Woburn Abbey

 

A massive group of home educators descended on Woburn Abbey today. There were 55 of us in total which is a large group for us.

 

It was a glorious day and the boys were very excited to see the deer as we drove into the estate.

 

 

 

While the parents got organised with tickets and maps the kids played with some very charming old fashioned toys; hoops; quoits; connect four and noughts and crosses.

 

Caden had shrieked on the way in, when he saw the gardens, 'please can we go there Mummy?'. He loves nice gardens, so we took that direction first instead of going straight to the house.

 

I love country cottage flowers and these delphiniums were glorious!

 

The boys preferred the leaves that felt like animal ears. These are called 'Big Ears' but we have always called them 'Rabbit Ears'.

 

There was a lovely pond with ducks on and a Chinese styled building. Upon closer inspection we realised it was bubbling with carp.

 

The children who wanted one were given a 'Children's Trail' work booklet. It had tasks on, such as finding different coloured leaves and smelling, hearing and feeling things in the garden. Caden was pretty enthusiastic about this so we took on and set off to complete our challenge.

 

 

They saw a large tree and went off to feel the bark. They described it as scaly and warm.

 

They ran off finding things and smelling things and then they saw some sculptures in the distance. They both ran off so happily, skipping and flinging themselves around blissfully in the sun and the space. I reflected on how they could have been sat in a classroom at that time, waiting for another child who needed more time than them or waiting for several other children. They might have been unable to get up and run around or be in the middle of being told off for moving about when they weren't meant to (and needed to, little people need to move, lots!). I thought about what a privilege it is to spend all of my week days with them and not be cooped up in an office or a car myself. I realise that it is not for everyone but it is definitely for us, the three of us love home educating and we are so happy being together. It was such a profound moment and they were in a full flow of joy and movement!

They stood in between the sculptures and tried to do poses too!

 



We happened upon the Kitchen Garden. It was a lovely little walled garden with waterfalls of tomatoes changing colour gradually from green, through orange to deep red. Very difficult not to pick one and try it! There were every kind of traditional English vegetable, lots of herbs, berries and vines.

 

 

Caden picked some Rosemary and as he loves herbs, both eating and smelling, he walked around smelling it intermittently.

 

Miles did manage to snarf a few raspberries, I doubt anyone at Woburn Abbey would begrudge a three year old a few raspberries though. They looked very good!

 

We looked at an automatic watering system.

 

We found a folly and they climbed the walls.

 

We found a Chinese pagoda which was up a raised walkway. They are cheeky! They were shouting at random people walking below "We are higher than you!"

 

We talked about (and tested with yells) the acoustics in this structure that Caden found.

 

We talked about the way this building was built like a crown with a pointy effect around the cylindrical building. They said it was like a crown and it was... !

 

Then we stopped and had lunch and were accosted by some extraordinarily tame ducks! They were so tame I had to push their bodies to get them away from us. They are clearly used to stealing the food right from visitor's hands. The kids found this hilarious and ran off chasing them away shouting orange sauce and plum sauce!

 

They had a great play about with loads of friends after lunch. They played pirates and children of all ages joined into one game and took over a poor Hornbeam tree. Needless to say they loved it!

We found a beautiful tortoiseshell butterfly. They enjoy identifying creatures and plants.

 

 

Then, after lunch, we had a walk around the house. No photos were allowed. It was incredibly ornate and disgustingly gaudy. Some parts were beautiful but I couldn't help feeling that it was a great example of how the rich have so much (unfairly) and there are so many people with nothing. The thing is that the people who live there, did nothing to earn this. Their ancestors were handed the land by King Henry VIII and their children inherited it. It has a lot to do with showing loyalty to the King, the politics of the day and the culture.

 

Caden and I had been talking in the car on the drive there about equality and inequality. We talked about whether a human being is ever 'better' than another (he said they weren't). We discussed how wrong it seems that one person can have so much and many, many others have very little and struggle. I am glad he is starting to be woken up to certain aspects of our world. I don't feel that he will lose any sense of his childhood, he clearly has a very natural and fun childhood. It will help to develop his critical thinking mind though and perhaps help him to develop his moral self in a mature and well rounded way if he continues to think about these themes and see that the world is not simply 'how it is presented'. I would also like him to consider that the people who live in places like this are doing so at the expense of others. This shouldn't take away from the beauty of some of it. There was an very well cared for reference library in the house (why it couldn't be in a museum/university I don't know). Caden really loved the view from all the windows at the front of the house, he wasn't very interested in the antiques or the collection of silver toast racks (I kid you not!  The aristocracy clearly have more money than sense). Even the silver and gold collection in the crypt was not that interesting to them. I hope that continues, the pursuit of 'things' will not make them happy, fact!

 

Miles had fallen asleep at this point on my shoulder. There were lots of people around us dressed in their best, walking in a way that made me think they seemed to feel, for a short time, that the house was theirs! Funny!

 

Outside, I put Miles on the grass. He is a heavy lump now!

 

Caden chewed on a sprig of lavender he had picked.

 

He stroked Miles' head while he was sleeping.

Then he did a little bit of writing in his booklet. I was pleased he chose to write off his own steam. He wrote that the long grass was wet. I am happy with that!

 

Caden made a friend. They got on really well. A bright little lass who he played noughts and crosses with.

 

We had a good time at Woburn Abbey, the grounds and gardens are beautiful. I didn't think much of the house but there are interesting aspects and it gave us cause to have meaningful discussions about class systems, inequality and morality.  The cartwheeling man sculptures are wonderful and the boys got a lot out of the visit.