Today we left our B &
B in Norwich and headed to Bicker in Lincolnshire diverting slightly to visit Sandringham.
Sandringham, is the Norfolk retreat of Her Majesty, The Queen who spends Christmas there with her family every year.
It was built in 1870 by the Prince and Princess of Wales (later King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra). Sandringham has been passed down as a private home through four generations of British monarchs and is now the country retreat of Her Majesty The Queen and His Royal Highness, The Duke of Edinburgh.
The countryside on the way to and around Sandringham was quite beautiful with lots of trees shading the roads. We knew we were getting close to Sandringham when we spotted an ornate wall that seemed to go on and on eventually arriving at the entry to Sandringham.
The sun was shining brightly in a cloud free sky as we joined the small queue at the entry booth. The cost for entry was £12 each but we got in for £10 as seniors which entitled us to entry to the grounds, the museum and the house..
During the house visit, we were allowed into all the areas that are used by the family and we were very impressed with what we saw. Every area had an expert guide to explain everything in each particular area. We asked one of them if they get bored talking about the same things all the time and she said no, because every 30 minutes we move to the next room.
Unfortunately, no photography is allowed inside the house which is a pity as a picture is worth a thousand words.
Apart from the many paintings, there were many family photographs on the walls spanning years of family life. These were fascinating.
The clocks were very interesting as well as there are 320 of them and they all require winding every 7 days.
In the last room of the tour there was an enormous 40,000 piece jig-saw puzzle created by a guy from Weymouth who spent 35 days creating it. It measures 6m x 2.5m and is believed to be the world's biggest hand cut jig-saw puzzle and contains 33 different pictures with a picture of the Queen as the centrepiece.
We then went outside for a walk around the immaculate gardens and grounds with lakes throughout. Lyn noticed some very large fish and Mick said they were European Carp which are a big pest in Australia.
We then visited the museum which is in what used to be the stables and saw a lot of historical items ranging from cars (many Rolls Royces), including children's toy cars which could be driven and ran on 12v battery power. There was even a toy replica of James Bond's Aston Martin. Now wouldn't our Grandsons like that.
There was a large room in the museum that contained many mounted animal heads including Rhino, animal skins, all sorts of stuffed birds and animals which had presumably been shot by the royals when it wasn't frowned upon as it would be today. Their focus these days is preserving wildlife.
The museum also contains much of the history of the Royals with well laid out boards containing detailed information which included the family trees which make very interesting viewing.
We really enjoyed the museum.
We then went to look at the Sandringham Church which is quite a small church within the grounds and where the royal family celebrate their Christmas.
After that we went to the restaurant for a cuppa then on to the gift shop.
All in all well worth a visit. The sunny weather really helped to make our visit more memorable.
After almost 3 hours of walking we headed off to the car and made our way to Swineshead, Bicker by Bicker in Lincolnshire.
Lyn ended the day happy as Mick had booked a flash hotel compared to the two previous B & B's.
Lincolnshire sausages for dinner tonight.
Sandringham, is the Norfolk retreat of Her Majesty, The Queen who spends Christmas there with her family every year.
It was built in 1870 by the Prince and Princess of Wales (later King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra). Sandringham has been passed down as a private home through four generations of British monarchs and is now the country retreat of Her Majesty The Queen and His Royal Highness, The Duke of Edinburgh.
The countryside on the way to and around Sandringham was quite beautiful with lots of trees shading the roads. We knew we were getting close to Sandringham when we spotted an ornate wall that seemed to go on and on eventually arriving at the entry to Sandringham.
The sun was shining brightly in a cloud free sky as we joined the small queue at the entry booth. The cost for entry was £12 each but we got in for £10 as seniors which entitled us to entry to the grounds, the museum and the house..
During the house visit, we were allowed into all the areas that are used by the family and we were very impressed with what we saw. Every area had an expert guide to explain everything in each particular area. We asked one of them if they get bored talking about the same things all the time and she said no, because every 30 minutes we move to the next room.
Unfortunately, no photography is allowed inside the house which is a pity as a picture is worth a thousand words.
Apart from the many paintings, there were many family photographs on the walls spanning years of family life. These were fascinating.
The clocks were very interesting as well as there are 320 of them and they all require winding every 7 days.
In the last room of the tour there was an enormous 40,000 piece jig-saw puzzle created by a guy from Weymouth who spent 35 days creating it. It measures 6m x 2.5m and is believed to be the world's biggest hand cut jig-saw puzzle and contains 33 different pictures with a picture of the Queen as the centrepiece.
We then went outside for a walk around the immaculate gardens and grounds with lakes throughout. Lyn noticed some very large fish and Mick said they were European Carp which are a big pest in Australia.
We then visited the museum which is in what used to be the stables and saw a lot of historical items ranging from cars (many Rolls Royces), including children's toy cars which could be driven and ran on 12v battery power. There was even a toy replica of James Bond's Aston Martin. Now wouldn't our Grandsons like that.
There was a large room in the museum that contained many mounted animal heads including Rhino, animal skins, all sorts of stuffed birds and animals which had presumably been shot by the royals when it wasn't frowned upon as it would be today. Their focus these days is preserving wildlife.
The museum also contains much of the history of the Royals with well laid out boards containing detailed information which included the family trees which make very interesting viewing.
We really enjoyed the museum.
We then went to look at the Sandringham Church which is quite a small church within the grounds and where the royal family celebrate their Christmas.
After that we went to the restaurant for a cuppa then on to the gift shop.
All in all well worth a visit. The sunny weather really helped to make our visit more memorable.
After almost 3 hours of walking we headed off to the car and made our way to Swineshead, Bicker by Bicker in Lincolnshire.
Lyn ended the day happy as Mick had booked a flash hotel compared to the two previous B & B's.
Lincolnshire sausages for dinner tonight.
James Bond Aston Martin toy replica runs on 12v battery.
No comments:
Post a Comment