MISS ELAINEOUS VISITS THE WORLD OF COUNTRY LIFE...

The World of Country Life is in Exmouth, Devon, and was right near where we were staying.
I could never get the name of this place correct, and kept referring to it as the 'Village People Museum' which sounds like it's something with another theme entirely!😉

There's lots for kids to do; including an outdoor playground, a soft play area, a magnificent pirate ship and, for older children, an adventure zone and a tower of slides.
This authentic yesteryear window is displaying posters of half-term/ Halloween fun activities...

Dean and I just had to take a walk over the pirate ship, being the big kids that we are...😉

You start by entering this big hall, which contains farming machinery and mock-ups of country scenes.  Here's a modern tractor...

This scene is a mock-up of a man having his collar felt by an officer of the law, for being drunk in charge of an olde worlde tractor... 

Gypsy site...

Inside the colourful gypsy caravan...

Some of the machinery looked lethal...

...And is not so different from the same equipment used by the farming community today...

I would know this from having been brought up in Norfolk.  I worked on the land when I was a student...

A pile of sheared (or 'shorn', depending on where you ail from) wool...

Old cart (but no horse!)

I had to have a go at this.  Pretty, ain't I?!😂

You wander round to a shop window section.  This is depicting an Edwardian garden party, with wedding dresses dating from the Victorian era to WWII.  
My favourite was the one in the back right corner.  It was an Art Deco design.

Memory Lane window displaying wartime essentials, such as a gas mask and ration books.

Various characters in this wartime kitchen...

Model making...

The decadent, roaring 1920s...

Family butcher, with both black and white pudding available in the window.  The latter is not easy to find nowadays.

This looks like both a haberdashers and a lingerie store.
Madonna would love that corset!

Ladies' outfitter...

The blacksmith's forge...

Second World War mock-up...

Train sets abound...

Motorbikes, and my father would have owned one like this.  He hated driving, but enjoyed riding his motorcycle. 

The pub...

Dean felt right at home here (surprise!😉) and proceeded to join in with this pub game...

Dairy...

Garden machinery...

Household items and electronics...

I had to be base and take this photo of the outside khazi!  We had one (as well as an indoor bathroom) in the house I was brought up in, and a picture of me sitting exactly like this does exist...

Cameras- my dad owned a couple of (what we would now call) vintage pieces like these...

Hardware, including typewriters- my mother was a secretary and owned a clickety-clack model just like those on display...

Children's shop...

Dean trying out a traditional phone in a red phone box.  We can both remember these- oh, how the children of today have missed out...

Gamekeeper's cottage...

Primitive outside toilette and a mangle very similar to that which my nan used to own.

Inside, by the fireplace...

Living space...

We then ventured outside to see the animals.  It was not a nice day and absolutely tipping it down with rain in a persistent, steady downpour.  But we just put on our hats and braved the elements.
In this paddock we have rheas.  Rheas are distantly related to the ostrich and the emu.

The ducks didn't seem to mind the grotty weather.  They wouldn't!

Sheep...

The donkey does not look impressed to see me...

These donkeys don't look overly impressed either, but at least they didn't show me their bums, as animals are wont to do in my company!

Cows...

The crazy golf section contains a miniature Smeaton's Tower.  The real thing is in Plymouth, and we climbed to the top of it during our visit in May...

Pretty Boy, the llama.  This photo cut off his face...

But I captured it in this shot...
We found out that llamas now no longer exist in the wild.  Sociable animals, they are very good at looking after other herds; in this case sheep and deer.

This is not a great picture, but the sheep in this field don't need shearing as they shed their own wool.  But that's only after it has grown (on their bodies, it doesn't grow around their heads) into long, shaggy rats-tails.  Our guide described them as Rastafarian sheep!

These are red deer, which are born white and darken with age.  In the wild the fittest can live to the age of between twelve and thirteen, but in captivity they last until they're around seventeen years of age.

We took the Deer Train Safari, got to feed the deer and this was the highlight of our day- DON'T LEAVE WITHOUT DOING IT!

You can see both the train and the hungry little fellows in this and the above photo.  They are beautiful animals, with lovely long eyelashes.

I didn't get pictures of them actually being fed as it was simply not practical.  As soon as my hands were filled with their pellets, and I held them out to the deer, two or three hungry little snouts would appear and scoff the lot with much haste.  It was a wet day, and my hands were too soaking (from the weather and from soggy noses!) to be able to manipulate the camera.

Over in the Hawkridge Birds of Prey section, falconry displays are often held.  Sadly, this day was too wet for one to take place, but I managed to get a few piccies of them...

There are a good variety of raptors and owls here...

...Not all of which looked too pleased to see us.  Well, it was a grotty day (how British of me, to keep banging on about the weather...😊)

The Steam Engine Shed contains beautifully preserved engines and tractors...

After coffee and a delicious slice of rocky road, we ventured into the Old Time Farmyard and the Pet Centre.
These are calves...

Kune Kune pigs...

Pygmy goats...

Their pen was a mixed one, with some sheep in here too.  The goat on the wooden trunk was especially interested in us...

Chickens...

You can see this pig smiling (probably because he's here and not in the slaughter house...)

Alpacas...

Rabbits...

Motion picture of rabbits...

Huddle of ducks...

A duck with a long neck...

Tweetie-pies.  Oh okay then, I'll be more adult.  In this cage are finches and budgies...

This is a better picture of a rhea (by now it was brightening- slightly) and shows the name of the museum too...

This was a lovely way to spend a few hours and we certainly did not allow rain to stop our play.  Would we return?  Hell, yeah!  Feeding the deer was a lovely experience and one of the highlights of our holiday in Exmouth.

TTFN

The Miss Elaineous

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

XXX

X