The first stop on our Historical Walk Through Ystad should have been at Charlotte Berlin’s Museum but when we arrived the Museum hadn’t opened so we resolved to return a bit later and reserve places on the 11 o’clock tour. This largely intact ‘mansion’ [according to the leaflet; but really it’s just a typical Ystad brightly painted, single storey house with first floor rooms in the high-pitched roof] offers an opportunity to view and gain insight into a Swedish 19th century home and its owner.
On our last day we had make the difficult decision as to what we would do and where we would go. We still had several “must-sees” on our list. In the end we settled on heading to the very northern tip of Rügen to visit two famous lighthouses and walk to the picturesque fishing village of Vitt. We would then drive and walk to a Neolithic burial ground (Nobbin). Travelling via the village of Altenkirchen we would then take the car Wittower car ferry over the Breetzer Bodden and finally visit the village of Gingst with its handicrafts museum, cafe and bookshop.
We caught the little road train from Putgarten to Cap Arkona
Gerhart Hauptmann (1862-1946) is another winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature. He was a German novelist, poet and playwright; although he was born and died in what is now Poland. I visited his former summer house on the island of Hiddensee in June.
The original gate entrance to Gerhard Hauptmann House and Garden
There’s a walk that I’ve been looking forward to doing for several years. I found it when searching for more information about The Manor House, Hemingford Grey the location of Lucy Boston’s book “The Children of Green Knowe”. More recently, I read about Lynne’s visit to The Manor House on her blog The Dovegreyreader Scribbles. The walk appeared to have all the ingredients of a pleasant morning out in the Huntingdonshire countryside. So, as I happened to find myself here in Huntingdon this morning, I decided to try it out.
The 5 mile walk starts from the National Trust car park at Houghton Mill where there’s a Tea Shop and it’s possible to borrow a copy of the walk.
Views of the House : Rear [above] and Front [below]
Today I travelled from Norfolk to Huntingdon via Audley End House and Gardens. It’s easy to spend a day there.
The Behnhaus-Drägerhaus Museum was totally unknown to me before my visit to Lübeck : but what a gem! Quite a big gem, actually. Just a few doors along Königstrasse from Willy Brandt House at numbers 9 to 11 the Museum/Gallery is housed in two adjoining classical mansions.
Here is a link to a very brief glimpse of the character of the museum.
Last August I visited Surrey on an Art Fund tour – Surrey Arts and Crafts. I only managed to write here about the afternoon we spent at the Landmark Trust property Goddards. But we did spend a whole day at Watts Gallery in Compton. The Artists’ Village is fascinating and includes an amazing amount of G F Watts and his wife Mary’s work.
The excellent Buddenbrook Book Shop
Lübeck is proud to claim three Nobel Prize winners among its residents: Thomas Mann (1875-1955) Nobel Prize for Literature in 1929); Willy Brandt (1913-1992) Nobel Peace Prize in 1971; and Günter Grass (born in Danzig in 1927 died Lübeck 2015) Nobel Prize for Literature in 1999. All three claim this Hanseatic city as their home. The writer Thomas Mann was born here and for the first 18 years of his life called this city on the river Trave his home. The politician Willy Brandt was also born in Lübeck and, similarly, spent his formative years in the Hanseatic city. The author Günter Grass moved to Lübeck at the age of 68 – to be, as he once stated, “closer” to Thomas Mann and Willy Brandt.
Yesterday I met my friend Ann at The Singing Ringing Tree. I had read about this sculpture or Panopticon, just over the border in Lancashire, in one of those magazines that you find in the pocket of your airline seat. It sounded fascinating. And indeed I can now say that it sounds fascinating too. The wind blows through the open pipes and amazingly creates music when you get close up to it (it’s a few 100 metres from the blustery car park).
Earlier this week I spent a few days in North Wales with two friends. We stayed in a lovely old Landmark Trust property, Dolbelydr, near Trefnant in Denbighshire.
Here’s an extract from the Landmark Trust website about Dolbelydr :
miladysboudoir 