The Parlour

[Lesley Jones]

From the mill (which I loved), it was a very short drive to the other place (which I didn't). I won't name it here, but it wasn't Chatsworth. The place itself was lovely, but the welcome was less than warm. As I parked, there was a sign about no large bags or rucksacks. I looked at my little carry bag and thought I would be OK. Not so. After I paid at the entrance, I struggled up loads of steps to the gatehouse. The last one proved too much - they were very worn and my tired legs couldn't cope with the odd angle. I made a rapid descent backwards... thankfully to be caught by a couple coming through the gate. We were all stopped and asked to hand over our bags. Now people out for the day might have a few odds and ends, but I was carrying my camera, filters, batteries and all the money for the trip. Anyway - I had a kiddies rucksack. Not good enough I was told. I had to hand over my bag. I protested enough to be offered a plastic bag. I nearly walked away, but I was so tired that I needed the facilities they offered - toilets and a cafe where I could sit down. I went into the gatehouse where I transferred my most valuable items and started looking around.

They seemed OK with people using small cameraphones, but because I was using a large camera and shooting non-standard views, I got a lot of funny looks. One thing that made me laugh was the fact that they had prevented visitors from sitting on the furniture by placing a single thistle on every single chair. I nearly photographed one, but I thought I might get thrown out for that.

This little room was quite nice though

 

[Dave Green]

Nice pic that!

They do the Teasel thistle thing at a few NT places round here - and none of them allow photography indoors anyway!

 

[Lesley Jones]

Ah... so it sounds as though I got lucky. I checked out their web site before going and they do seem to encourage images on a Flickr group. The no bag rule seemed crazy though. The rooms were mostly empty save for large pieces of furniture against the walls. When I got back to the gatehouse there was a different lady. She handed over my bag, but I simply couldn't open it up and put things back without a table. (I couldn't even kneel after the previous day). I asked to use the room behind, but she refused and told me to "just tip it in".

I kept the plastic bag...

 

[Pete Askew]

Well at least you got a super sot out of the day. And name and shame them Lesley, then we can vote with our feet!

 

[Beth Carter]

great photo, wonderful light and textures. and lots of brown.

no bags? really? guess they're afraid someone might steal a thistle. in most of the historical places around america (yea, that'd usually be like a 200, maybe nearing 300 years old tops) they just rope off entire rooms or put plexi glass over the doors rather than thistles on the chairs.

 

[Paul Lange]

Lovely lighting Lesley. Often the interiors of historic buildings are kept dim to preserve the interiors and the items they contain. This means you often get really nice light near the windows. There's a few NT places near me and they put thistles on the chairs but that's because they're antiques, I presume it was the same where you were. Although I have been asked to leave my tripod at the door I haven't been asked to leave you rucksack behind at a NT place. The reason for the tripod being left behind was that they had a few instances where stuff had got knocked over. I can only presume that it had happened with bags at the location you mentioned. However, I'm sure that issue could be solved by asking people to hold them in their hands below waits level.