Helmingham Hall

I drove down to Helmingham Hall in Suffolk this morning, I think it was 2 hours to travel 64 miles! The hall itself isn’t open to the public, but the wonderful gardens are and it’s covered by my Historic Houses membership. I saw more butterflies, bees and dragonflies here than anywhere else this summer. I’ve added a collage of some flowers / produce. Then I drove to the nearby Suffolk Owl Sanctuary where as well as the owls in large cages, there  were rescued porcupines and also some meerkats. I listened to an interesting talk showing us the porcupines (Anna and Elsa) - I hadn’t realised they are rodents. Then there was a 45 min flying display with owls and eagles - they delighted in flying them very close to us, my hat was brushed by wings several times. Please see the collage in extras from my visit. I then drove to the Premier Inn I’m staying at for two nights and it all went downhill. Quick version: it’s being renovated (not on website), few parking spaces due to builders vans, the heating in my room didn’t work, no mobile signal and the wifi only worked in the corridor. No other room available. Complaints could only be made by phone and after 20 mins I was told it had to be to a team that not available until tomorrow. Complained to reception again and another room found which is ok. I’ll catch up with your journals when I get home. All photos here are from my phone.