Weighing up the options

We didn't get out until the afternoon again today, and we spent most of it at Denny Abbey, which was actually very interesting! It wasn't really an abbey but an old farm house that was built partially out of the remains of the abbey and saw about a thousand years of changes and adaptations.

It's hard to explain it really, we barely understood it ourselves! Basically it started out as a small monastery for some monks from Ely, then a retirement lodge for Knights Templar, then a nunnery for the Poor Clares, and then a big chunk of it was converted into apartments for a duchess, and THEN it eventually became a farm. It's a gigantic testament to lazy building, with many corners cut and dodgy renovations made! Doors cut into doors, bricked in stuff everywhere, archways and stairways blocked off... it was fascinating trying to piece it all together! I don't think English Heritage have figured out much more than we did!

I haven't blipped the "abbey" as really it just looks like a really ugly farm house with some abbey bits cemented into the walls (because that's what it is)! But there was an interesting series of exhibitions in the farmyard part of the grounds (for the school kids!) about rural life in the early to mid 20th century. Mum & Dad were reminiscing about the various props on display, remembering (some!) of them from their childhood! I thought this shot of a 50s-style shop was kind of charming.

The weather has mostly played ball today though VERY windy. We were thinking of a walk down at the river at Ely but decided against that, we didn't have time anyway as we had to go on a Tesco supply run. Still, it was a good day as it turned out!