B&B Weekend break, Arundel in West Sussex April
2006 - page 1
The captivating living and working Weald & Downland
Open Air Museum at Singleton, near Chichester was our first day's visit
during a weekend break in West Sussex. Then in the evening we
headed out to enjoy a yummy pub meal within walking distance of our
Arundel B&B guest house.
This is page one of two.
Arundel 1 | Arundel 2
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So this is the lovely B&B guest house near Arundel, West Sussex we
found, staying three nights for a long weekend break. We shared
it with two cats, two dogs, four chickens and a family of
rabbits! The hospitality was excellent and there were three good
pubs for evening meals within a 20 minute walk - and we tried all
three, wey hey, ideal!
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Belinda sported her new short hair style on the sunny patio with one of
the guest house dogs after breakfast on the first morning of our short
break.
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Our first visit of the weekend break was to the fascinating Weald &
Downland Open Air Museum at Singleton, near Chichester in West Sussex.
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Here's the Downland Gridshell, a workshop and store for the living and
working museum. But we were way too early for the 1.30pm tour and
demonstration so...
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...we wandered through the grounds and came across this family of
piglets with Mum. Mike lost count of the number of 'ahhs' Belinda
uttered! We walked for ages along the museum's firm tracks.
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Period characters at the Weald & Downland Museum were leading a
sleigh pulling horse here; we couldn't quite work out what the purpose
was, especially as there was no snow in sight on this warm spring day!
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More "ahhs" here with the newly born lambs in this field, with Bayleaf
Farmstead in the background, one of almost 50 conserved old buildings
at the Weald & Downland Open Air Museum. Next up...
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...we sampled the produce made by the demonstrators in one of the many
historic buildings dating from the 13th - 19th century, all rescued
from destruction and authentically rebuilt, right down to...
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...the shaky stairs in one of the ancient buildings. We certainly
got plenty of exercise on our absorbing visit to the Weald &
Downland Museum!
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This reconstructed school was originally from West Wittering, Sussex
and was in use prior to 1851. And no, Mike doesn't remember it
well!
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After a fair bit of yet more walking we finally reached the historic
Market Square, complete with its Market Hall and medieval shops, in the
main area at Weald & Downland Open Air Museum in Sussex.
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Plumbing, building and carpentry were all trades demonstrated by the
ever helpful period characters doing live demonstrations. Check
out our UK tourist resources
for the museum's website.
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Mike tried the hands-on activities by having a go at building something
with bricks - he said it reminded him of his childhood Lego.
Hmmm, whatever!
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This is the impressive 17th century working watermill. We entered
and saw how the stone ground flour used in the museum café was made by
the millers.
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Next we fed the ducks on the pond with some animal feed we bought at
the mill. That odd contraption in the background is a wind pump
and in front a water skiing duck whooshed in for a feed! Our
visit to the splendid Weald & Downland Open Air Museum cost £8.
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We mentioned earlier something about pubs near our Arundel B&B
guest house. Well, here's the Holly Tree at Walberton where we
enjoyed an excellent evening meal. Next up on our weekend break: Arundel Castle and Wildfowl & Wetlands Centre
>>>
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Arundel 1 | Arundel 2
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