A Double Visit

This weekend I have made two visits to the same property simply by chance. Dyrham Park is situated north of Bristol and Bath and owned by the National Trust. It is situated just right if you are looking for a place to stop when travelling along the M4 being only minutes from the Bath junction. This indeed was the reason for my second visit where I met up with friends who were travelling west.

 My first visit was to attend an outdoor performance of Shakespeare's The Tempest performed by the very talented group The Lord Chamberlain's Men. They are a cast as the name suggests of all men who not only double up on parts but also play the parts of the women in the way originally performed in Elizabethan times (only Miranda of course in the case of The Tempest).

I didn't take any photos during the production for which I kick myself. I did however take a picture of the set the following day which gives an idea of the beautiful setting.

We didn't actually wander into the rest of the garden that evening and I took these the following day and hence show the setting.

This was my first experience of open theatre at Dyrham but my friends are seasoned visitors. They arrived in the middle of the afternoon to secure a good position for the play. I was one of those cheeky spectators who turned up near the end of the queue and then plonked myself, my chair and my picnic by my friends in a saved space close to the front!
They were bemoaning the fact that they were unable to drive down this year but had to park in the visitor car park and walk. I knew no different and enjoyed the stroll through the parkland which gradually reveals the house against a backdrop of a panoramic view.

There was of course the walk back up at the end of the performance. There was a bus available but with two buses taking 70 each time and an audience of 600 we estimated a long wait. We consequently joined the trail up the hill. 

Some people had quite a load up with seats, cool boxes etc.

We enjoyed a similar walk back up the following day and enjoyed the company of some of the fallow deer on our way.

All very tame and used to people.