― Rudyard Kipling

The sun had got its hat so we decided to have a day out. It is a long time since we last visited Sudbury Hall, formerly the home of the Vernon family with the museum of childhood located in the19th-century servant’s wing.

We were disappointed to find that both the ‘Grade I’ listed house and museum had been dumbed down since our previous visits and there is no longer a National Trust shop. The room where the shop was previously located looks a little sad with its door currently locked and closed.

The venue is great for children with opportunities for dressing up and other fun activities but the rich history of the hall, art and architecture is not highlighted. If the property doesn’t change to provide information on the history and art in an educational and engaging way ‘to include adults’ I am unlikely to return.

After our visit we weren’t quite ready to go home so we detoured to the nearby Keddleston Hall for tea and cake. It was to late in the day to visit the house and gardens but we were reminded of how much we enjoy this property. We will be back for a full day visit in the near future.

As the end of 2024 was drawing to a close, we intended for one last day trip to London. We were looking forward to seeing London with its festive lights all aglow.

Sadly, we were not able to visit London to enjoy the festivities because mum became unwell again and was admitted to hospital at the end of November. Mum is not home yet but is being assessed and looked after in a care home.

Knowing that she is safe and being looked after meant that we could take time out for a day trip to London.

The train ran smoothly and we arrived in London in time for lunch in The Square Pig, Holborn. Several dishes including steak and pie were off the menu, leaving Mr C a little disappointed. However, we both found the fish and chips delicious.

Next, we visited the Sir john Soane’s Museum. Sir john Soane, one of the renowned English architects, built and lived in the house until his death in 1837.

“In 1833, Soane negotiated a private Act of Parliament: to preserve his house and collection, exactly as it was arranged at the time of his death, in perpetuity – and to keep it open and free for inspiration and education. Upon his death in January 1837, a Board of Trustees took on the responsibility of upholding Soane’s wishes – as they continue to do today.”

There were so many things on display in close proximity that it was impossible to take everything in although Mr C spotted all three commanders from the battle of Waterloo. This left us feeling rather overwhelmed. We found one of the exhibits, the sarcophagus of Seti I, particularly interesting. The sarcophagus, made of alabaster, is carved inside and out with Egyptian hieroglyphs showing the text of ‘The Book of the Gates’. The text describes the rituals needed to pass safely into afterlife. Drawn Inside the base of the sarcophagus is the figure of Nut, goddess of the sky, whose role is to guide and protect the dead.

Next, we walked the short distance to the Museum of Freemasonry. The museum displays artifacts with accompanying text that explores the origins of Freemasonry, which lie in the traditions of medieval stonemasons who built our cathedrals and castles. The guiding principles of Freemasonry are; Integrity, Friendship, Respect and Charity.

Part of the museum display shows the myths surrounding freemasonry and how these were made popular by news media outlets and popular novels promoting conspiracy theories.

We hope to go back and book a tour which takes visitors into the ceremonial areas of the Freemasons Hall including the Grand Temple, shrine and vestibules.

We had some time to spare before catching our train home so we walked to Foyles bookshop, hoping for tea and cake along the way. We entered Covent Garden but found the area loud, noisy, full of mundane shopping outlets and lacking in suitable cake opportunities (a shadow of its former self), I was reminded of why I don’t like cities.

We quickly continued our walk to Foyles, but decided not to indulge in cake there either. The café was full and the cakes were enormous, leaving me to wonder when a nice tasty sweet treat had turned into a full-blown meal option!

We both enjoyed browsing our favourite sections in Foyles; for Mr C that is the military history section and for me the religious and spiritual section, historical fiction and the board game section.

We eventually found ‘cake’ in a nearby Costa where the service was painfully slow and impersonal…

We took the tube back to Euston for our return journey home. We always purchase sandwiches from Pret before our return journey but the sandwich options were limited and we found the nearby M&S options in a similar state (almost sold out). After choosing the best of what was available, we made it to the platform just in time to catch the train home.

It wasn’t a classic day out in London compared to our previous day trips but our adventure gave us well needed down time.

On the Sunday before Christmas, the day before Christmas Eve we had an excursion to Chirk Castle with one of Mr C’s friends. Before we set off on our excursion we briefly called in on someone else to exchange presents in time for Christmas.

Chirk Castle had a fun theme for their Christmas display “Christmas of Make-Believe”. The display took us in the footsteps of the six children of Lord Howard de Walden in the 1920s. The children grew up in their very own fairy tale castle:

John, Bronwen, Elisabeth, Priscilla, Gaenor and little sister Rosemary grew up playing make-believe, putting on Christmas pantomimes, and playing dress-up in a castle full of imaginary dragons and knights, princesses, and stories.

From 1923 to 1931 Lord Howard de Walden wrote six pantomimes, based on popular tales, for his children and their friends to perform at Chirk Castle.

The Chirk Castle Christmas display was inspired by the pantomimes and photographs of them being performed.

The weather was inclement so we chose not to venture into the gardens to follow the fairy-tale…

This left us with enough time to visit the Christmas display at Powis Castle. The the theme at Powis was “Portrait of Christmas”. Giant gilt frames had been erected to frame Christmas scenes revealing how the Herbert family spent their Christmas.

After our lovely day out we arrived home to find an unwelcome surprise on our doorstep, but that is a story for another day…

*Clicking on the collage photos leads to links where the individual photos can be viewed full size

The Elan Valley is a place of childhood memories. As a family we visited often at the end of the school  holidays just as the trees were turning to shades of autumn. It has been on our wish list (Mr C and I) as a place to visit for over 20 years. On the occasion of Mr C’s birthday this year we finally made the trip.

On our arrival, we found that the cafe in the valley was closed for refurbishment so we had to venture back to the nearest town, Rhayader, for lunch. Mr C chose the cafe and as we entered I wondered why we weren’t going into the pretty tea shop we had noticed as we drove through the town. I didn’t say anything; it was his birthday.

We enjoyed sandwiches freshly made to order and there were some delicious cakes on offer although we chose not to indulge. After we left the cafe we went for a brief walk in the town and Mr C noticed the pretty tea shop and realised that we had eaten in a different place than he intended. Later in the day we found out that we had had a lucky lunchtime escape. The food and service was much better in the unassuming cafe where we had lunched.

After lunch we returned to the extremely windy Elan Valley to explore the various dams. I was reminded of a childhood memory of a family picnic on a Welsh hillside where it was so windy that our food blew off the plates!

I insisted that Mr C took a detour to see the Claerwen dam and reservoir. As a child I found the immense size of the damn breathtaking and due to the amounts of water a little scary too. Mr C was astounded by the dam in the same way that I was when I first saw it. The structure still amazes me to this day, as does the immense expanse of water behind the dam.

Next, as we drove from the valley towards the town of Rhayader we were treated to a wonderful sight; looking down on Red Kites gliding in flight rather than seeing them from below. It was amazing!

We stopped in Rhayader for a cup of tea in the pretty tea shop before we continued our journey homeward and found ourselves treated to another spectacle; I noticed a Hercules flying directly towards the car, at my eye level. Just as I started to point it out to Mr C, he jumped in his car seat as he noticed it for himself. In the blink of an eye the plane flew out of sight.

This incident reminded me of another childhood memory; a family picnic in the Elan Valley. My mum, dad, brother and I were sitting at a picnic bench underneath (i think) Pen-Y-Gareg. The water level was higher than on my recent visit so the water was cascading over the dam. The picnic had been unpacked and my dad (with his back to the dam) was pouring soup into a dish.

I pointed as I saw two planes emerging from just above the dam. The sound of them kicked in, causing my dad to jump and spill the hot soup. The view of the aircraft and their noise above the water was stunning!

Later in the day we enjoyed fine dining (chicken cordon bleu) on the patio as the sun went down.

I revealed the first of those photographs as Pitchford Hall.

My next blog post will reveal the second location from that post. The photo above is a  second teaser to the second location…

I have just returned from a weekend mini break, meeting up with photographer friends, old and new

I have included a teaser photograph of our meet up location (it is a teaser for those not present at the meet up ).

The 17th century tapestries which hand in the Great Chamber are either Flemish or French in origin. The tapestries are all that remain from the Great Chamber of a much larger collection that had remained in the hall for 200 years whilst the hall was unoccupied. The 9th Duke removed the tapestries from the hall to a room in the stable block for safety whilst restoration was taking place.

Sadly, in 1925 a fire broke out in a tea-room above the stables and approximately 60 tapestries were destroyed or damaged beyond repair.*

*From the Haddon Hall guide book

This would have been the communal living space when it was built in the 14th century. Both family and servants would have eaten and slept here. By the beginning of the 15th century however, the family would have begun to eat in the privacy of the Great Chamber and spend their leisure time in the Parlour which acquired the function of a private sitting room. Consequently the Great Hall became a room in which to entertain and hold social events and its name was changed to the Banqueting Hall.*

*From the Haddon Hall guide book

Haddon Hall is an English country house on the River Wye near Bakewell, Derbyshire, one of the seats of the Duke of Rutland. It is currently occupied by Lord Edward Manners (brother of the current Duke) and his family. In form a medieval manor house, it has been described as “the most complete and most interesting house of [its] period”.^[1] The origins of the hall date to the 11th century. The current medieval and Tudor hall includes additions added at various stages between the 13th and the 17th centuries.

The Vernon family acquired the Manor of Haddon by a 12th-century marriage between Sir Richard de Vernon and Alice Avenell, daughter of William Avenell II. Four centuries later, in 1563, Dorothy Vernon, the daughter and heiress of Sir George Vernon, married John Manners, the second son of Thomas Manners, 1st Earl of Rutland. A legend grew up in the 19th century that Dorothy and Manners eloped. The legend has been made into novels, dramatisations and other works of fiction. She nevertheless inherited the Hall, and their grandson, also John Manners, inherited the Earldom in 1641 from a distant cousin. His son, another John Manners, was made 1st Duke of Rutland in 1703. In the 20th century, another John Manners, 9th Duke of Rutland, made a life’s work of restoring the hall.