Jan & John Maggs

Antiques and Art

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Exploring historic English properties - Our 2024 National Trust Odyssey

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In the forty years we've been together, we’ve had the good fortune to have made nearly five dozen trips “across the pond,” during which, in addition to forming new friendships, we’ve learned a great deal about the English and their history, architecture, and furniture. Our side trips to Italy, Holland, Belgium, and France have complemented those interests and given us countless days of enjoyment.

One of our greatest joys in England has been visiting early homes that have been preserved by organizations like The National Trust and English Heritage. Early buildings which are open to the public, like Hadden Hall, Hever Castle, Knole, Hardwick Hall, and Little Moreton Hall have given us the opportunity to visit the past amid early architecture, furniture and furnishings - an extraordinary privilege.

We decided to make a select group of these early houses/museums the focus of our travels around the country. To keep costs our low and at the same time support an important institution, we purchased a dual membership in The Royal Oak Foundation, an affiliate of the English National Trust. For a little more than $100 we were given access to more than 500 protected sites, gardens, and buildings across the whole of England and Scotland for an entire year. For our Spring trip, we chose a dozen sites of particular interest to us and built an itinerary around them. Since our first group of buying appointments concluded near the Welsh border, we planned to begin there and work our way north, concluding in the Yorkshire Dales and the city of York. The experience was so rewarding, we decided to repeat the plan during our Fall trip, focusing on East Anglia and the southeast.

During our six weeks of touring, we took hundreds of images, planning to use them in upcoming newsletters. Because of the richness of the experience and the number of photographs we took, we’ve decided to break the story into seven installments, which we've listed here. Beyond being a simple overview, each acts as a link to the chapter of our story. Each is a link to the corresponding chapter of our tale, but we've also included a link to the next chapter at the end of every one. We hope that our story gives pleasure but also that it might inspire similar approach to your own travels.

Part I - Cotswolds to West Yorkshire

Part II - Cumbria and Lancashire

Part III - The Yorkshire Dales, York, and the Peak District

Part IV - London and Lewes

Part V - The Cotswolds

Part VI - Cambridgeshire, Suffolk, and Essex

Part VII - Ightham Mote, Knole, the Weald and Downland Outdoor Museum, and Eastbury Manor House

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