You know whose side he is instinctively on when the Duke of Westminster puts up a “private” sign. (Will Mr Banks perhaps become known as minister of funny walks?)
The Cabinet is packed with enthusiastic ramblers. One of Chris Smith’s first acts, as Secretary of State for National Heritage, was to issue a message to the Ramblers’ Association: “Let’s make ‘right to roam’ a reality”. He used to go hill walking with John Smith, who made Labour’s first pledge to legislate for a “right to roam”.

The landed interests must, meanwhile, have shuddered as they learnt of Mr Blair’s ministerial appointments. Set aside, for a moment, Tony Banks, Minister for Sport and left-winger. At last they have a government pledged to give walkers a “right to roam” over the countryside. When Tony Blair reached Downing Street, more than a few bobble hats must have been tossed into the air. The ramblers of Britain are on the verge of an historic victory.

Bumble-blend tea with Welsh tea cakes (pounds 1.35) remains a favourite afternoon choice, while assorted cakes, meringues and pies sit temptingly in the display cabinet Children’s portions available Open 9am-5pm Closed SunFrom Egon Ronay’s Guide ‘.. and Children Come Too’ (Bookman, pounds 9.99). Following morning specials of biscuits, tea cakes, scones and pies, the choice gets more savoury – with jacket potatoes, salads, rarebits and ploughman’s platters (pounds 2.99 each). The Home Farm celebrates not just Downstairs but Outdoors as well. Events include Children’s Days on 26 May and 25 August with rare breeds on show and horse-and-cart rides.Time for a pitstopPlaces that positively welcome children: Bumble, 2 Charles Street, Wrexham, Clwyd (01978 355023)All-day snacks are the stock-in-trade of this popular spot above the gift shop of the same name. (This does not include Wimpole Hall, the adjacent National Trust property which boasts servants’ quarters, including butler’s pantry and steward’s room, unchanged since the 19th century.)Wimpole was set up 200 years ago as a model farm, and its Great Barn, housing historical agricultural machinery, was designed by Sir John Soane. 10.30am-5pm, Tue-Thur, and Sat & Sun, plus Bank Holiday Monday; daily in July and August Adults pounds 4, children pounds 2.50.

Note that National Trust members pay: adults pounds 2, children pounds 1. Before its installation in what was probably a servant’s bedroom, bathing took place in hip-baths in front of bedroom fires. Before that the family ablutions took place in the Bath House in the park.Wimpole Home Farm, Arrington, nr Royston, Hertfordshire (01223 207257). One of the watercolours on the wall shows the shower in full flow.

The eccentric Yorke family had an unusual relationship with their staff; all stately homes have portraits of their owners; Erddig has pictures and poems celebrating the servants too.High point of your tour is the tall shower in the bathroom; this late- 19th-century portable version sprinkles water from a small tank above the user, who can then pump it up again and recycle it. Below-stairs and gardens only, adults pounds 3.60, children pounds 1.80, family pounds 9. Adults pounds 5.40, children pounds 2.70, family pounds 13.50. Their names indicate the sheer scale of the staffing: the Nursery Bathroom, with scales and rule to record the vital statistics of the young Masters and Misses; the Nanny’s Bedroom, near the Night Nursery for the younger children; the Men’s Staircase, next to the luggage lift for heavy trunks; the Footmen’s Livery Room, where uniforms were cleaned; and the Linen Lobby for clean bedclothes.Erddig, Wrexham, Clwyd (01978 355314) Open 12-5pm (house) 11am-6pm (garden) Sat-Wed. It is one of the few stately homes to have been dynamited, in an attempt to make a firebreak when most of the original 17th-century house went up in flames in 1881. It was replaced by what to the Victorians counted as a more “modest” building.The 43 rooms open to the public take a good 90 minutes to wander through. Otherwise, Downstairs rubbed shoulders cosily with Upstairs at Townend.