点评:My wife and I visited Cogges Manor Farm for the first time on October 2. The staff were very helpful, friendly and knowledgeable; service in the cafe was impeccable and the coffee delicious, unlike the dishwater served at nearby Blenheim Palace on a recent visit. The toilets were immaculate. Excellent information boards are strategically located around the site, including along the meadow walk. They are well written and very informative, adding considerably to the enjoyment of one's visit. Altogether an excellent morning out, except for one fundamental problem - it is difficult to find.
We found ourselves driving well out of our way because a key road sign directing the potential visitor off the main road and down the cul-de-sac which leads to Cogges Manor is completely obscured by vegetation. Apparently this is known about at Cogges Manor so why hasn't one of the gardeners been dispatched with a ladder and pair of loppers to make the sign visible again?
Having eventually found our way to the free car park we set off to walk the short distance to the Cogges Manor site only to be confronted with a sign offering two routes, a direct one across the fiends and a slightly longer "level" one. We chose the former only to be confronted by a padlocked gate emblazoned with the words "Private Property, Keep Out".
If it were not for these challenges to making a visit, the actual experience when one gets there would definitely have merited a 5* Excellent.
翻译:10月2日,我和妻子首次造访了科格斯庄园农场。工作人员非常热心、友善且知识渊博;咖啡馆的服务无可挑剔,咖啡也美味可口——这与我们最近参观附近的布伦海姆宫时所喝到的难以下咽的“洗碗水”简直天差地别。卫生间也干净得一尘不染。园区内各处都设有精心设置的信息牌,包括沿着草地步道的地方。这些说明文字写得很好,信息量丰富,极大地提升了游览体验。总体来说,这是一个很不错的上午出游选择,不过有个大问题——很难找到这个地方。
我们绕了远路才找到那里,因为那个用来指引游客从主路转入通往科格斯庄园的死胡同的关键路标完全被 vegetation 遮住了。显然,科格斯庄园那边也知道这种情况,那为什么没有园丁带着梯子和修枝剪去把指示牌重新弄清晰呢?
我们最终找到了免费停车场,然后步行一段短距离便到达了科格斯庄园。那里有一个指示牌,提供了两条路线:一条是直接穿过荒地的近路,另一条则是稍微远一点但较为平坦的路线。我们选择了前者,结果却遇到了一扇上了锁的大门,上面还写着“私人领地,闲人勿入”。
倘若没有这些前来参观时的障碍,实际到访的体验绝对可以评为五星级的优秀体验。