Sixteen Privileged pie munchers were in for a treat this Sunday; there was the highly praised Wombat pork pie - specially baked for the pie munchers. But Wombat's hospitality did not end there... Together with Flounder, her other half, having obtained permissions from all relevant parties, they took us on a guided four mile tour of the private grounds of Gunton Park. We met at the Sawmill at 10:30
and walked clockwise through the beautiful grounds with sheep around Saw Mill Pond to the bridge
that takes you over the stream coming from Great Water. Here we took in the views and saw that Canadian pondweed had established itself, and was causing a major problem. Passing the magnificent south wing of the hall,
we then headed north to St. Andrew's church - all magnificently decked out for the Harvest Festival service.
After inspecting the church and noting the Lead ties holding blocks of stone together, forming the entrance steps, we retraced our path south a short distance. Continuing east, passing friendly horses and a 
Melon House in the distance, then into a vast area with many deer.
On the horizon was the splendid north gatehouse complete with lookout. Continuing east to Elderton Lodge where our hosts had ensured was stocked with real ale for our visit! Originally built as a shooting lodge, where Lillie Langtry was a regular guest, when the Prince of Wales - the future King Edward VII, stayed at the hall. Here, we were refreshed with pints of Wherry in good condition. Eventually we extricated ourselves from the pub and headed south, down a wooded track that then turned west after half a mile. Then we left the main path to go round a pond, through the woods to a metalled road through Suffield Wood and back into the park. 
We headed west with more stunning views complete with many deer, passing the south end of Saw Mill Pond,
pausing by an old oak tree to admire a bright yellow caterpillar, believed to be that of the Pale Tussock moth. We returned to the Sawmill where we had our sandwiches and were given a short history of the Sawmill's restoration by Barré Funnel of NIAS. The Sawmill was celebrating it's 21st Re-Birthday - the mill made its first cut after it's restoration on the 18th October 1988 and there was Re-Birthday cake for all visitors to the mill.
After sampling the cake and viewing the mill in operation we gathered outside for the Main event: the sampling of the pie. Now in fairness, this wasn't a blind tasting - the large round pie had the Wombat insignia prominently crafted in pastry. Slicing the pie released a little aroma and revealed the crust was a bit crumbly. Although slightly let down by the crust, the contents were seen to be substantial and marvellously meaty with some jelly. Munching was a delight, the real meat filling finding favour with the munchers, resulting in a score of 8.28125 with a standard deviation of 0.81586 meaning the Wombat pie scores a high normalised 8.5. Chocolate & vanilla thins supplemented the Shortbread that followed.
The pie munchers and the Pork Pie News thank Wombat & Flounder for their hospitality and the owners of the park for granting permission for our visit.
