We took Willow, our little Cocker Spaniel puppy to Dog Training at the weekend. Willow is just over 3 months old now so she joined the puppy class at Impington. It was really good fun, Charlotte and I watched as Russ took the role of trainer for Willow and she learnt various basic commands. There was such a variety of dogs to see there. Several classes took place at the same time in different patches of the meadow. Towards the end of her class Willow was taken onto the agility equipment and got to go over the little bridge and through the tunnel. Everyone seemed very friendly and nice at this Dog school and we'll be taking Willow there every week now to complete her puppy training. Russ got Willow some of the 'pilchard cake' which was one of the things they had to use for a treat to aid training. This seemed to work well but Willow did the most amazing stinks in the car on the way home - so if next weekend you spot us coming home down the A14 with all our windows undone and our heads sticking out, you'll know we've just been to the puppy class!
Cambridge Canine Education Group

mThe other night we went for a walk up at Wimpole Folly. I love it up there, I have done a good bit of archaeology research and landscape history around Wimpole Hall itself and have loads of great memories of past field trips with people like Twigs Way and Alison Taylor doing things like surveying and working out where the old villages used to be. The Folly is part of the landscape of Wimpole Hall and if you park up the little side road near the folly there is a public footpath and gate so that you can go for a nice walk. I took Russ up there to show him the site as he hadn't been before and for the first time ever I saw cows in the field we needed to walk to. We made our way across the field up to the folly almost going from tree to tree incase the cows were bulls! The folly looks like a kind of castle ruin but that is exactly how it was designed to look. Once you get up close you can see the red brick work faced by limestone which creates this illusion. It was built as a feature in the grounds of Wimpole Hall, Cambridgeshire. Phillip Yorke (1st Earl of Hardwick), was the owner of Wimpole Hall in the mid-late 1700's and he commissioned Mr. Sanderson Miller  to design the folly in 1751, it was later re-built by 'Capability' Brown in 1769. Most of the folly is set out as ruins but the Gothic tower was designed to be used. The tower is a four story structure and was a great place for the gentlemen to go off to play cards and get up to other 'activities'. Wimpole Hall itself is now a National Trust property. I love old parks and gardens and especially all of the garden features like follies and grottos :)