Hello All

Mum/Tina has been on the job keeping you up to date on our movements...so I won't go back over any of that...

A couple of little insights that I have found interesting..

These national trust and Historic Houses assoc properties are really quite mind blowing. ...not just the size, but also their history and the incredible way they have been preserved.

As mum mentioned we spent a couple of hours at Blenhiem palace on the way up here..to .Burwell

Blenhiem has been passed down through the Dukes of Marlbough since Queen Anne gave the first Duke the money to buy the land and build the Palace. I know it sounds like filthy wealth, but it's also interesting to see how it has survived/thrived over 400 years. the current Duke - the 12th -and his lovely wife are probably in their 40's and still live there...as well as other houses around London.

Each day they have about 2000 visitors and they employ over 1000 staff to run the palace and the farm!! On top of that there must be dozens of volunteers who show the visitors around the building and explain the history.
While Blenheim is on the larger size of average of all the historic properties, it is probable that more 600,000 people visit these properties in the UK each DAY and collectively they employ around 300,000 staff on top of the volunteers....last time I counted the equivalent numbers for 1685 Malvern rd glen iris seemed to be somewhat less.....

The other bit of trivia......on Monday when we met Paul in Cambridge we went for a Punt...not at Ladbrokes but on the River Cam which runs through the town. The story goes that the early settlers found that the river crossing was proving difficult...so they built a bridge which still exists and we saw it. ...and guess what that's how the town got its name Cam ...bridge!!!

As you know I have joined the famous Romsey Golf Club, but haven't had much chance yet to test my skills. The Golf Pro has already given me on tip " Always wear 2 pairs of socks....in case you get a hole in one..."

I'll go now

Cheers

Dad/tony