Mapperton was voted ‘the nation’s finest manor house’ by Country Life and it is indeed quite extraordinary: it has beautiful gardens, an excellent café and a feeling of specialness that you don’t get at eg. the teeming Sissinghurst. We went by train: a half hour walk from the shop over Waterloo Bridge, two and a half peaceful hours to Crewkerne (punctual to the minute, which is quite odd for those of used to the old ‘British Rail’) and then fifteen minutes by taxi through the dreamy Dorset countryside.