So, today I wanted to share my trip to Hoghton Tower in Lancashire with you all.
Lately, my boyfriend and I have been struggling to find new places to go on dates too. In the last two years, we've been to a lot of places and done lots and though I like spending the weekends with him inside in front of the TV or playing games, I prefer to be out exploring places!
We have many places we'd like to visit on our list but some of them are too far to travel to or too expensive right now. Plus, the next few weeks are set to be very busy what with my 30th birthday and a week in Cornwall with my family!
My boyfriend discovered this Tudor house wasn't a far drive from his house, so we decided to go and check it out. You can only visit the inside on a tour and you had to book on to a time slot. That cost includes the gardens too or you can pay just to walk in those. Sadly, we didn't get to do the gardens as we ran out of time. There was a large car show event on the day we went and so we timed our arrival for the ending of that which was lunchtime.
We missed the tour we were aiming for and had to wait an hour for the next one. We were able to go into the courtyard and see the outside of the house. Because you had to pay to be in this area it wasn't so busy. The car show was being held at the front and the fields either side of the driveway.
There was a really nice tea room just off the courtyard and it was thankfully empty when we arrived. We had lunch and cake before our tour. The tea room also sells afternoon teas there but they seemed expensive to me and I was happy with my ham sandwich and rainbow cake!
In the tour group there was only like eight of us and the tour took nearly and hour and a half. There was no photography or phones allowed in the house. The tour guard we had was really good. He was full of history about the house and got everyone involved by asking us questions. For example; why when King James 1 came to visit he decided not to stay in the room prepared for him? And who was depicted being crowned on a tapestry?
My favorite part was when he told us that Hoghton Tower is one of the most haunted places in England and though he hasn't seen or felt a ghost there has been times when he's come into the first bedroom and seen the cradle there moving by itself.
You can actually take ghost walks in the castle in the autumn/winter and I'm hoping my boyfriend books one of those for us to do later on in the year!
Hoghton Tower as well as being visited by kings and queens also had famous writers to visit, namely, Shakespeare and Dickens. The tour guide told us its rumored that Shakespeare was a friend of the family and taught the children. On the other hand, it is know that Dickens based on of his short stories at the Tower which he visited when it was in some disrepair.
Close to the end of the tour and due to time, the group had to decided to visit the collection of dolls' houses or the priest hole and the well. We choice this last one which seemed more interesting. The house had many hidden holes and we got to see about three all together, though this last one you could really look inside it and get an idea of what it was like to have to hide inside.
The well was interesting because it was all inside and had a wooden mechanism to lower and rise the bucket. It was enclosed to protected from evading parties and insure the house had a supple of water. There was also a witch mark burned into the beam to keep evil away. The guide let some one drop a coin down and we heard after a good few seconds the splash of water.
The tour was really good and we learnt a lot!
I did mange to snap the below photos which were in a room and corridor from the tearoom to the toilets. Though the actual rooms inside the house were far grander.
This is a view looking into the gardens. I really wished we'd had time to visit them and the shop but we had only half an hour left after the tour and they had closed the shop early and my boyfriend was worried about traffic leaving the Tower.
I told him we'd have to come back one day to see the gardens and I'm sure we will.
So, if you are in the area of Hoghton Tower it's worth checking out! And that's it for today's post. I just want to leave you with a photo of my dog sunbathing. It's been really hot here for the last few days, surprisingly! And my dog is loving it. Me not so much though! I can't wait for it to get cooler again.
All photos belong to me.
If you want to check out Hoghton Tower here's the link to their webside; http://www.hoghtontower.co.uk/
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