We awoke to rain. Rain and more rain and almost gave up on any plans for sightseeing. Drew convinced us that over Petworth House (an hour east into West Sussex), the rain was due to stop at 2.00pm. Very precise. He suggested that our plan to visit Petworth should proceed.

We decided that we would go to Midhurst first (it's on the way). Hey Kent, to cut a long story short. It's a very pretty town, lots of ancient buildings, most noticeable because of terracotta tiles that look like shingles that are used on both roofs and walls. Many of the buildings in the area around Easebourne and Midhurst have these distinctive yellow window frames, which signify that the buildings belong to the local Cowdray Estate. The ruins of the home are no longer open, so we couldn't visit.

We did however venture to St Ann's Hill. It was originally an Iron Age fort, then a centre of pagan worship, a Norman castle and finally a 12th century fortified house, this was the core around which modern Midhurst developed. It's now just the foundations to a height of 20cm surrounded by trees and bush.

In the drizzle we walked the old town to photograph the older buildings, as I'm want to do. The driver of a double deck bus stopped in a narrow street when he saw me photographing a building on the other side of the road. A smile and a wave when I thanked him, and on he went.

Loved all the buildings with sway back roofs, but figure there are going to be some hefty repair bills sometime soon.

We had a late morning tea (noon) at the Cockburn Tea Rooms in Knockhundred Row. We had sought out an information office which turned out to be a very small museum and above it was the tea rooms. As good as any to chance a cuppa? No idea what "Knockhundred is in reference to. Pardon my participle.

Turned out to be a gem. 19th century décor, lace table cloths with full silver service and fine china. Great service and food. Ches said the best scones she's ever had in the UK and clotted cream first and jam on top. Even though this is West Sussex, the battle between Devon and Cornwall. They even fight over the quality of their clotted cream. As far as Ches is concerned, the relative density of the cream and Jam is all that matters. The densest goes on first and the lightest second. Here it was cream on the bottom and jam on top.

I had the Sussex Rarebit. It said it was a secret recipe. I think all the cafés have their own secret Sussex Rarebit recipe. I think I know part of the secret: Scrumpy Sussex cheese. It is somewhat given away by the name! The hard-pressed, Cheddar style cheese is produced in the village of Stonegate in East Sussex, combining raw cow's milk, and gently blending with the curd, herbs, wild garlic and, of course, cider. Add some wholegrain mustard and that could be it. They melt in a saucepan, probably a little Worcester sauce or maybe some more crumpy cider. When melted, spread on the toast and grill. Mine also had very thin slices of bacon embedded in the cheese. Wonderful. Now the Welsh and Sussex mobs can fight it out. Kiwi's, forget it, we Aussies invented Pavlova.

Sorry Kent, long story short, my reference point is "War and Peace".

On to Petworth House. Somewhat disappointing. They are currently having a photo competition. Send in a phot that represents what Petworth House means to you. I'd be hard pressed. I had so looked forward to seeing Petworth House and it just didn't live up to it.

It wasn't a good start when they extort L4.00 ($AUD6.40) for parking. When Ches asked, "do you have seniors rates", the attendant said, "no, but we do have a gifting rate. You can pay an extra L1.50 as a donation." Now, this is a scheme whereby English tax payers can claim a tax deduction for the additional donation on top of entry fees. I explained to her that we weren't tax payers. Her response, "well you might want to donate the extra anyway". No thank you, $AUD22.00 is plenty.

Things might have been better if it had been a sunny summer day. I made the observation that the English went to a lot of trouble to create gardens to take their leisure in summer … a pity summer is only two days long.

The walk around the gardens (no flowers) was good exercise. The house itself was ordinary. Room after room stuffed with paintings of nobles and their ladies. Few furnishings and the paintings not well lit. Photography restricted to non-flash, so lots of dark photos. One interesting timber panelled room, with a portrait of Henry V111 and carved timber relief.

Back outside and it was drizzling again. A walk down to the lake and some photos from the hill above the lake. I don't think I need to see another Capability Brown landscape. Certainly not unless there isn't a clown in the sky and brilliant sunshine.

We wanted to get home early so as to cook the Farts (medieval meatballs) and Coltson Bun, so left at 3.30. We made it home 4.45. Those 5 roundabouts north of Portsmouth did it again. Congestion like Parramatta Rd.