title Lifehouse and Thorpe Hall Gardens, Thorpe-le-Soken, Essex - 11th June 2017 intro Nosher and Isobel finally get round to the Valentine's Day gift of an overnight stay at Lifehouse Spa, just outside Thorpe Le Soken in deepest Essex. The hotel, built on the site of the former Thorpe Hall - which once counted Queen Mary and Winston Churchill as visitors - has, as well as various pamper and treatment rooms, kept much of the original grounds of the old hall, which have been restored to most of their former glory. imgc6272 The view from our hotel window imgc6273 Another of Lifehouse's accommodation blocks imgc6274 Isobel flakes out on the bed for a bit imgc6275 A reflected window in a mirror imgc6280 Isobel roams the corridors imgc6281 The Lifehouse sign imgc6282 The front of Lifehouse Spa Hotel imgc6283 We walk around the fields imgc6284 A lake in the grounds imgc6285 Isobel in the hedgerows imgc6286 A lily pond imgc6288 Some cool spindly plant imgc6289 Isobel finds some fluffy plants imgc6290 Isobel stands in amongst some giant plants imgc6291 In Thorpe Hall gardens imgc6293 Isobel in the formal gardens imgc6294 More of the gardens, also visited by J. M. Barrie imgc6295 Nice orange flowers imgc6298 We find the original entrance to Thorpe Hall imgc6299 Purple flowers imgc6301 A nice big pond with lillies on it imgc6302 Isobel considers the pond imgc6307 We look at a rare Strawberry Tree imgc6312 Some of the older buildings on the site imgc6315 In a library room imgc6316 Isobel stands around imgc6317 Glass corridors