Ickworth National Trust

We went with some friends to the National Trust centre at Ickworth today.  Another magnificent house in magnificent grounds.

We walked around the gardens.  There is a hidden stumpery: well-hidden, as it took us a while to find it, but it was definitely worthwhile.  Lots of very jagged, alien-looking tree stumps arranged around a winding path.

There are more formal gardens, with occasional great views of the house.

This is just the central rotunda.  There are a couple of lovely wings, too.

And there are big trees, and strange statues.

Nobody expects the large wooden giraffe.

Several of the trees have amazing amounts of mistletoe adorning them.

There is a nice restaurant in the hotel that occupies one wing of the house.  We had only a light lunch, as it was very hot out.  On exiting, we got to see the front of the house, up close.

We then went for a longer walk, around the park lands.  Lovely views, but very hot in the open.  So, back to the entrance, where they sell ice creams... then home.