Island Paradise

Now to business, right away. The destination for last weeks little venture was the olde English stately home called Tatton Park. Buried in the Cheshire countryside just past Mere, the house offers the whole Pride and Prejudice view of everyday life 200 years ago, if you were really rich and looked quite similar to a horse. We went on Easter weekend and that is always a mistake wherever you go on Easter weekend in this country. I don’t know why so many people go out on a bank holiday weekend compared to a normal weekend. Is it because it is out of the realms of reason to think that you could actually go on a day trip on any day? What makes Easter Sunday different to any Sunday? But there you go, that is the way it works, and who are we to question the age-old unwritten by-laws of this land.

Due to the festivities, the park was packed with like minded people, and we shuffled around the place in droves looking at the signs for the Tuck Shop, the Restaurant, the Stable yard, the Farm, the House, the Country Garden Shop, the Gift Shop, the Garden Furniture shop, and the McDonalds. Well, the last one was made up, but still you get my meaning. There was about as much connection to our historic past as when Portsmouth put up the Spinnaker Tower to reflect a glorious shipping heritage.

The whole feel of the place was one of mass marketing. Normally, the English take things the other way and keep it quaint and small, and probably go out of business. But this is probably the future, as the controllers look to America to see how it’s done and make as much money as possible from each natural resource. The particular thing that gave me the hump from the beginning was, after joining the National Trust to get free parking at these types of places, having to pay £4.50 for parking because the grounds are run by the council, not the trust. Surely that is what my taxes are for, heaven knows I pay enough of them.

In summary, I strongly recommend that this could be one of the most disappointing places ever to visit in the UK, and it would be more fulfilling to sit at home and stick pins in my eyes than to even contemplate going to Tatton Park again.

We also had to leave in a hurry because Sophie was in pain due to a water infection, this involved Claire going to the hospital with her but luckily they both came home later that night.

We are in the land of my fathers this weekend, sunny Southampton, and so we thought that we would take the opportunity of going abroad. So, yesterday we travelled to the Isle of Wight and the kids first ever trip overseas. Okay, it doesn’t include passports, visas or jabs, but still a boat trip and a holiday feeling.

The Isle of Wight is a lovely place where even though it is so close to the mainland it has a completely different feel about it. The way of life seems so much more relaxed, and especially out of season, the people tend to just potter around. Coming into Cowes yesterday reminded me of the way that you enter Sodermalm in Stockholm, as the buildings hang to the edge of the incline, each trying to clamber to reach a view of the sea.

The same calmness that Stockholm has, because of the water surrounding it, is felt on the Island. You instantly relax and this may be for two reasons that were noticeable yesterday. Firstly, the quiet is deafening. There are not many cars there and so that normal level of noise pollution is absent. All that is left is the rolling of the waves and the odd seagull looking in vain for some discarded fish and chips. The second difference that we noticed was the trust that was on display. There was a milk float at the side of the road, fully laden, unattended for a long time, and no one would even dream of doing a Bob Geldof. There were doors left open, and signs in shops saying “Back at 3.45”. It all adds to create a nice atmosphere. Imagine doing a bank job on the Island, and then having to wait an hour because you’ve just missed the ferry. It’s a little bit more expensive over there, but sadly isn’t that the case now for a level of niceness.

So, 10/10 for the Isle of Wight, it just sits there and says “come over and enjoy me, take me as I am, I’m not changing for anyone”.