Remembering VE day

Last weekend we went to Upton House, a mansion in the south of Warwickshire run by the National Trust.  it was a gloriously sunny day, the first true summer weekend, so we took a picnic with us to enjoy the day.

 On arrival we discovered the house was celebrating the anniversary of VE day with lots going on.

The Home guard were there in uniform, looking authentic with WW2 kit including radios, replica guns, and even a basket of 'pigeons'!

There was even a pop-up forties pub...

..with traditional warm beer on sale (Harry enjoyed that part of our day out!)

The house was set up as it appeared during the war, when the owner moved a group of bankers from the City of London in order to evacuate them from the blitz.

A long gallery was full of desks, with typewriters we could try out, and an old fashioned accounting machine.

Outside the house, a swing band were playing to people sitting on the lawn, many with picnics like us.  We were even treated to a speech by 'Churchill'!

It was funny to see him about half an hour later on standing off to one side using his mobile phone, this really got me thinking how much things have changed in the last century.

The gardens themselves were absolutely beautiful, at the peak of the spring flowering, with the trees just about coming into leaf.

I absolutely love this time of year, just hoping it is a forerunner for more warm weekends to come...