Petworth House & Chichester - 30th Oct ‘19

After 3 pretty full travelling days, it’s nice to be having a more relaxed day today. We both have colds and coughs so, even though we are sleeping well enough, the journeys have taken it out of us a bit.

The lazy morning and rather splendid mushroom omelette were appreciated equally as much. As I mentioned yesterday, the site is immaculate and well run but then .... so was Colditz! Maybe the European laissez faire approach to campsite rules has turned me, but it all just feels a bit too clinical and controlled. Can’t really find anything to complain about though so I’ll just shut up!

The day is cold but pleasant. Even the odd ray or two of sunshine. We did also notice how dry it is down here. They clearly didn’t have the rain that we had in the last couple of weeks?!

We decided to go to a National Trust property this afternoon and, after consulting the book, we chose Petworth House. It was only about 15 miles away through the most beautiful of countryside - the South Downs.

The house is magnificent but rather too much like an art gallery and less like a home for our liking.
I’m clearly changing as I get older- when I was younger I was just in awe of these wonderful old buildings and the grand lives that the owners lived in them. Now I find myself getting quite cross with the clear inequalities and injustice of it all! It’s enough to make you vote Labour!?

The grounds were fabulous and we enjoyed a walk around the lake and the Capability Brown designed Pleasure Grounds just as much, if not more than the house tour.

The house is wonderfully placed right in the centre of the delightful little town of Petworth. You literally walk out the back door of the servants quarters and you’re at the top of the high street.

As the NT cafe was very busy we headed for town and found a great coffee shop called Coco Cafe and Sugar Lounge https://m.facebook.com/cococafeuk. The food was excellent and the coffees good enough to be Italian. I had a cheese ploughman’s which was a bit of a risk as I’ve had a few stinkers over the years - no need to worry it was perfect, especially the bread.

We squeezed in this food & drink break in between the house and the grounds. So after the long walk they were just about starting to lock up and we were one of the last out of a very busy car park.

We thought it would be a nice end to the day to visit Chichester. We managed to get a quick look around the Cathedral before a 5.30 evening service. It was all very atmospheric as we strolled around the cloisters and then the main street as shops were shutting down and restaurants getting busy.

We were more tired than hungry so we headed home on some very busy roads to Brunnehilda.
We fancied a cup of tea and film in bed - so that’s just what we did. How very decadent?!

The film was The Favourite with Queen Anne being played by Olivia Colman and Lady Marlborough by Rachel Weis. It was enjoyable but a bit of a sudden and unexpected ending. The one word film reviewer that is Mrs Pitts, summed it up as “strange”.