Intermediate Listening Practice

Haybridge Hall. This fine country house is found about 12 miles NW of Cambridge in the east of England. Easy rail connections from London and Birmingham. Open Monday-Saturday, 9a.m.- 5.30p.m. Entrance fee £9 for adults, £4 for children. Under-5's free. Automated tour guide recordings available in (1) languages.

History. (2) was the original name after construction in 1482. Though the amount of land connected to the house has (3), the structure itself has remained remarkably untouched. The last major addition was the (4) which the British Army added as a radio room in May, 1941.

The original owners, the Hawken family, only owned the house for around a (5) before the aristocratic Yardley family from the (6) of England bought it and changed its name to Haybridge Hall.

The Yardley family lived there for around two centuries but then the property lay (7) for about 60 years until a local author William Hoaten purchased the house. One (8) survives of a church that collapsed in the house's grounds during this period of abandonment.

The Hoaten family left with the onset of World War Two having spent a considerable amount of money restoring the house to former glories. Local legend says that Churchill spent a few days in the house towards the end of the (9).

The Present Day. After spending a lot of money (10) the property in the 1970s, (11) now runs Haybridge Hall. Last year, over (12) people visited the fine property and Haybridge Hall is now a highly profitable property.