29 JANUARY 1994, Page 40

National Trust

We wander round, amazed. Bed where a czar once slept. Stuffed bear. Victorian stays. Embroidered screen. All kept.

Ten generations, more, Have gathered all that's here. Bronze pins. Chinese armour. Mantraps. A zulu spear.

Grandeur and minutiae. Then exit. Buy a card. Acquiring is what's easy. Relinquishing what's hard.

Gael Turnbull