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holiday picspam the fifth
I know, I know, these holiday picspams are going on forever! What can I say? We packed a lot into a week and I like taking photos and showing them off!
One of the places we went during our week in Norfolk was Bressingham, the home of Blooms, which is a nationwide garden centre chain. Heh, I visited the Cardiff branch just last weekend, in fact! Bressingham is the home of the original garden centre, though, established by Alan Bloom, with his sons Robert and Adrian continuing to build up the family business after him. But the thing about Blooms of Bressingham is that it isn't just a garden centre. There's the garden centre, sure...but then there's also the gardens of Bressingham Hall, which are stunning, and there is also a steam museum - and it is also the home of the Official Dad's Army Collection!
So, for a family with such intimate historical links to Norfolk's rich rail heritage, the steam museum was an obvious draw - and seriously, the moment we were through the door, my mother was suddenly 8 years old again. So many reminders of all the times her grandfather (Arthur, who I talked about in my last post) used to bring her to Norfolk to visit his family, by train because as a rail worker he had free rail travel. One of the exhibits is an old royal mail train - here's Mum waving out of it, full of stories about how Grampy used to take her for rides on the mail train, which was strictly against the rules, but he'd show them his pass and they'd let him on for a stop or two, grandchildren and all...
Mum could tell us all about how the mail train worked, no helpful signage needed - she's been aboard and seen it in action, the way the mail bags were hung up on hooks at the station and were snagged by the train as it passed, without even slowing down!
Another exhibit was this signal box.
When Mum was a little girl, she told us, one of the people she used to be taken to visit was Tom Slocombe, who was one of the many Norfolk cousins or second cousins or removed cousins or whatever, all she knew as a child was that he was family, one of those that Grampy always went to see when he was in Norfolk, and that he was a signalman - and that when they went to see him, he would let her work the points to direct the trains! Again, strictly against the rules, but what the rail company doesn't see...
This is Tom Slocombe with his wife Sally, a picture taken by my Grampy Arthur in 1949, before Mum was even born. Arthur was just 14 years old when he moved from Norfolk to South Wales, a journey that takes 6-7 hours even today, yet he remained close to the family there all his life.
Back to Blooms. There is a beautiful old steam carousel, which we all had a lovely ride on.
And two very sweet little steam trains to take visitors around the gardens
With all kinds of other relics of our steam-powered past scattered all around
We also had great fun wandering around some of the Dad's Army sets and props!
And Chelsea decided to stage a Singing in the Rain re-enactment...
And then there were the gardens, which are stunning
And there we have it - Blooms of Bressingham!
One of the places we went during our week in Norfolk was Bressingham, the home of Blooms, which is a nationwide garden centre chain. Heh, I visited the Cardiff branch just last weekend, in fact! Bressingham is the home of the original garden centre, though, established by Alan Bloom, with his sons Robert and Adrian continuing to build up the family business after him. But the thing about Blooms of Bressingham is that it isn't just a garden centre. There's the garden centre, sure...but then there's also the gardens of Bressingham Hall, which are stunning, and there is also a steam museum - and it is also the home of the Official Dad's Army Collection!
So, for a family with such intimate historical links to Norfolk's rich rail heritage, the steam museum was an obvious draw - and seriously, the moment we were through the door, my mother was suddenly 8 years old again. So many reminders of all the times her grandfather (Arthur, who I talked about in my last post) used to bring her to Norfolk to visit his family, by train because as a rail worker he had free rail travel. One of the exhibits is an old royal mail train - here's Mum waving out of it, full of stories about how Grampy used to take her for rides on the mail train, which was strictly against the rules, but he'd show them his pass and they'd let him on for a stop or two, grandchildren and all...
Mum could tell us all about how the mail train worked, no helpful signage needed - she's been aboard and seen it in action, the way the mail bags were hung up on hooks at the station and were snagged by the train as it passed, without even slowing down!
Another exhibit was this signal box.
When Mum was a little girl, she told us, one of the people she used to be taken to visit was Tom Slocombe, who was one of the many Norfolk cousins or second cousins or removed cousins or whatever, all she knew as a child was that he was family, one of those that Grampy always went to see when he was in Norfolk, and that he was a signalman - and that when they went to see him, he would let her work the points to direct the trains! Again, strictly against the rules, but what the rail company doesn't see...
This is Tom Slocombe with his wife Sally, a picture taken by my Grampy Arthur in 1949, before Mum was even born. Arthur was just 14 years old when he moved from Norfolk to South Wales, a journey that takes 6-7 hours even today, yet he remained close to the family there all his life.
Back to Blooms. There is a beautiful old steam carousel, which we all had a lovely ride on.
And two very sweet little steam trains to take visitors around the gardens
With all kinds of other relics of our steam-powered past scattered all around
We also had great fun wandering around some of the Dad's Army sets and props!
And Chelsea decided to stage a Singing in the Rain re-enactment...
And then there were the gardens, which are stunning
And there we have it - Blooms of Bressingham!
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