Bluebells as dusk approaches. The Graffham Camping and Caravanning Site is in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, adjacent to protected ancient woodlands, the footpath the the village takes you past the bluebells. On the Thursday night we decided to take the footpath to the village and have dinner in the pub. We took torches so we could walk back. There was meant to be a new footpath to obviate the need to take the road for part of the distance but although this started out brilliantly, it soon turned into more of a wade through overgrowth trying to avoid scratching our faces on the barbed wire as we had to squat-walk through low branches of overgrown shrubs. Fine (other than the damaging clothes or self issues) for me in my wellies but not so great for M&C in walking boots as the water level higher than C’s boots and quite how M stayed dry I’m not sure, maybe more tightly laced.
Bluebells were a lovely and promising start to the walk though 
.
Dinner at the pub was good too . The walk back was easier as we reverted to the original track and paths that necessitated a short distance of road walking. I liked the evening – I thought it was an adventure and I got to have a couple of beers too. My family weren’t so keen. They prefer the option that means I have to drive ;-).
Friday morning we drove out to Petworth to find Tiffins Tearooms for breakfast. This was successfully located and a very enjoyable and hearty breakfast consumed . We then walked around the town (it’s very small so didn’t take long). Liked the original turnstiles:
Wandered around sufficiently to deduce that Petworth must be the antique shop centre of the south east. It has a cottage museum open afternoons only that I wanted to visit so mooched until Summer Bay had arrived, went back to the campsite for tea and help erecting the awning.
Our little tent on the pitch next door:
Track leading to the six jumbo pitches in our area of the campsite. Due to the rains the managers had to cancel the bookings for much of the site. The ground was totally waterlogged. Meant it was quieter than it would otherwise have been:
Awning up and tea drunk we went back to Tiffins Tea Rooms for a cream tea as M&K hadn’t had lunch – I naively thought that would mean they would have something savoury but they were seduced by the counter display 
. Scones were excellent, large, delicious and warm .
Then to Petworth Cottage Museum.
“Welcome to this Leconfield estate-worker’s cottage once the home of Mrs Cummings, a seamstress at Petworth House. Furnished as in 1910 it has a ground floor scullery and sitting room, with a kettle boiling on the coal-fired range. Upstairs there is a sewing-room and a bedroom, and on the top floor an attic bedroom. The walled garden is filled with plants of the period.
There is no formal display. Everything has its particular function and illustrates Mary Cummings’s lifestyle.
The stewards welcome visitors as if to their own home, and the friendly atmosphere is regularly remarked upon.
The Petworth Cottage Museum is now included in Sir Simon Jenkins’ significant book “England’s Thousand Best Houses” in which the author describes the cottage as “an immaculate portrayal of working-class life in a settled small town before the Great War”. For an invitation to take a photographic tour of the Cottage Museum please go to our website.” [www.petworthcottagemuseum.co.uk]
I spent too much time looking and exploring to take photos. The volunteers were excellent, informative and friendly, explaining anything we wanted explaining but not being sermon like. Super museum. Still feels as though Mrs Cummings lives there and has just popped out for 5 minutes. Thoroughly recommend it.
Playing Bananagrams in Summer Bay. I like Bananagrams. No waiting for my turn .
Saturday we had a late start and an aborted trip to the Weald and Downland Museum as we mistakenly thought their Food and South Downs Fair was on, finding when we pulled up that it was Sunday/Bank Holiday Monday not Saturday/Sunday. So changed plans to go to Amberley Working Museum instead.
We lunched there and would recommend you take a packed lunch as the food is overpriced for what it is. £8 for food that would be around the £5 mark in other places we’ve been to. Toilets were not great either, broken toilet seats and the hand towel dispenser front was on the floor.
However, we loved the museum. It is huge, far bigger than I’d anticipated.
A wall of valves was pointed out to me. The week previously, I had not followed properly a conversation that started with discussing speakers but seemingly moved on to valves without me noticing. I had then been given an overview of valves (but not understood). These are all valves:
The next two images provide an explanation. I just don’t think I’m interested enough to try and follow it. If I wanted to learn I think I would be able to understand. Given I don’t understand, I surmise I don’t want to learn .
The museum has huge collections of all sorts of things:
As everyone else wanted to take the bus (a museum exhibit along with the train that will take you from one end of the site to the other (no additional charge – I like places that don’t have additional charges)), I explored the nature trail with a Bodger’s Camp. Apparently pole lathe turners were known as bodgers and this is how they may have set up their camp when away from home (18th and 19th century bodgers in Bucks). The bodger produced the legs and spreaders used by local Windsor chair manufacturers and this is where “bodger” comes from as they just made a part for another craftsman who produced the final article.
I found my family in a large shed full of narrow gauge trains and carriages. There was also an enthusuastic volunteer there who spent a lot of time with C.
I liked this sign :
A bomb shelter:
The electricity hall was similarly packed full of interesting things. Sinclair C5 (two of them):
Lots of hands on stuff.
Electric car:
Can you get the batteries working?:
Walls of plugs and a task to try and connect the right plug to the socket. Fun for all ages, think everyone got involved trying this one!
I am sure I remember sockets like this in my Grandmother’s house!
Types of electricity:
A portable bath. Thought of sending it up to Nic on Rum .
Switches to make things go:
And Household Goods Memory Lanes:
There is a large Faraday cage containing high voltage equipment that we also got to see working. Obviously far more exciting seeing in real life than through my poor pictures!
Wimshurst machine:
Jacob’s ladder:
Tesla Coil. Quite impressive story provided to us of Nikola Tesla. Certainly can see why his neighbours thought he was a bit bonkers.
The Telecommunications hall has a manhole cover you can see both above and below ground – much cleaner and dryer than in reality. Also only saw one rat (not real!) running along a service tunnel across the hall’s floor. Lots of telephones and Mum and I remembered we once had a white version of the piano phone:
We played at being telephone switchboard operators. There are telephones set up that you can call – not sure how many dial phones C has seen. Dial phones seemingly more fun to use.
C sent a Telegram from the postoffice. You could see her message flying across the ceiling in a perspex tube to land on the other side of the hall (we all went across) where C retrieved it, keyed it into one machine and saw it come out of another whereupon it would have been stuck to a card and delivered by a Telegraph boy.
My highlight? Calling the Police box and making the light on the top go .
Ironmonger’s Store:
Print Workshop:
Far too much to see in a day. M and I walked back up to the top, leaving the others to wait for the bus. This took us past the bus station and another very enthusiastic volunteer who let us clamber all over their newly restored bus and let me have a go at making the air pressure bell ring. I didn’t make a good ring as it is old and you need to thump it hard. I was too scared to thump it too hard! What if I broke it!
The next day we resumed our attempt to visit the Weald and Downland Museum with the Food and South Downs Fair with added medieval enthusiasts from Pelican-in-her Piety.
I love the Weald and Downland Museum. This was our third visit. The buildings that have been brought to site and restored are incredible. As I was walking back down from Pendean Farmhouse having gone up there to see the piglets, the cluster of buildings below me pulled me back in time and the modern day visitors escaped my eyes. The addition of the Fair meant there were yummy things to eat and buy to eat later. If we’d had time I would have liked to have explored the activity centre, where you can practice different methods of building construction. It’s meant to be for the children but wouldn’t stop me having a go!
The only thing I regret is that we we cannot get back down for the “Cutting your Cloth” exhibition about the progress of the museum’s historic clothing project that has been running for 5 years.
The following morning we broke camp in excellent time given how sodden everything was. Filthy too as the heavy rains meant the mud splattered up . Not grumbling too much as we had made the best of the weekend despite the weather and at least it wasn’t raining when actually packing up.
We then headed out to Midhurst for a scrummy full English breakfast then went to Cowdray, a historic Tudor Nobleman’s House that had been recommended as a place to visit on the Kentwell Forum. We listened to the audio tour as that had been particularly recommended, we would endorse that recommendation, at least for the children’s tour as I listened to that alongside C. The film was excellent. Probably the best tourist attraction film I’ve seen. The staff were friendly and can’t fault them. The only possible criticism is that I do prefer to explore on my own and they had an exceedingly enthusiastic volunteer who then followed me around after we’d come across him in the kitchen and talked about lots and lots of interesting and relevant things but stopped me just absorbing. I guess most people would appreciate his time and I did too but y’know, just a little less of it . Am sure the same is said of me.
The most notable owner was Anthony Viscount Montague who wrote “A Book of Orders and Rules”, possibly a little late as from 1595 but maybe still pertinent to Kentwell time (1556) this year:
but with a conviction and prison sentence ending for the illegal importers 
