I always write these holiday posts with a time lag, so I am home before you even know I’ve gone, which is why my comments about the weather don’t always tie up. So here is the first part of our most recent travels.

Having spent a morning in the seventeenth century, it was a rapid turn around and a quick change before setting off on our way to Lincoln. After an uneventful journey, it was time for a late meal and watching some Paralympics.

The opportunity for a day with the family and looking through multiple boxes of stuff in a garage, deciding what needed to be kept and what could be humanely disposed of. The miscellaneous items that have been designated for me will be collected on our way home and I fear for the suspension.

We set off in the drizzle for Belton House. Built in the reign of Charles II, this is a house that is very much influenced by the Baroque style, with plenty of decorative flourishes and impressively high ceilings. It was built for Sir John Brownlow and remained in the family for three hundred years but was predominantly used as a holiday home.

Grinling Gibbons carvings, mostly involving deceased game, provide a dusting nightmare. There is an interesting painted floor showing heraldic symbols and overall there is plenty of evidence of the family’s greyhound symbol. The house is home to 20,000 books, the earliest dating from 1493; one wonders how many remain on the TBR pile. Queen Adelaide, wife of William IV slept here, as did the future Charles III when a young Prince of Wales. It was good to see plenty of signs of ongoing conservation and preservation.

I have to say this is probably not the most inspiring National Trust property I’ve visited but I suspect the real gem is the fifty acres of garden and further 1300 acres of grounds. Unfortunately, it was not the weather for exploring the typically seventeenth century garden, perhaps that’s for another visit. The herd of fallow deer were much in evidence, although not easily captured on camera, with stags in full antler ready for the rut and including those with white, dark and dappled coats.

The younger members of the family joined us for the afternoon, by which time it was at least dry but more reminiscent of late October than early September. Autumn has certainly arrived early with falling leaves and autumnal fogs. The impressive adventure playground went down well but I have doubts about the advisability of the oldest member of our party testing the zip wire.