England - 2nd Week at Wychnor Park

Well after this week I have decided that I am just a country girl at heart. I have loved the week and everything that we did. It has been awesome. We left London on Saturday, June 6 after Bob picked up a rental car and headed north and a little west. We stayed at a timeshare called Wychnor Park which is north of Litchfield. The directions told us to leave the dual carriageway, go across a bridge and then it will be shortly after the stop light. Well, we did cross the bridge but kept going almost 1 ½ miles before we got to the stop light. And the road was a one lane through the country. The stop light was for the one lane road by a pond and through a type of arbor.






We thought we were in the wrong place but couldn’t turn around. I am glad we didn’t turn around though because we came upon the timeshare. Part of the buildings date from the 1500’s.





We stayed in the coach house on the second floor which had been added in the 1700’s.
Our accommodation was a lovely two bedroom/two bath unit that was comfortable and fun. The kitchen was even fun and interesting. The refrigerator and freezer were separate sort of like our under the counter ones but with more room in them. The washing machine was also under the counter. The hob (stovetop) had four burners and the oven was in the wall. There was even an apartment size dishwasher.

We found a very large grocery (Morrisons) a few miles further up the dual carriageway. There was also a McDonald’s where we got some free internet at the end of the week but there were no outlets so we had to operate on battery. Part of the resort activity consisted of some sort of a quiz each day. We tried to pick them up and found that some we knew the answers for and others were hopeless. One afternoon we had a history tour of the resort and learned about the beginnings etc. of the estate. It was fascinating. It became a time share in 1981. The front desk, office and check in area were located in the main house which dated from the 1500’s. There has been some damage, some fire and some changes but it was lovely. We even saw a pair of pheasant along the road.

We spent a day exploring Lichfield and loved the Cathedral. They said it is the only one in England with three spires.


We saw the homes of Charles Darwin’s grandfather Erasmus and of Samuel Johnson the author of the first English dictionary. The town was a hot spot during the England civil war times in 1642. We went to the street market and purchased our fruit and vegetables.

This building was built in 1510. The architecture was very interesting.
We were both glad that we had been watching a history course titled “England - From the Stuart’s to the Tudor’s”. It helped with a lot of the history.

We went to the British National Arboretum. It is a memorial for those who have lost their lives in service of the country like Arlington is for us. It is very new and didn’t open until 2000. There is a small chapel and the 12 log supports have a disciple carved on each one. This is for James.
And this is Matthew.
This storyteller carving was hand carved by different folks and made from old wood from church pews.


We spent an entire day in Stratford upon Avon the birthplace of Shakespeare.

We toured his birthplace home and the home where his oldest daughter Susannah and her doctor husband, John Hall lived.

We went to the church where Shakespeare, Anne is wife, Susannah and John Hall and are buried.

Then we went to the Anne Hathaway cottage which is the birthplace of Shakespeare’s wife.
It is the one with the thatched roof. The gardens were all beautiful.
We loved the bird chaser made from a potato and feathers.


We explored a little around the area and just drove through the small villages. We are getting dizzy from the round-a-bouts! Not really. Since Bob drove on the left with a left hand shift in Thailand it has not been hard at all. I just have to tell him “left” every once in a while. The signs are very easy to follow and we just count which exit out of the circle to take. We visited the marina at Barton under Needwood and looked at the long canal boats tied up at the docks. We are just waiting a couple of weeks until we are on one.