It is my birthday today. How old am I? Well, I suppose a lady should never reveal her true age, so let’s just say early twenties.
When I was small, I was fascinated with the age of my grandparents. When asked how old she was, Grandma, without fail, would say “I’m as old as my tongue and a little older than my teeth”. That would leave me puzzled for days. I wonder whether Grandma ever noticed me staring in bewilderment at her mouth, trying to find clues.
Another ritual I had when I was small, as well as asking annoying questions of my elders, was visiting Newby Hall. There is a miniature train there which I loved. Some of my first memories are of the sound of the train changing in tone as it crossed over the brook and compelling, in fact generally blackmailing, my parents to let me stay on for ‘one more ride’.
So tomorrow, I am going to go to Newby Hall to ride again! One way of justifying my childish desire to go on the train again, that I think it will be interesting to do some background research for the second book in Hamish's planned series, has occurred to me.
When I was small, I was fascinated with the age of my grandparents. When asked how old she was, Grandma, without fail, would say “I’m as old as my tongue and a little older than my teeth”. That would leave me puzzled for days. I wonder whether Grandma ever noticed me staring in bewilderment at her mouth, trying to find clues.
Another ritual I had when I was small, as well as asking annoying questions of my elders, was visiting Newby Hall. There is a miniature train there which I loved. Some of my first memories are of the sound of the train changing in tone as it crossed over the brook and compelling, in fact generally blackmailing, my parents to let me stay on for ‘one more ride’.
So tomorrow, I am going to go to Newby Hall to ride again! One way of justifying my childish desire to go on the train again, that I think it will be interesting to do some background research for the second book in Hamish's planned series, has occurred to me.
Two weeks ago, Newby Hall was the backdrop for the BBC drama, Mansfield Park. I am going to find out whether visitor numbers or enquiries have been noticeably affected by the programme, as it was superb product placement. I'll be surprised if there has not been a positive effect, so it could be a nice anecdote for the book.
4 comments:
Happy Birthday! Enjoy your visit to Newby Hall
And....did the visitor numbers increase as a result of the product placement? Let us know!
Or do I have to buy the book?! Happy birthday btw hope you had a lovely day.
No book buying necessary! I spoke to Sascha, the Marketing Manager who confirmed website visits were up by approximately 50%, awareness of Newby Hall had improved in the local area and the first weekend's visitor figures were up on last year, but she stressed that could be weather related, as well as due to Mansfield Park.
However, unscientific as it is, I'm happy to say that that is just the beginning of a success story! Btw I had a lovely birthday - eating far too much chocolate cake - thanks!
God I actually managed to read through this crap solely because I'd searched fot a popular saying...
Oh well, turnes out that your Grandma wasn't that special...
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