the spaniel right on the edge of shot about to run off down the river to the anglers to see what goodies they have for him.  Capturing everyday life is great!

Then in the distance, people learning how to clay pigeon shoot (shot a bit grainy but 'Val' was over her capacity on the zoom function, they were 'miles' away!).

Patient dogs waiting to have their turn to show the spectators what they can do...

...and excited dogs getting their chance.

I couldn't resist taking this shot when we went back past the steam engines.  I never knew petrol cans could look so colourful!

And for those who read my posts regularly, you will know I do love a medieval re-enactment!

The sound of clashing swords is always a head turner to me.

The red head beat him, good on you girl!  I loved this fighter's helmet.

Now, remember a few weeks ago I went to Sandringham's Show?  Do you remember the chain saw sculptures? (post here).  Well they were here too.  We noticed in particular the interesting one that had been carving the wizard type man.  Well, he is continuing with this one (started in the Sandringham post).

What is he working on?...The hands.

And this sculptor is beginning to work on a bear.

What a wonderful and skilled craft!  Well, we had been there for five hours without even realising it and it was time to head home.  Past the stately Burghley House.

Past the stable area.

And home for tea, all bought from the Fayre...Cottage loaf, orange and whisky cheese (which was so, so, so yum!), chunky steak pie, pork and black pudding pie and pork and caramelized red onion pie...yes a "ploughmans" was in order with a huge mug of tea!

Phew!  Got to the end of this post and I hope you have enjoyed your trip with me this week.  If ever you come to this area, Burghley House MUST be on your list.  It is steeped in history both centuries past up to the modern day.  

Thank you all for your comments last week on the new arrival of my nephew 'JT'.  We travelled down to Essex on Saturday to have cuddles and he is adorable.  It seems that there are a lot of babies arriving in Blogland so congratulations to you if you have a new addition!

I hope you have a wonderful week, I certainly will with having time off to spend with Mr and Miss Teenager over the half term break.  Now to re-charge my batteries and set off on the next trip...my home town of LONDON!!

Take care.

This week I am sharing with:

Market Yourself Monday

Sunny Simple Monday

Creative Homeacre Hop
Our World Tuesday
Simple and Sweet Fridays
Seasonal Sundays