I've spent a lot of hours here today. 10 hours it be told, a shift from 9.30am to 7.30pm And it was a great last volunteering day at Tyntesfield this year. The weather could have been better. Started out just above freezing and wet, it got a little warmer by mid morning but that brought in heavy rain and by 1pm, gales. Talk about miserable. But the visitors to Tyntesfield at Christmas showed true British spirit and enjoyed their windblown, soaked and bedraggled selves. As was I first thing letting people in the queue know what was happening, rain falling down, umbrellas firmly up, before the ticket office opened. It's a good job that, chatting to the visitors and making them laugh (mostly). Nearly 700 people had visited by the time the estate closed for last entry at 4pm which seemed a lot given how quiet it was all day. That wasn't the last of it though. I offered to stay on and help with the evening shift. On a handful of evenings in December the lower floor of the house is open for an evening festive visit. By then the weather was improving and the moon began to shine across Home Farm. I popped outside for a breath of fresh air (and a free cheese scone) allowing me to hear a tawny owl some distance off, returning to the ticket office and a December moth fluttering about. A perfect end to a long, but a wonderful day. Tyntesfield does Christmas, Tyntesfield does it very well.
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