Balsildon Park day out (Revisiting travels)

在英國有非常多漂亮宏偉老宅，當中很多還會開放給公眾參觀。 這些老宅一般都有好幾百年歷史，置身其中就像走進時光隧道，可以感受一下以前貴族的生活。今天我會帶大家去參加觀巴斯爾登莊園。

In England there are many beautiful grand houses dating back to a few hundred years ago that are open to the public. Visiting them, takes you back to yesteryears granduer, and you can try to imagine how the aristocrats lived in those days. Today I am going to take you to Basildon Park.

如果你跟我一樣是唐頓莊園粉絲，你可能覺得這間大宅有點似曾相識。格蘭特罕伯爵在倫敦的大宅場景就是在這裏拍攝噢！如果你從來沒有聽過或看過唐頓莊園，那沒關係，我希望你仍然會歡喜這次的旅程!

If you are a Downton Abbey fan like me, this house may look familiar. It was actually used as the setting of Lord Grantham's house in London. If you've never watched or heard of Downton Abbey before, never mind, I hope you still enjoy the tour.

以英國宏偉大宅來說，巴爾斯登莊園大宅其實不算很大，但設計獨特。它建於1776至1783年間，是採用伯拉孟特風格建築。這風格是參照古希臘和羅馬的聖殿，以比例和諧的數學理論，及對稱思想為設計基礎。

Compared to many of the other grand houses in UK, Basildon Park, or rather the actual house itself isn't very large, but the design is magnificent. The house was built between 1776 and 1783, in a Palladian style. Palladian architecture is based on ancient Greek and Roman temples, with emphasis on symmetry and mathematical proportions.

其實大宅一直從18世記時都沒正式建造完成，多年來經過多次轉手，直到20世紀初期終於被荒廢。那個時候正是第一次世界大戰，於是英國政府就借用大宅，給大戰中受傷的士兵作療養院。

直到1950年代，大宅終於被修復，重現昔日光輝，之後主人更把它送贈 National Trust。 National Trust是一個英國慈善機構，主要是保存和管理歷史悠久的老宅。他們大部份管理的老宅都是由顯赫家族捐贈。有些人可能繼承了老宅後，發現沒有足夠財力去應付大宅的昂貴開支，所以乾脆送給National Trust。另外有些人希望讓National Trust以他們的專業知識及管理方法把老宅好好保存下去，給後人繼續欣賞。

By the 1950s, Basildon House was restored to its former glory, and later donated to the National Trust , a charity organisation in UK that manages many historical buildings. Many of National Trust's buildings are donated to them by people who have inherited the property but cannot afford the ongoing maintenance. Others donate their property to The National Trust as they have the expertise to manage and preserve it for the future generations to enjoy.

The main house was never fully completed, and during the years it passed through several owners. By the beginning of 1910 it stood empty and the British government used it as a convalescent home for those injured fighting the First World War.

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抵達巴爾斯登莊園，車輛會首先經過這道很有氣派的大閘，然後穿過162公頃大的園林。 我去時正是英國3月的春天，整個莊園都開滿了黃色的水仙花。

When arriving at Basildon Park you will come up this grand gate and driveway, and through its 162 hectare parkland. I went at the end of March which is still spring time in England and daffodils are in full blossom.

巴斯爾登莊園的大宅一共有三層高，分開三棟建築物。但它的設計很用心，從正面看根本看不出是三棟獨立房子。看上去會覺得它是一整幢很宏偉的大宅。

Basildon House has three floors, and is built as three separate blocks. However it is cleverly designed so that it seems like one big house from the front.

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這個Staircase Hall 樓梯大堂在大宅的正中央。大樓梯一直伸延到樓上的兩層樓，在二樓圍繞著屋內三面牆壁還建了長廊。中間有一盞清雅的大吊燈從天花板吊到一樓，站在長廊往下望，可以幻想到昔日穿著華衣美服的貴族從這大門口進進出出。

This is Staircase Hall and is located at the centre of the house. The staircase takes you up to the next two floors and there is a gallery which goes around three sides of the house. There's an elegant yet simple chandelier hanging from the center of the Hall which drops all the way down to the first floor. I could almost imagine the aristocrats coming in and out of this Hall.

樓梯大堂一旁有一台大鋼琴，National Trust的一位志工正在彈奏着美妙的音樂，閉上眼睛可以幻想自己正在參加一個盛大的貴族舞會(看得太多唐頓莊園啊！)

On the ground floor, there is a grand piano, and one of National Trust's many volunteers was playing some beautiful music on it. Close your eyes and you could almost imagine yourself dancing in a ball with the aristocrats (sorry, I've been watching too much Downton Abbey!)

這裏是圖書館Library，應該是以前男主人常用來辦公和招待客人的房間。

This is the Library and would have been one of the main rooms used by the Lord of the house.

以前的貴族，男女主人都分別有自己的活動空間。這邊裝潢清雅舒適的房間，就是女主人的。你看，連帶房間旁邊的衛生間都非常低調。貴族就是貴族，真的不一樣噢！

In the old days, often the male and female owners would have their separate areas in the house. Here, the Lady's living room has a much softer and feminine ambience. Even the convenience next to it has a very modest touch.

整座大宅中，我最喜愛的還是廚房。在1950年代復修大宅是時，這個廚房被當時的女主人重新翻新，以當時來說已相當現代化。就像這座攪拌機，當年是最先進的設備哩。

One of my favourite room in the house is the kitchen. When the house was restored in the 1950's the kitchen was completely modernised. The food mixer you see you would have been state of the art equipment in those days.

另外還有這個小儀器，你猜是用來做什麼?

And look at this clever little gadget. Can you guess what it's for?

它是用來切麵粉皮做糕點。如果你把它放在一條麵粉上向前滾動，鐵片就會壓出一片片小圓圈的麵粉，我覺得這個簡單的設計很聰明噢！

It is a pastry cutter. If you roll it along a strip of pastry, it will cut out little pastry discs. Clever!

參觀完大宅後，我們到戶外的園林散步。 National Trust設計了四條不同的散步徑，從20分鐘到2小時都有，可以跟根據時間，體力選擇一條適合的步道。很可惜，因為當天我不能呆太久，只是很快逛逛就需要離開。但如果你有機會去巴斯爾登莊園的話，在園林散步完，切記一定要嘗試他們的傳統英式下午茶。

After we visited the house, we went for a walk around the parkland. There are four different routes ranging from 20 minutes to 2 hours walk. Since we were running a bit late that day, we just did a short walk before we left. If you get a chance to visit Basildon House, don't forget to try their English afternoon tea before you leave.

巴斯爾登莊園位於英國西南部的雷丁，離倫敦開希斯路機場64公里，開車大概一個小時

Basildon House is located at Reading, 64km west of Heathrow Airport and takes about 1 hour to drive from Heathrow.

This is part of my Revisiting Travels series, a repost of my post that I first posted two years ago
這帖子是重溫兩年前去旅遊和已分享過的文章