The CBB :: View topic - A Half Term Excursion

#1: A Half Term Excursion Author: Xanthe, Location: London/Cambridge

Posted: Thu Apr 20, 2006 9:52 pm

“Mary, Mary, quite contrary…” I must not hum abstractedly. It makes me look like I might be a bit mad. In the worrying “pat her gently then put her in a nice padded room” sort of way. Anyway, I need to be alert & taking-an-interest. I am a historian after all, and thus at risk of being expected to actually know something. Sadly not the case very often, but that never seems to deter people. We do not have a particularly nice day for our outing & in fact ended up sprinting, in the hail, for the last 100 metres or so to the house, and we are now standing, dripping gently in the entrance hall. All of us have waved membership cards at the women standing behind the desk, and because some of us have no shame we are now clutching worksheets about the historic property we are visiting. After a small-but-promising poking-fight with the ends of our pens, Rosie and I have each been handed over to a responsible adult and we move through the entrance hall into a large room where a tour group is standing, clustered round their guide.

“Yes, it was very sad, a tragic accident, but we don’t really talk about it,” the man, his moustache practically bristling with righteous indignation spluttered, “I mean, we’re the National Trust.”
“So, are there stories of his haunting the place, a restless spirit, all that sort of thing?” despite the fairly obvious signs that Mr National Trust does not wish to continue the discussion (he’s an interesting purplish colour & his moustache seems to have developed a life of its own, in which it is a flamenco dancer) his questioner presses on “was there ever any suggestion of foul play?” With a noise EXACTLY like a Mr Wilkins explosion in the Jennings books, the National Trust man storms from the room. The small group of CBBers (who are, after all, only human, plus some imaginary animals, obviously) cannot help but stare a little, as he is replaced by the woman from the desk, who politely but firmly declines to answer any questions relating to the most recent occupants of the property, and instead directs the attentions of the group towards the pattern on the carpet by the fireplace.

From the next room, the view of the gardens is amazing. The torrential downpour has slowed to a light drizzle and there is enough of a suggestion of sun for a faint, hazy rainbow to have formed in the distance. Kathye and Rosy are happily coveting furniture, and we amble round at a leisurely pace, a little ahead of the tour group. To my immense joy, there is a hands-on section, designed so that adults can play as well. I think they are really supposed to be interacting-with-their-small-children, but we are not turned away despite a lack of attendant infants. The woman in charge of the room invites us to handle all the 1930s artefacts on display, and presently there is a great deal of giggling as we discover the dressing up clothes. In a few minutes the entire party is transformed & highly entertained. Somewhere, down the corridor, a recording is switched on, and the strains of a jazz-band just about reach the room we’re in. We stop dancing, hurriedly, when we realise we have an audience. A slender elderly lady, whose black eyes are sparkling with interest, is watching our somewhat unorthodox performance from her wheelchair, and what I can only assume are members of her family are grouped round her, also observing us.

Excellent. So I have now been seen, loon dancing, dressed like I am an extra in “Goodnight Mr Tom” or something. Oh good. They don’t look as if they are about to embark on a mockathon though, which is good. “This used to be the nursery,” the old woman says, her voice clear & sweet, and the small crowd surrounding her look about appreciatively. “And it was in the room just off here that I got the shock of my life, delivered, would you believe it, by a snail.” It may be rude to eves-drop, but I can’t help it, and the mental image of a snail, leaping from behind a curtain, bellowing “boo!” causes me to giggle. “It certainly wasn’t at all funny at the time,” the elderly woman said, and before we know it, we’ve been drawn into an entire series of tales about the house & her life generally.

We go our separate ways presently, and as we continue on our way through the house everyone is looking slightly mildly puzzled, as if trying to work something out, something that is a little perplexing. The sun has thoroughly defeated the drizzle by the time we emerge into the gardens to look round, and we are soon joined on the terrace by the lady we met earlier, and one of her throng of family members. She is pointing to the flowers, and I am humming again “silver bells, and cockle shells, and Pretty Maids all in a row…”

#2: Author: Rosy, Location: Gloucestershire-London-Aberystwyth

Posted: Thu Apr 20, 2006 9:57 pm

Sounds like a lovely day.

You got me exactly. See the pretty furniture...

#3: Author: Kat,

Posted: Thu Apr 20, 2006 10:14 pm

Very sweet Xan - I like it lots *nods* As does monkey, yus.

#4: Author: Tara, Location: Malvern, Worcestershire

Posted: Thu Apr 20, 2006 11:23 pm

Oh, clever! It's the New Forest snail that started the SSM Very Happy

Great idea, Xanthe!

#5: Author: Cath V-P, Location: Newcastle NSW

Posted: Fri Apr 21, 2006 12:52 am

Loved the Pretty Maids allusion in the last line - it all fell into place then!

#6: Author: Ruth B, Location: Oxford, UK

Posted: Fri Apr 21, 2006 1:41 am

Yep, didn't get this until the last line 0 I thoughted it was Plas Gwyn for some reason! (stares at glass of red wine accusingly) Embarassed

#7: Author: LizB, Location: Oxon, England

Posted: Fri Apr 21, 2006 11:06 am

Oh, Wonderful!

Thanks, Xanthe Very Happy

#8: Author: Nell, Location: London, England

Posted: Fri Apr 21, 2006 11:13 am

Fantastic, thank you Xanthe!

#9: Author: Liss, Location: Richmond

Posted: Fri Apr 21, 2006 12:13 pm

Huzzah! Very fine!

Would the tragic, never-mentioned accident be Rolf, perchance?

I liked the set up with humming 'Mary, Mary...' at the beginning, and the final line... v. cool.

#10: Author: francesn, Location: away with the faeries

Posted: Fri Apr 21, 2006 12:37 pm

How very clever!

I loved the poor puzzled CBBers knowing that *something* was not quite there!

Thanks Xanthe

#11: Author: Vikki, Location: Sitting on an iceberg, freezing to death!!!

Posted: Mon Apr 24, 2006 5:13 pm

That was fabulous Xanthe! Thank you hunny! Very Happy

#12: Author: Tiffany, Location: madthesispanicargh

Posted: Tue Apr 25, 2006 1:22 pm

Ohhhh, how clever! Thankyou Xanthe!

The CBB -> Starting again at Sarres...

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