First things first . Boscobel House is in Shropshire . Boscobel is one of those oddities in our small isle . The building , the house itself lies inside the boundary of Shropshire however part of the property and its land lie in neighbouring Staffordshire . The post address is Brewood which clearly falls into Statffordshire and the house has a Stafford postcode . So I have one foot in one county and one foot in the next . The house once belonged to the nearby priory . The White Ladies priory which we would be visiting next .
When we move we usually draw a circle of fifty miles from our home or one hours driving time . This is the limit we like to travel without taking our girl Gabby out for an overnight stay or a holiday away from home . Both Boscobel and White Ladies were within that fifty mile radius and easily achievable in one hour . We hate the drive to this part of Shropshire .It is a pretty enough county full of large country houses , small towns and green fields . But we have travelled it a few times lately and it
not our favourite run out . Boscobel was probably the last place we needed to visit in this part of Shropshire . I think I had been here before . Perhaps in the 1980s. I had a vague memory but could not be sure . Why were we here ? To see the black and white house where a king had been sheltered and to view the Royal Oak were he was hidden overnight before being spirited off .
The car park was relatively empty but then it was a Thursday and not the school holidays. We parked up by a deep pond full of yellow brandy bottle shaped water lilies . They reminded me of a picture I had once on a small card . The card was part of a collection of cards collected out of PG Tips tea . The flowers of Great Britain . The reception was and the guide asked for our Cadw cards and perused them . He checked the fronts . He read the Terms and conditions on the back . Were we returning members ? Yes we had been members since ....... we couldnt remember how long . He put
the details in the machine . Happy that we could go in for nothing . Had we been members for just one year we would have had to pay half price entry . How he would have known that I will never know . The sun was beaming down and it was exceedingly hot and muggy . He brought out a guide book and showed us the map . Toilets next door . Watch out for the cobbles . Tea room across the yard . Be careful he said . They are cleaning the floors and there will large hose pipes everywhere . The door to the house is over there he pointed the way . In through that door and out through the other one . Then you to the pig sty with the rare breed pigs , the field with the rare sheep , the gardens , the Royal Oak and you can walk to the White Ladies Abbey . Full of all that information he tried to sell us the guide book. Never buy one as they are expensive and would never save them or read them again so declined politely and moved off .
Breakfast or brunch first . Hot cappacino declared not the best that the driver had ever had . A double espresso . and excellent and a large bap filled with melted brie cheese, oozing cranberry sauce and smoked bacon . We declared it delicious as we sat on our own in the small cafe .
Following brunch we looked at the stables which were full of old farming implements kept from the Victorian heyday of the farm . All perfectly preserved they told a story about life in rural England over a hundred years ago . The house was the epitome of Elizabethan charm with small windows and white walls with black wood between . The more modern Victorian additions were just painted black to blend in with the old house . A group had congregated in the first room and were listening to a guide who was dressed as a servant told the story of the house and its history . We stopped for a while and piped up that we were probably Puritans and Roundheads . We probably would have supported Cromwell and not the Crown .
