change of plan for our week off - decided it would be a tad cold at night for camping in Norfolk, lovely days but cold nights.

Today us and the 3 dogs went to Hardwick Hall for a walk round the Estate, its about 15 minutes in the car from our doorstep so we left about 11am so we could nicpic in the Park. We walked from the Park car park, up to the Halls and through the newly revamped StableYards (now a lovely restaurant, gift and plant shop) and continued along Lady Spencer's walk and then back towards the halls and car parks.

    Hardwick Old Hall peeping over the

 treeline as we walked up the estate 

    on the left is Hardwick New Hall and

on the right is the Old Hall

Hardwick Old Hall is the original family home of Bess of Hardwick, she was one of the richest and most remarkable women of Elizabethan England. she had the Hardwick New Hall built later in the 1590s, literally a few hundred yards away.
I think English Heritage owns the Old Hall, you can still go in and have a look around, but you can also see some of the upstairs decorative panels from the outside.

two stags over an upstairs hearth.

 

One day we will go in both halls.

Murtle, my Beagle sticking her tongue out at the ball *g*

 

Spent a lovely couple of hours there and even managed to get some great photos for my Fungi collection. Obsessed much!

no idea what these are but there was a lot of clumps on this tree, and there was a lovely fragrant smell around them.

 

 

 

 

       this one is a Piptoporus betulinus -

 Birch Polypore.