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Some of you may remember that last year, on the advice of Daphne http://daphnewaynebough.blogspot.co.uk/ I entered my story in the Saga magazine Life story competition.  After a few months I checked if it was OK to use it elsewhere and was asked to be patient a little longer as I had been short listed.  I then heard the results would be out in July and decided that I would have heard by now if I had got anywhere.  I determined – after the holiday – rather than sit around like tripe at four pence I would put one last big effort into getting it published.

Back home the phone was flashing madly - it was – D – one of the judges, to say he had emailed me, I was a runner up and was I happy about my details being in the July issue of Saga and could I get in touch for a chat; that it was out of 5000 entries and I had reason to celebrate.  The bubbly was open before you could say knife.

I don’t know how many runners up there are but am content in the knowledge that D liked it and would like to talk further when things have quietened down, which probably means a trip to London but as MTL says – ‘You’ll regret it if you don’t go.’

Back to the holiday at Cricket St. Thomas: - designed in the Regency manner by Sir John Soane, Cricket House is noted for its glorious Grade II- listed gardens of mature cedars, maples and yews.  In c1328 the manor was bought by Sir Walter de Rodney, ancestor of Admiral, Lord Rodney.  Then in 1775 the estate was acquired by Alexander Hood, second- in- command of the Channel fleet during the Napoleonic Wars.  The vice- admiral’s heir Samuel Hood, married Horatio Nelson’s niece Charlotte, whose uncle and Lady Hamilton were frequent guests in the house.  Do you remember that old film with Laurence Olivier as Nelson and Vivien Leigh as an unforgettable Lady Hamilton?

Cricket House was Grantleigh Manor in that much loved TV series ‘To the Manor Born.’  The estate is 1,000 acres and there is a twelfth century parish Church of St Thomas which features the brocade cloth which adorned the altar at the Queen’s Coro9nation in 1953.

The estate includes lakes and gardens, farms, wild life and a sweet little puffer to view the sights.  At the end of each day, as we returned from some outing MTL would drop me inside the gates and I would walk the mile back to the barn we were staying in – up hill and down dale, stopping to chat to the llamas and berate the naughty lambs for sneaking out under the gate.  It was bliss.

Trouble posting photos so can't label them at present but if you read the above it should make sense.
More later.