Playing in 1777

Nicola, Pete, Lola and Nell want to travel the world with a difference. We hope to get a taste of many countries without adding to climate change (with needless emissions from aeroplanes) or having to waste hours of holiday time in airport terminals. We hope our adventures inspire you to take a Grand Tour of your neighbourhood. This post is from Nicola

The revamp of Wordsworth's boyhood home in Cockermouth by the National Trust is masterful http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-vh/w-visits/w-findaplace/w-wordsworthhouse/. The girls and I spent a happy morning dressing up as Dorothy and William, trying out the toys and quizzing the servants about life in 1777 (ie, the 18th century or Georgian times). We discovered that the loos were often disguised as chest-of-drawers; that the table cutlery was laid facing downwards not up (there's a new trend for the home decorating mags to pick up) and that even young girls wore stays (boney bodices that make it hard to bend...).

William (aka Nell)'s favourite toy was the heavy doll with human hair.

Dorothy (aka Lola)'s favourite toy was the wooden hobby horse which she used to gallop around the room before demurely putting on a white linen bonnet and did a row of knitting.