On Thursday hubby and I enjoyed a day out together. Our destination was Greenway, Agatha Christie's cherished holiday home in Devon: "the loveliest place in the world", as she called it. It took us just over an hour to drive there - we still pinch ourselves to think we live so close to the delights that this county (and the others that form the 'West Country') has to offer.
Externally, the house is splendid; internally, it wasn't quite my cup of tea (no photos are allowed inside the house due to copyright, so I can't really show you what I mean); apparently the Christie/Mallowan/Hicks clan were quite the collectors and it shows in the number of nic-nacs that are dotted here, there and everywhere. According to one of the volunteers we spoke to, there were 12,000 items waiting to be catalogued when the Trust took over the house in 2000.
We had pre-booked lunch in the old kitchen (thanks to a very timely visit by Jessica over at
Rusty Duck who had done just the same thing a week earlier and recommended it); the food was lovely: I had prawn cocktail, smoked salmon and smoked mackerel for my main course and Eton Mess for desert. Very generous portions meant hubby and I then had to seek refuge in the well-placed deckchairs at the front of the house for about an hour before we headed off to explore the gardens and the boathouse (scene of a murder in Dead Man's Folly) where Agatha apparently liked to read over her manuscripts. The gardens are set on a steep slope which meant a bit of a climb, but the views from the top were worth the effort. And then it was a downhill amble to the greenhouses, where hubby displayed quite a bit of 'greenhouse envy'.
After that it was time for afternoon tea before jumping in the car at about 5pm to head off on the next part of our day out - but that can wait for another post.
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| View of the River Dart on the walk to the house |
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| Hubby enjoying his Eton Mess in the old kitchen |
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| A well-earned rest |
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| Wonderful views from the Battery |
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| Busy River Dart |
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| Plunge pool beneath the Boat House |
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| The Boat House |
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| Yours truly |
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| View from the very top of the gardens |
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| Greenhouse envy |
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| And who can blame him? |
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| The Peach House |
What a fabulous place, both indoors & outdoors by the looks of it. All in the sunshine too, what a nice day.
ReplyDeleteIt was a lovely day; just right, before the weather got silly hot!
DeleteWe even had the same table for lunch!
ReplyDeleteI missed the greenhouses though, how on earth did I manage that. Where were they?
Glad you had a good day.
So glad you mentioned the lunch on your blog or we would have missed it.
DeleteThe greenhouses were in the garden over the other side of the Peach House wall. You'll have to pop back!
Lucky you, love Agatha Christie, go back and reread her books regularly, to say nothing of Hercules Poirot.
ReplyDeleteHubby is the real Christie fan - this has been on his Bucket List for ages
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