We set off on our journey to Ely a little later than we had intended which, as well as the travel taking longer than expected, led us to change our plans and not pay a short visit  visit to Cambridge. Instead we broke our journey for lunch in Market Harborough. Being a Sunday the nice tea shop had we enjoyed on our previous visit was not open so instead we settled for a sandwich in Greggs. Amply replete, we headed straight to Ely and checked into Peacocks B&B.

When we arrived at Peacocks tea room, which has rooms above, we were served with complimentary drinks and cake. I chose elderflower water and lemon and lavender cake, which was delicious. We were provided with a local map and shown where to find the local attractions.

We were then taken to the side access (which avoids walking through the teashop) and to our mini suite. The rooms were fabulous with a generous seating area, a bathroom with a roll top bath and a shower. In amongst it all, there were several bookcases full of books. My kind of heaven.

Rather than unpacking straight away we headed into Ely to make the best of the afternoon. As Mr C was moving his car into a non-restricted area, I stood and looked out over the river Ouse. A lady came a stood nearby and told me to mind my handbag. She then told me that she had been mugged and other various woes. All the while she was taking sideways glances at a couple of young men nearby and advising that Ely looks nice but it isn’t what it used to be. She then apologised for wearing dark glasses explaining that she had something wrong with her eyes that made them sensitive to bright light.

We took a walk along the river, through the Jubilee Gardens, past the Cathedral and then on to look for the two restaurants that we had pre-booked for evening meals. As luck would have it they were opposite each other. Just as we had located the second restaurant a voice piped up, “I am not following you”. It was the lady I had encountered just outside the B&B, this time without sunglasses and about to get in her car.

We returned to the B&B pausing to browse in Toppings along the way. Toppings has got to be the best bookshop I have ever visited. We spent some time relaxing in our rooms before making our way to The Poets House for dinner. I chose black seabream followed by pressed apple and elderberry sorbet. An elderly lady nearby was struggling with her menu choices. The first dish went back because it wasn’t piping hot and she opted for a different dish which, as it happened, was the seabream. When this arrived she didn’t like the way the meal was served. After our meal we stopped off in the Drayman’s pub before returning to the B&B for a nightcap.

The weather was perfect, we (my Mum and I) arrived just before a tour of the ‘Lady Berwick Garden’ was due to take place.  It was an opportunity not to be missed.

Warden, Ron Iremonger took us on the short walk to the garden.  Along the way we learned many interesting facts about the house, estate and gardens.  I will share some of them with you in due course, but for now enjoy the view from the ‘Lady Berwick Garden’ which is quite hidden.  I would never have thought to check out the path that lead there, but now I know

I will leave you with two pictures from the garden, they are taken from the snowy ground that you can see in the last photo of my previous post.

This is such a perfect topic for a tree lover like me. I have so many photos to choose from. I settled with these three.

The first photo was taken in my garden last week as the sun was setting.

The other two were taken in Attingham Park in February last year.  They remind me of my Dad, it is difficult to explain why.

I should be visiting Attingham tomorrow and that connects up with another story related to my Dad

For more of this weeks PhotoHunt pictures check out tnchick.

Most of the trees and shrubs along the river-side walk are species that might have been planted in the 1770s.  An exception is the ‘Ravenna’ pine grown from the seed of a tree thought to have been brought by the last Lady Berwick from Italy.  The venerable trunk of  an elderly Acacia conveys the air of antiquity for which these tress were admired in the 18th century.  It was due to the vigilance of the 8th Lord Berwick that so many mature trees have survived along this walk and were saved from being felled to meet the wartime need for timber. *

*From the National Trust guide book.