An advantage of belonging to the National Trust is that you have access to a wide collection of rest stops round the country that put any motorway service station to shame. The only time I had visited Attingham Park (near Shrewsbury) in the past was to pop in and use the facilities. However, it seems a shame to not get a little more out of the membership and so, when driving back from Wales today, I had a longer visit to allow me to explore the house as well.

If I got the gist of the history correctly, it is an 18th century mansion made much more grand in the early 19th century but then almost lost through overspending. It came into the hands of the National Trust in 1947 and makes an interesting visit although not, I think, somewhere I’d like to live even if I had the fortune to make it possible.

Worth a visit and – for the record – very decent facilities too!