Rufford Abbey

After a great initial start to the British Summer the month of August has been awful, finding me swapping out my sun cream for an umbrella. Before Summer well and truly slips into Autumn I'm going to make the most of the little sunshine we still have and the longer days by getting outside. 

Rufford Abbey set on the edge of Sherwood Forest (Robin Hood Country) is a favourite of ours. The best bit it's free for everyone to enjoy. 

The Abbey dates back to the 1170 and the grounds make me feel like I have stepped onto the set of Downton Abbey. 

I can't say I have ever spotted the Crawley family whilst on the grounds, but I can well imagine them walking around the beautiful buildings and 150 acres of woodland and gardens. I love the feeling of walking in the steps of a previous generation. 

Talking about generations our son now loves nothing more than walking holding his own reins; well not really walking, its a cross between a trot stumble and sprint all rolled into one. He only has one speed and that is not so leisurely. So what was once a gentle stroll around the lake is now a race whilst fretting about him harming himself. 

When you look at these beautiful pictures of the lake picture me chasing after a mini person on reins. But the good news is they tire out eventually and Rufford Abbey has some wonderful nature to revel in. 

So if you ever find yourself in the East Midlands you must pay this little gem a visit it truly is everything that you would want for a truly British day out. 

How have you been enjoying August? Share in the comments below. 

www.parkwoodoutdoors.co.uk

www.english-heritage.org.uk

A beautiful oasis outside of London

London is a vibrant City. Whilst I love its busyness sometimes working and living in the same space can become too much. 

The Royal Horticulture Societies Wisley Garden less than an hour outside of London, offers the perfect setting to spread your wings. 

Over 240 acres of beautiful and relaxing gardens set in the English Surrey countryside, Wisley is the perfect place to blow away the cobwebs. 

The large glasshouse the same size as ten tennis courts offers a wonderful oasis of Orchids, tropical and desert plants. 

One of the highlights for me was walking through the meadows of Allium Camassia, breathtakingly beautiful at this time of year. 

And walking around the lake, if you keep your eyes pealed you might even spot a few wonderful pheasants secretly hiding in the undergrowth. 

Wisley offers the perfect place to let the little ones loose to burn off some energy. Noah loves roaming around inspecting the plants, a future David Bellamy or Monty Don in the making. 

If you want to escape the hustle and bustle of London, then dust off your picnic basket and head down to Wisley Gardens for a great day out.

RHS Wisley Garden

Wisley Lane

Woking

Surrey

GU23 6QB

Where is your favourite place to escape? 

Polo in the Park

When we woke up on Sunday morning the sun was shinning brightly and we had the perfect plans for taking advantage of the nice weather, tickets to Chestertons Polo in the park.  

Now in its seventh year Chesterton Polo in Hurlingham park Fulham, hosts the largest tournament in Europe. Over its three days, six cities from around the world compete to win the coveted trophy.

For those of you who are new to polo it has a history going back 2,000 years, with famous players such as Genghis Khan and William Churchill. It is a game played at speed on horseback, with the aim of trying to score goals against the opposite opponent. Today Polo is played in over 80 countries.  

Sunday was the finals day with play-offs for 5th, 3rd and 1st positions.  

Our own London 'Mint' team (in white above) were involved along with others such as Abu Dhabi who were last years winners. What became quickly apparent was the frenetic pace of the game and awesome sounds of horses galloping past crowds only inches away from the side of the pitch. 

So close in fact that when a player scored they would ride around the outside of the pitch and high five the crowd.

Riders are gauged on their handicap with 10 being the highest with only a handful of players in the world reaching this level. The only handicap that I had was tackling the grass with heels.  

We observed a half time ritual, where the crowd are encouraged to come onto the pitch to stomp in the divots with their pineapple and pina colada in hand.

No British event would be complete without staple offerings like Pimms.There was a host of bars to refresh during the action: Pimm's Summer Party, Lanson Champagne lounge, Fentimans botanical brewed beverages and Mahiki cocktails.

There was also delicious food offerings for every possible taste.

We had a wonderful day at the Polo and will definitely be booking our tickets for next years event. It really is an experience to behold and well worth a booking if you get a chance. 

Just make sure you heed the advice. 

www.polointheparklondon.com

J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan

As a child growing up I would often have dreams that I could fly, the process was simple I flapped my arms, gained height and I was off. Flying anywhere and everywhere that my imagination would take me.

I am sure that some of this vivid imagination came from my love of books and reading. I could often be found nose deep in a book, growing up many of the children's books I read had a central character who could fly (Mr Majeika, The Magic Finger and The Magic Faraway Tree) so this helped to expand my imagination. 

One of my favourite books as a child was J.M.Barrie's Peter Pan. So when I saw that the Open Air Theatre in Regent's Park had an adaptation of Peter Pan, I got busy booking my tickets.

The Open Air Theatre is set right in the heart of the beautiful Regent's Park.

There is something rather magical about sitting out in the open air watching a theatre production. The theatre has covered dining, homemade burgers on offer and seating to have a wonderful picnic. 

The set design for the show was amazing, considerable thought had gone into making creative use of the space. The set designer Jon Bausor also designed the 2012 London Paralympics opening ceremony.  

I absolutely loved the use of clothing and household props and puppet design, throughout the show to create imaginative housing, under sea creatures (mermaids and fish), the crocodile chasing Captain Hook and the wonderful jealous Tinker Bell made out of oil lamps. 

The absolute highlight of the show had to be Peter Pan (Hiran Abeysekera).

Who managed to energetically sprint and fly across the night's sky with Tinker Bell (Rachel Donovan) and Wendy (Kae Alexander). Squint hard enough, you might just see Tinkerbell and the Lost Boys somewhere up in the night sky yelling at Peter Pan.

Peter with his unending childlike qualities and boisterous antics manages to have the audience eating out of his hands. 

Captain Hook (David Birrell) is artful at wielding his hook and a sword to frighten both his own pirates, the lost boys and the watching audience.

We had a truly wonderful evening, if you live in London or are visiting you definitely need to book yourself tickets. The Peter Pan show runs till the 14th of June so you will need to be quick. 

Regent's Park Open Air Theatre upcoming performances Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (16th July - 29th August) and Lord of the Flies (3rd - 12th September). 

WWW.openairtheatre.com

*Thank you to Tristram Kenton for kind use of the photographs

Norfolk Broads

There is something quite magical and tranquil about not being attached to land, escaping the hustle and bustle of London life and setting sail on the open water.

Last week this was exactly what we did (well without the sail), we climbed aboard our Royale Light boat for the week and had nothing but nature and the tranquil waterways of the Norfolk Broads to look forward to.

Here is our accommodation for the week:

Being in charge of a 44ft boat is really quite daunting but I shouldn't have been worried the boat was surprisingly easy to skipper, with side thrusters to help moor.

The Norfolk Broads has some wonderful ruins, windmills, wildlife and quaint towns to visit. 

Below is Benet's Abbey housed by the river Bure the site is a memorial to the monastery that used to dominate the area.  

Travelling along the banks of the Norfolk Broads you can view numerous beautiful windmills set against the wonderful countryside. 

The wildlife on the Broads is amazing. We spent many an hour watching the many birds, swans, goats and ponies meandering.   

We even saw this little chap hidden on the banks when navigating Breydon water. 

Some visitors came calling most days and were not shy at all. 

We travelled from the quaint little town of Potter Heigham to Norwich. 

Trying to navigate past rowers and sail boats at times became a challenge especially when they were out in force. 

We stopped for the day in Norwich for a lovely lunch and to visit the Cathedral. 

Standing for over 900 years Norwich cathedral takes centre stage in the heart of Norfolk.

It is quite an amazing building with beautiful architecture and adorned with stained glass windows. 

The top of the Cathedral is currently housing a soon to be family of Peregrine Falcons. You can find a live feed of the birds here. 

We had an amazing visit and I can't recommend enough the Norfolk Broads as a holiday perfect for nature lovers, those who seek adventure and families. 

Every evening we settled down for the sunset and I will definitely miss these the most now that I am back on dry land. What vistas.