Polesden Lacey

Polesden Lacey is a Regency house which lies close to Dorking and Leatherhead in Surrey. It was the country retreat of Mrs Ronald Greville who played host to royalty, dignitaries, and Prime Ministers. The estate spans 1,400 acres and enjoys stunning views over the Surrey Hills. There are numerous walks around the rolling meadows which adjoin the house, and as we made our way back to the carpark another visitor pointed out the city of London in the distance. It was fascinating to pick out well known landmarks, and Wembley Stadium seemed to loom over everything else. It's worth taking some good binoculars for that reason alone.

Inside the house itself is of course fascinating. Each lavish, mirrored, chandaliered room is occupied by a knowledgeable curator with whom you can discuss the artworks and architecture. Do talk to them, they really know their stuff.

A word about photography. The pros amongst you will be familiar with the National Trust's current stance - that no person may use any image taken upon Trust land for commercial purposes. As a result, thousands of images are being pulled from the stock agencies, so that the Trust may entirely control the availability of any and all images taken of Trust property, via its central photo library (NTPL). This has understandably caused a furore in photographic circles, but it is nevertheless Trust policy and must be abided upon. In other words, your picture-taking must be for personal enjoyment only. If you want to use the pictures for anything else, you'll need to contact the Trust directly.

The kit for this outing comprised one Canon 5D body, one 40D body, 16-35 f2.8L lens, 24-104 f4 L lens. Why two bodies? Because that's how I always work - constantly changing lenses is a faff, especially outdoors, especially if one of those bodies has a full-frame sensor. And working between 35mm and APS-C format has so many benefits I can't tell you.

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