Burghley House

Burghley House, near Stamford, was built by William Cecil, the first Lord Burghley (1520-1598), Chief Minister to Queen Elizabeth I. It bills itself as "the largest and grandest house of the Elizabethan age." What is more, it is only 51 miles from Cambridge and therefore an ideal destination for a Thursday group trip.

One Thursday in October, Father Michael and JQ took the usual suspects up the A1 in two cars. We had egg sandwiches in the car park and a cup of coffeee in the restaurant, bought tasteful souvenirs in the  shop and toured the imposing house bursting at the seams with tapestries, carpets, paintings, furniture, scupltures and porcelain.

Later the same day we spent an enjoyable hour in the town of Stamford, billed as "Pride and Prejudice" country since 2004 when it featured as the town of Meryton in the film of Jane Austen's novel.  (The BBC's "Middlemarch" was filmed in Stamford in the summer of 1993 - "such is the completeness of what is proclaimed the finest stone town in England, that its popularity with film-makers and tourists alike is plain to see).

Burghley House also featured in "Pride and Prejudice" as "Rosings", the home of Lady Catherine de Bourgh played by Judi Dench.  In October 2005, scenes for the film of The Da Vinci Code starring Tom Hanks were filmed at Burghley.  The second film about Queen Elizabeth I starring Cate Blanchett used Burghley as the house of John Dee, the astrologer , mathematician and government agent consulted by the queen.

Left: Burghley House. Right: Burghley House. Centre: David, Michael, Norm, Nigel, JQ, Denise, David, Bruce and Sarah. Next stop Norwich on Thursday 6 December.