U3A Visit to Woolsthorpe Manor

Today we had a trip with other members of the U3A Bury St. Edmunds to two National Trust properties near Grantham in Lincolnshire. The first of these, in the morning, was Woolsthorpe Manor.

This was the invite.

"Without Isaac Newton this small manor would be just another Lincolnshire farmhouse – but in 1665 the plague sent him back from university to this place where he was born. For 18 months Newton worked in solitude, experimenting obsessively and laying foundations for the science of today.  Woolsthorpe Manor tells the story of his time there from his birth and childhood to the discoveries of the Year of Wonders.  We will have staggered guided tours of the house and time to visit the hands-on Science Centre and maybe walk to the village church where he was baptised. Basic refreshments will be available."

We had a very comfortable trip on a new coach with St. Edmunds Travel and arrived at Woolsthorpe at about 9:50.

Dawn and I were in the third of the 3 groups of 12 to tour the house so had a look around the grounds and the Science Centre before our tour.

Here are a few of my photos.

We enjoyed the Science Centre with its displays and interactive experiments about light and gravity.

It was a nice sunny day so we explored the grounds. The manor house is quite small, which is why they have guided tours.

I loved the primroses and fritillaries.

There was a wicker statue of Isaac Newton on a seat overlooking the famous tree. The statue arrived at the property only this Tuesday. It is life-size - see Dawn sat next to him at the top of this post.

The tree that dropped the apple that Isaac observed as he contemplated the mystery of gravity.

The Science Centre had a hologram of an apple.

Our tour with our guide Ken started with a short video.

We then visited the main room and kitchen before climbing the stairs to Isaac's room.

This was his study den off his large bedroom.

A prism in the window.

Outside we visited the tree which is held up by oak props. We were told that many famous physicists had come to see the manor and garden including Stephen Hawking. We were also told that, in the autumn, some visitors come and sit for hours waiting for an apple to fall.

No time to browse the books in the small shop as it was time to leave for the second part of our day trip.

Thank-you Ken for the tour and Pat for organising another great day-trip.

You can find more of my photos here on Flickr.