It was a rare sunny day and we thought it warranted a visit to Rufford Country Park in North Nottinghamshire. We have been many times before as we love the sights and scenery.
The park was once part of a 12th century Abbey and its estate. After the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1536 the land and buildings began a slow transformation into a country house estate. By the 20th century it had become run down. It was 1952 when an attempt to salvage the abbey began, but it wasn’t until 1969 when it became a country park and a park ranger service was set up.
As it was the weekend we had to pay £3 to park. We didn’t have a look in the Orangery or it’s gardens this time round. The main reason for this was the freezing cold wind, so we didn’t want to hang around for too long. It may have looked nice with the sun shining but Emma had to stop and put on a third pair of socks!
We bought a takeaway tea from the little cafe at the far end of the lake. The queue was so long we were still shivering outside while waiting. I wondered what the hold up was and it appeared to simply be people in front of us being slow and not knowing how to add milk to their tea and coffees!
We continued our walk around the pretty lake, stopping on the bridge to enjoy the view and the warmth of the sunshine, now that the wind had eased. It felt quite peaceful listening to the ducks quacking, people chattering and cars driving through the ford, as a crowd of people watched and waited for the next big splash.
We had a wander round the ruins of the abbey, as we do every time we visit, enjoying the views over the grounds and reading about it’s history. It ended up being a lovely Sunday afternoon visit to Rufford, although the weather took an unexpected turn. We went to the toilet and when we came out, the sun and clear skies had been swallowed up by thick cloud and snow! It came out of nowhere so it was lucky we were leaving.
Where The Wildings Are 