Advent 19

I am sure it is a phase that all children go through but Daughter Number 2 was particularly keen on questions beginning 'What's your favourite ......?' She would usually and mischievously end an interrogation with 'Who's your favourite daughter?'

Well, today in answer to 'What's your favourite National Trust property?', I present Cragside in Northumberland. Built by William Armstrong (later Baron Armstrong of Cragside - the first industrialist to be ennobled) it is a phantasmagorical piece of architecture set amidst vast gardens and forests artfully sculpted. The grounds incorporate the mechanisms of the country's first ever domestic hydro-electric supply. And for children of a certain age and disposition (as DN2 once was) there is a very fine adventure playground. What's your favourite playground?