L.L. Diamond

So, my friends and my children have had quite the giggle over this one, but don’t look at it and pronounce it as you might a French word. It isn’t La cock, it’s Lay-cuck. Sorry for the weird description, but that’s the best way I can think to show it.

We drove from north of London to Devon and decided to make a mid-way of sorts stop in Lacock to walk around and maybe have a bite to eat. Things didn’t work out quite as we planned.

First off, we traveled with our dog, who isn’t one to misbehave, but did make things a bit tricky at times. The satnav/GPS, did get us to Lacock and the parking was well-marked. We’re National Trust members, so we didn’t have to pay for parking, which is always a plus. There was also a nice large car park, so we had room to walk the dog while everyone worked their way out of the car.

The walk from the car park to Lacock is not far and you enter on the side of the Lacock Abbey. We fully intended to go to the abbey, which is a National Trust property, but we were informed upon our trying to enter, that our dog was not allowed at that time of year. That was a first for us. National Trust properties typically will allow dogs on the outer walks, so we usually trade-off adults. One walks the dog while the other sees the house and then the other walks the dog, and so on and so forth–something we couldn’t do this time around.

As an alternative, we decided to walk around the town. For those who aren’t familiar with Lacock, it is mentioned in the Domesday book and is one of the oldest villages in England. It has retained much of its old-world charm and as a result, has been used in multiple movies. From the 1995 Pride and Prejudice to Harry Potter, it is the perfect set for a movie no matter whether you want it set in the 18th century or the 21st century. In fact, there was a movie filming when we were in Lacock that day.

We walked down and attempted to see the older road through Lacock, but crews were filming, so our access was very limited. We walked around and looked from the end of the road, and then walked back. A very nice gentleman, who was part of the security crew, told us where James and Lily Potter’s house was from Godric’s Hollow, so we tried to get around the film crew to see it. Fortunately, we had success and took several photos.

My children and I then checked in at the abbey to walk around it. The grounds are lovely and there are gardens and walks we didn’t have time to see, but my children thoroughly enjoyed the ground floor of the abbey. There were pictures from Harry Potter and they could see which rooms were used in the film by the picture.

Upon the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VII, Lacock Abbey was sold to William Sherrington and was later bequeathed to the Talbot family, who were relations by marriage. As a result, the abbey was a home, and that part is still preserved by the National Trust as well. We toured the inside which included a costume exhibit, and then made our way back to the car park in order to continue our drive to Devon.

I want to go back to Lacock and see what I missed when no film crews are there!

 

Next up… Lyme Regis!