Brandon Country Park

The missus was tackling the Ironing Mountain. Not her favourite chore. "KEEP AWAY FROM THE IRON - IT'S HOT!!" was being shouted for the umpteenth time. I'd got the chicken in the oven and the timer set and the vegetables all prepared. I approached the dragon's lair. "Whatever it was you were about to ask me, the answer is no!". That was before I'd even opened my mouth. "Well, what I was going to say was, would you like me to take the kids out somewhere?". "Ah. In that case, the answer is yes."

As you may have noticed it was a bit wet today. What I needed was somewhere that would not be too muddy. (Coming back with a complete set of clothes for the washing machine and subsequent addition to the Ironing Mountain would not be popular). Preferably somewhere where it would be possible to escape to a cafe or visitor centre if the heavens opened. Somewhere that, including car trip, would take a couple of hours and get us back just in time for lunch, by which point, hopefully, erosion (or the missus) would have conquered the Ironing Mountain...

Brandon Country Park - the very place. We hadn't been there for a while. The Breckland soils are very sandy so the paths shouldn't be too muddy. And there's a visitor centre. (Oops. I had a bit of a Senior Moment here, forgetting that it was being rebuilt and there was only a temporary portacabin until the work was finished). So off we went. And it even stopped raining. (That was lucky!)

If you like trees, Brandon has an amazing variety, thanks to Edward Bliss - you can read about him on the Brandon Heritage Project website. But it also has some natural heathland areas too. It is great in the autumn for mushroon hunting - one of the best sites around.

I rather like the walled garden with its well and snake maze...
By the way, that green hedge-like thing is also a snake, and if you are small enough you can walk along its inside.

We went along to the lake in front of Brandon Park House...
...to look for tadpoles. Last year, when we went one time, we saw zillions of little frogs hopping around the edge of the lake. Sure enough, the water was full of them.

We then went in search of the bamboo, which we found, but we couldn't find any pandas. There weren't any there last time either. I'm told that they are quite shy, though - that must be it. I wonder where the one that Eats, shoots and leaves lives?