Just north of Nailsea, with Leigh Woods separating it from the Avon, Tyntesfield is a sprawling park around a Hogwarts-style Victorian mansion. The house is a mix of over-embellished themes, kind of sub-baroque but the many-splendoured rooms are interesting and comfortable. Later in the season the kitchen garden and the rose garden will be magnificent.
The estate is quite hilly and Clare more than once looked longingly at the NT courtesy bus.
One o'clock found us in a queue at the Pavilion cafe which looked a temporary affair housed in a renovated animal shed (and poorly signposted at that). We stood waiting with our hands full of scotch eggs and drinks as the two young NT staff tried in vain to fix the till. After five life-draining minutes Clare was the first to crack: "Couldn't you give us IOUs," she pleaded, "We're all honest people." So they did and we fed and they fixed the till and we paid. It would never happen in America.
Rain spattered our windscreen on the way back: I think our warm spell must be coming to an end.
