England's countryside is littered with old houses. Many of the historic properties are owned and managed by the National Trust, which also protects countryside and coasts.
For the bargain price of about $100, a family can join the National Trust and visit properties which normally have an admission for free. We've checked out a few homes so far, and my favorite is Greys Court, north of here in Oxfordshire. The house itself isn't particularly remarkable, but the gardens are lovely.
Ah, but the gardens. The English really know how to garden. The kitchen garden was a delight of flowers, fruits and vegetables. We learned that globe artichokes have beautiful purple blossoms that the pollinators love. I bought a little bouquet of flowers with accents of fennel that gave it a delightful and unexpected scent.
The man who gave us our map at the entrance told us the donkey wheel was not to be missed. So we checked it out. First we saw the horse wheel, more commonly called a horse-mill, a horse-powered mill whereby a horse or other animal walks around in a circle, pivoting around a central post and providing power for grinding grain or pumping water. So off we go to see the donkey mill, expecting a variation on that theme.
What we saw instead was a rare contraption that was in use from the 16th century until 1914. Water was pumped from the well by a donkey walking in what looks like a gigantic hamster or gerbil wheel. The donkey turning the wheel caused the bucket to go down in the well, come back up again, and dump into a tank. I left wondering how someone came up with that idea. Crazy, but it worked for centuries.
great pictures!
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