Wilderhope Manor

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It was only a short drive from IronBridge to the 16th century Elizabethan manor house http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/wilderhope-manorwhere we would stay for the night. What a gorgeous setting. We got a recomendatiion for the evening meal...Royal Oaks Pub, Isle of Wight Got into an enjoyable conversation with a couple sitting near us. After we described our month long travel, they strongly suggested we add Isle of Wight to our itinerary. We had decided to make reservations only for when we arrived and would depart from Manchester, so we had flexibility. We had also decided we didn't want to rush and would not try to travel Wales, Scotland or down to Port Isaac...filming village for the Doc Martin series Ruth and I really enjoy.

early in the morning, before breakfast, I roamed the manor estate. Talked with the farm manager, who was a London businessman that essentially said he farms 500 acres for enjoyment, as farming is not profitable. Curiously, we had notices the sheep looked pretty raggedy...they actually import their wool from Australia, as it is higher quality.

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