Day 4 Speke Hall a National Trust property– near Liverpool

After staying up till 12 to download photos and write my diary, I woke at 3 am and couldn’t get back to sleep. Eventually I gave up and used my awake time to continue to edit photos. Finally returning to sleep about 4 and being woken by Amelia at exactly 6 am.

Sarah drove Tim to work and returned to have a quick run, while we watched the TV and read some books. We made lunch and set off at 10:30 for Speke Hall. The drive took us almost to Liverpool, past vast areas of industrial land and over the huge bridge, which spans the Mersey River. The drive was lovely because the trees are just beginning to unfurl leaves and the blossom trees are fully loaded. The King Alfred daffodils are past their best, but the white ones are still looking good.

Speke Hall is a famous half -timbered medieval home. Sir William Norris began building it in 1530 and incorporated an existing earlier building. Norris was a catholic and so there is at least one priest hole and several features to aid in the safety of the catholic family. The gardens were lovely, but the house was even better, in particular the carved decorative woodwork and furniture as well as the William Morris’s wallpaper. It has many features to keep the kids happy including play grounds and the Maze, which was Lachie’s favourite. We had our lunch and the kids had a play.

We drove via Liverpool and the Birkenhead tunnel that was built by hand, under the Mersey. Buses and trucks have to use the middle lanes for the required   height.

When we picked up Tim we drove back to visit Port Sunlight. This was a village constructed by the Lever brothers in1887 to accommodate their workers. In the 56 acres they created 800 houses and public buildings, employing 30 architects to design blocks of houses. It was to be an exercise in profit sharing, using company profits to improve the village. The village was named after one of their detergents- Sunlight. Beautiful settings, gardens and well maintained homes even today.

A trip to Waitrose to pick up some supplies, then we drove up to Weston Grove to get some fish and chips for dinner. Finally a gluten free fish and chip shop. They have a separate fryer for the GF. The fish was delicious. Extra delicious because I hadn’t had any battered fish for the last 38 years. We drove home and had dinner. After dinner Sarah and Tim took the kids to the playground. I washed up, downloaded photos and typed up my diary, but kept falling asleep all the time. I’ve been fighting sleep since it hit like a wall at 6 o’clock.

Now 9:47 pm and I’m off to bed. Still have tons to cull before sending any photos of yesterday. I took over 700 photos- there is so much to see.