Ickworth House is pretty
I am currently being thoroughly spoilt whilst staying with my Grandparents at their new pad on the outskirts of Ickworth House in Horringer (near Bury St Edmunds). You can see the grounds from their house, I'm looking at them now, but today we went inside the house for a nose around.
It's not one of the more impressive National Trust properties I've been to, but I was intrigued by the stories relating to its wildchild owners - jewellery thief and Mayfair playboy Victor Hervey and then his son John Hervey especially.
As you may know, John Hervey blew £35,000,000 (yes that does say thirty five million pounds) on drugs, prostitutes, partying and the like. It was John who sold the property to The National Trust (as he was going to be evicted) and The National Trust has since refused to sell it back to the Hervey family. When he died of AIDS aged 44 his estate had dwindled to under £5000. Pretty tragic to be honest, though I was impressed by the fact that he once flew his helicopter without radar whilst snorting coke off the map he was using to navigate.
These are some pics from my phone...
