On Thursday I took the Egyptian workshop to a special school in Lincoln. I was a bit nervous about this both because I had never done this particular workshop as an outreach before and also because I wasn't certain what to expect from the children.

The children were absolutely fantastic and I must mention especially Becky, James, Lucy and a little girl with an African name I can't even begin to spell who were eagre, interested, well-informed and wholly delightful. I also have to mention Josh who, while I was setting up during lunch break, parked his wheelchair outside the window to watch what I was doing and then tried to get straight in instead of going to registration, and Ellie who cried because she thought I had brought a real corpse to mummify and then laughed at herself so delightfully and delightedly when she realised her mistake and found it was only a 'teddy' corpse - a four foot tall humanoid with a velcroed slit up his abdomen and felt internal organs. (I find that children use the word teddy to describe anything soft and stuffed, not just bears - an interesting language shift.)

Friday was a day off, so Joe and I decided to visit the newly refurbished Alford Manor House. This small manor house is of major architectural and historical importance as the largest and best preserved thatched manor house in Europe.

It used to be full of the miscellaneous trash and treasure of a typical folk museum; now the rooms (virtually all of which you can now see with none closed because their floors, ceilings, or walls are unsafe) are empty so that you can see, understand and enjoy the building itself. I am glad that I have seen it thus, but I miss the old clutter and feel that there is a place for a compromise between this almost clinical perfection and the former rampant eclecticism. Obviously it would take both time and money, but I think I would like things like "Miss Margaret's Parlour 1773", "Sir John's Bedroom 1692", "Betty and Eliza's attic bedroom 1864" etc. (Properly researched with the real names of course.)

The guides were absolutely wonderful. I don't know whether the fact that I mentioned I work at a museum got me special treatment, but their enthusiasm for the whole project was wonderful, as was their knowledge. (The cake in the tea room was very nice and the locally made cups were a proper size, not daft little thimbles.)

We went on to look at the church, and then on to Well which has an eighteenth century church which was unfortunately locked. There was a key notice, but with phone numbers and no addresses: we tried, but - guess what? - no network coverage!

Nonetheless, it was a very pleasant day out, and the park and exterior of Well Vale Hall well worth a look.