Shugborough Hall

Sunday 22nd August

We have tried many times to visit Shugborough when passing by on the T&M but have failed for numerous reasons including it being closed or the Trent flooding the grounds. This time we decided to moor up on Saturday, lock up and take the car to visit it instead.

We arrived just before 11am and immediately visited the craft exhibits situated in the old stables between the entrance and the main house. We left here a little poorer due to the purchase of a couple of very nice turned Birch goblets which we'd watched one of being made whilst chatting to the lathe operator and his wife. We also explored the walled gardens.

We then decided we needed some sustenance before hitting the main house so we visited the restaurant and had a wonderful cooked meal. In future I would consider stopping here and wandering in from the boat just to eat an excellent meal as you would not need to pay the full admission fee to do so and the food was that good. I had game casserole whilst Brenda had a chicken breast cooked in a tarragon sauce. Both meals came with two types of potato, broccoli and parsnips. Excellent!

The estate was quite interesting being split into three sections, the main house, the servants quarters and the farm.

Brenda fell in love with the chandelier (pictured left) in the main room. We finished the visit with an ice cream and then set off for home at about 3:30.

I would recommend this visit to any passing boater even though the ticket pre-booking system is not practical, we had a great day out even at the full 'on the day' price!

Graham

www.jannock.org.uk