Belsay Hall part 1

Typically, when we went to Northumberland it was a rather rainy and cold week!  Despite this, we were determined to get out and about so one rainy day, we decided to visit English Heritage site, Belsay Hall.  CBC said it was a great place to visit and so I acquiesced to this suggestion  and we headed off in the car.  Belsay Hall is great because it combines a Medieval castle  which which you can climb (it is intact but not lived in for a few hundred years) with a Georgian hall and beautiful gardens! So much in one place.

Of course, we got our priorities straight and headed into the cafe first for lunch.

I somehow decided to try a Northumbrian traditional lunch- a stotty which is essentially a large wedge of bread with something in it.  In this case, beef and gravy.   The salad was lovely but the beef stotty was too much so I won't be having it again!

Onto Belsay Hall, I felt like I was arriving at Pemberley.

When it was given to English Heritage, they decided that they wanted to leave it unfurnished to appreciate the classical structure of the building and the detailed craftsmanship that went into it. I like it like that.

The building was designed with the same proportions of the Parthenon in Greece I believe as the Lord of the Manor at the time, Sir Charles Monck of the Middleton family, only an amateur architect, was inspired during his honeymoon to have it built.  The family lived previously in Belsay Castle but decided to build a new hall.

I am always delightfully overwhelmed entering any building with Neo-classical architecture!

Entering in, I liked the mock paradoxical effect of the pillars within pillars.

The atrium was beautiful and I could have stood there for ages, staring at the Ionic pillars and looking up through the glass roof, so beautifully lit.

In the many rooms, I enjoyed the many fireplaces.

I think I most enjoy the large windows in these places.

Here is the vast library. I did tap a few bookcases looking for secret passages. Why aren't there more secret passages?!

More fireplaces. This part of the hall is not fully open to the public due to dry rot which they are trying to sort out.

You can see how the tiles have been treated.

We weren't allowed in here as work is being done.

CBC and I were perplexed by the fireplace in the air.  Is that to serve the mezzanine? Did one reach over and fill the fireplace?  Seems a bit dubious to me!

More fireplaces and I really liked that wallpaper.

After a while, we headed down to the cellars which were cold and had the most marvellous echo. Since the Middleton family had owned the Belsay castle since Medieval times, it seemed only fitting that I should sing some plainchant by Medieval composer nun, Hildegard Von Bingen- Columba Aspexit. I can't resist an echo! Not sure what the people in the higher parts of the house thought of this!

And so, we headed outside, onto the next part, to enjoy the grade 1 listed gardens but more of that soon...

xxx

On reluctance to wear a vintage dress.

 Here's a dress I found in a charity shop a few months ago. Actually, I score really well in this charity shop- it was where I found the Cath Kidston dress and Kangol bag etc.
I couldn't believe I'd found a genuine vintage maxi dress (FYI by Louis Caring of London. Made in England, size 12) , in my size, in my length, in my style and in a material tolerable to my fussy tendencies. It cost about £7 and what I loved even more was the fact it had a sailor vibe to it with that mustard piping.  It had a Regency/Elizabeth Bennett-aesthetic,  to it which I loved even more and yet, I ummed and ahed over it.

Fast forward a few months and I just hadn't worn it. Ridiculous.  But somehow, it never seemed the right occasion to wear it.  Too dressy for one day, too hot for another, impractical for another day's activities.  Vix and Curtise would (and should) pull me up on this.

Finally, I decided to take it to camp with me. Because camp is the place that I feel most comfortably myself and could get away with it.    It was a day that was sunny with a chill wind and I must say, I loved floating around camp in it.

The light in the arboretum wasn't the greatest for taking photos with the self-timer on the edge of a bench so you can't see the pretty print so well but there are tiny seeds from a blown Dandelion clock on the main part with thistles on the sleeves.

Everyone was really complementary about it at camp but I felt the need to justify wearing it as the fact that camp was the one place I could wear it. Perhaps I'll be braver about wearing it out to do the shopping in Lidl on another occasion now it has made its debut?

Have you ever experienced this awkwardness in wearing something?
xx

March books

I've had a real binge session of certain book types the month and I am not ashamed of it!  I'd love to know if you've read any of these and any opinions


Snowflake in my hand- Samantha Mooney

This was my Bloggers' Secret Santa gift from Imogen.  It has the look of a children's book about it but it is actually the reminiscences of Veternary worker (she's not a vet, she's some sort of research assistant/fellow), Samantha Mooney in New York.  She shares details of her life working with cats with cancer or Leukaemia. The author has a lot of heart and you see how much she cares about her job and the cats that she meets.  There are stories of success and joys and experiences but of course, since she works in the cancer/Leuk unit, there are also many sad tales. But,I love the fact that these owners love their animals so much to pay for the drugs and treatments to prolong their lives. Tis heartening. This was a lovely read although I found Samantha's constant need to better herself by constant extra-curricular study exhausting at times!

Source

The Toll gate - Georgette Heyer
If you've read my blog for a few years, you will know that GH is one of my favourite authors. Her Regency romances have an impeccable attention to detail, very appealing heroines and equally dashing and likeable heroes.  The tollgate begins from the perspective of the male hero which is not synonymous with all Heyer's novels. Our hero is a returned Soldier from France, Captain John Staple, who like any good Regency soldier, finds life back in England rather dull.  The novel begins as he is escaping a party at his relative's house where it is certain he may be 'set up' with a young lady. He decides to escape for a hunting party at a friend's however, leaving late and taking a wrong turn leads him to end up totally on the wrong path.  It is seeing a young boy running the toll gate on a road which draws his attention and sympathy. The boy is not sure where his Father has gone and is clearly terrified of some person or other.  Jack decides to stay and help the boy with running the toll gate at the same time as trying to solve the mystery of where the man has gone.  His wish to remain is further ignited when he meets the brave Nell Stornaway, the old squire's Grand-daughter.

I loved this book because it brings together the two types of books that Heyer wrote- murder mysteries and obviously the Regency romance- this is definitely a mystery book as well and it is very exciting.  In addition, various plot-devices Heyer has used well before are used well, an unsavoury character who is after the main heroine, a highwayman and an older governess in love. The end of this book was very exciting and you are kept guessing as to the exact outcome until the end. Definitely one of the better Heyer books I have read.

Source

I read the next four books out of order!

The Stationmaster's farewell- Edward Marston

Source

 I was so chuffed to find this quartet of books in the charity shops in Feb!  The railway detective novels are superb.  In this book, the railway detective, Colbeck is called to Exeter St David station to deal with the unexplained death of the Station Master who is found in the Guy Fawkes pyre.   Interestingly, the murder victim, for once, is not a nasty piece of work, but rather, is a lovely, hard-working gentle, kind and sensitive soul which I found more upsetting than I usually find these books. I did struggle to identify a murder in this book and when I discovered who DID murder him, I did feel a bit indignant and cheated- there's NO WAY I would have guessed that. The characterisation of the book is great and the book finally leads up to the marriage of Inspector Collbeck to his beloved Madeline Andrews, who provides vital assistance at the end of the book. Much recommended.

Railway to the Grave- Edward Marston

Source

The wonderful Inspector Colbeck returns in this novel.  Interestingly, the book, set in the Victorian era, gives us a bit more insight into his superior officer, Superintendent Tallis' life.  Before this, Tallis was a bit more two-dimensional.  An old-army colleague of his begins the book walking to his death along the railway lines, choosing his moment to ensure he will meet his death.  His suicide note is sent to Tallis and so he and Colbeck plus the irrepressible Sergeant Leeming come to investigate. It seems his suicide is wound up with the disappearance of his wife and the suspicions around where she went and why. The Major's death is wound up in the railway and there are a LOT of red-herrings and possible suspects linked to the disappearance which lead you round the garden path a bit.  As with these books, I find the denouement rather sudden and wish for a little more explanation, detail. I also found the people implicated who I hadn't really had much information about. Admittedly, I realised who was involved but only by my usual logic of 'Who has no motive or interest in the death?'.  Still, this was a really exciting book and I recommend any of this series.

Blood on the Line- Edward Marston

Source

This book actually precedes the previous one.   Interestingly,we gain insight into the life of Colbeck himself, pre-books, as he encounters and chases after his Arch-nemesis, the man who killed the woman he loved which turned him from life as a solicitor to the life of a police officer. The story begins as the man in question, Jeremy Oxley has been arrested near Birmingham but is rescued, and his guards murdered by a young lady.

The book moves at a cracking pace, the dialogue shifts between the criminal Oxley and his lady-friend to Colbeck and Leeming on their trail.  There is never a dull moment and I really wasn't sure how on earth Colbeck could capture Oxley.  Also, there were times when I wasn't sure if Collbeck would end up marrying Madeline, his beloved, since he might not be able to put the death of Helen, his previous love,to rest unless he caught Oxley.  The book ends with an amazing shift of location and gripping writing. Possibly the best of the Railway detective books so far and interesting since we KNEW who the murdered/baddie was, rather than the usual Who-dunnit!

Peril on the Royal Train- Edward Marston

Source

The final book of my quartet takes place after Colbeck has married Madeline and is again, a different type of crime. Marston keeps us interested by changing the nature of his crimes brilliantly! In this case, the book begins with the devastating crash and derailing of a goods train in Scotland. Old rivals from Colbeck's past cases are involved in the investigation and it seems an impossible feat to discover the arbiter of the crimes, but for a chance sighting by a shepherd boy who proves integral to the plot.  There are a lot of lucky coincidences in the book leading to the solving of the crime but I suppose it wouldn't be an interesting book otherwise! Not my favourite of the series but still excellent and fast-paced!

Treasures of the snow- Pamela St John

Source

The final book of the month was given to me by a friend and she gave me 3 Pamela St John books. I find them delightful.  They are fictional and deal with children and their discovering of faith and goodness in the world. Don't think they are some prissy evangelical book, they are books showing the goodness that can result in being aware of breaking relationships and how hope can be found. The characterisation is well done and the countryside description is beautiful.  The book tells the story of a little girl who lives in the mountains and how her rivalry and dislike of another boy results in much heartbreak, her brother's crippling and how the relationships change when the children discover the power of forgiveness.

Have you read any of these books? Would you?  What have you been reading recently?

xxx

Sanditon

Hands up if you've read Sanditon?

Seriously, I don't know anyone else who's read it and I'd love to talk book and hear opinions!  I adore Jane Austen, so when I was in Poor Richard's in Felixstowe, a couple of years ago, and found a copy of Sanditon, by Jane Austen and Another Lady, I was pretty excited.  (Jane Austen left 11 chapters written of this book before she died and no one had attempted to finish it, and actually do so, before this lady).  As Jane Austen heroines go, our main female character is Charlotte Heywood who has been invited to stay at Sanditon, a seaside town. She stays with the Parker family. As someone  interested in the early days of Seaside hollidays (first interested me when this was our topic during my year 2 placement on my PGCE.  I did lots of research), I love the fact that the setting for this story is a seaside town during the regency era.  Hearing about the different activities that people did, how they bathed, where they stayed, was for me a real joy of this book.

As with all Jane Austen, there is a romance.  It's kind of obvious from soon on who Charlotte will fall in love with but I like this.  Charlotte is well written.  She's definitely an Elizabeth Bennett-type.  She's wise and sensible but has a sense of humour.  She's loyal and thoughtful but doesn't suffer fools gladly.  Also, I really like the male hero- Sidney Parker- he's funny, witty and he's got some sort of secret up his sleeve which always makes the hero more interesting. He reminds me of Frank Churchill and Mr Tillney all in one and considering, he was only introduced in Jane Austen's final chapter before Another Lady took over, she's developed him well.  The other characters are well written and expanded upon by another lady. Two sisters who are very officious seem very much like a cross between Pride and Prejudice's Mrs Bennett and Emma's Miss Bates.  There's a ridiculous male character who is well written and reminds me of Mr Elton but in a more extreme way and in fact, there are a whole series of characters of the kind that Jane Austen likes to poke fun at who all add to make the heroine and hero more well-rounded, sensible and appealing. Mr Parker- obsessed with making Sanditon a fashionable town.Lady Denham is a suitable Lady Catherine De Bourgh type character- full of asperity and really unlikable. Miss Denham, who reminds me of the Bingley sisters. There are of course one or two non-ridiculous characters who are appealing- Clara Brereton- a more likable Jane Miss Lambe.  I like the subplots and subromances- they are really nice and the characters are all the better for them.

If you love Jane Austen, you'd probably enjoy this.  I've read a fair few Jane Austen sequels written by others, or finished novels and I dislike many for their attempting to twist your expectations (Joan Aiken, I'm looking at you!).  Well worth a read.

Image from www.foyles.com- the book can be bought second hand here

The Big Day: Part Three: Onto the mansion!

I left you in Part 2 in the vicarage garden. We bid goodbye to all those who were not coming onto our reception (it had strict rules, including no stilettos with a square heel under 1cm sq!) and drove off with CBC's old flatmate in his Mercedes in hope that our instructions would lead everyone there safely. They did, except for our lovely photographer and a few other, whose Satnavs died!).


 The place of our reception was a place long known to me and featured several times in this blog- Valentines Mansion which, if you are a Great British Bakeoff fan, was the setting for the Celebrity special series, earlier in the year.







 It is a gorgeous Georgian mansion that fulfilled all those Catherine Morland and Henry Tillney/Elizabeth and Darcy dreams. Also, it was really important for us to feel that our venue was not just a marriage machine which several others seemed. This is a place which is used by the community for and the public all the time for a variety of different uses. It was, however, a little difficult in terms of the fact that it is quite a blank canvas as you just hire the venue, the rooms and the tables and chairs and everything else is up to you! Great in some ways, but rather daunting!

However, it has an amazing series of gardens and places to explore which are very beautiful as you can see from the background of the pictures above!

We arrrived at Valentines and guests drank prosecco and us non-alkies drank rose and elderflower fizz, made by my Mum with canapes.  It was really nice being able to chat to friends as they arrived in clusters though I did keep looking around for where our lovely, lost Photographer was.

Eventually, she found her way which we were relieved and thankful for.  How horrid it is to be lost in an unfamiliar place.  The family went off for some photos, though very few and CBC and I did a few and then we joined the guests for dinner.

Valentines is a little quirky and very Regency in that our guests had to be divided into different rooms:  The Holcombe room with wide fire place which led onto the veranda was a very grand affair for 10 friends, the bird room, quirkily holds cabinets, once full of stuffed birds, now full of origami creations, and held 12 fields. The gallery held 28 friends and various contemporary art paintings (and the evening entertainment) and finally the Drawing Room upstairs held the remaining 50 people, including us!

 Dinner and decorations: Long before the wedding, I had spent many many evenings using a butterfly craft punch to cut literally thousands of turquoise and music score paper butterflies.  Believe it or not, one very clever guest guessed the composer (Gustav Mahler, in case you're wondering) from the butterflies on his table!).  These were scattered all over the tables like confetti and also my little sister (the blonde bridesmaid) made all our name cards with some of the music butterflies and smaller vellum ones she punched.

 
Flowers: All my dear blogging friends were party to the disaster of the late-blooming wildflowers and so plan B was to buy plants for the tables but this also went awry as those available at the time were awful and motheaten and quite simply not worth the money so instead, the morning of the day before, a friend and I simply went to Tescos and bought bunches of flowers in shades of red, orange, yellow and white and I issued a general plea for vases as well as locating about 10 in charity shops that day!  My mother spent a while arranging them the night before and please tell her they look pretty,because she thought she did them badly which I firmly refute! (please ignore the doll below which made it into all the cake shots!)

 

Our caterers provided a delicious 3 course meal which I believe everyone enjoyed- I certainly did!

The speeches were after dinner which were lovely on behalf of all three parties- my Dad gave a nice speech, which only mentioned my aged 3-year  obsession with toilets once, CBC's speech was generous and kind to all the many people we had to thank and lovely towards me, citing the magic of music camps and rabbits which were integral into our getting together and his Best-man's speech was quite frankly, the nicest and most tame Best-Man's speech I have ever heard and only involved a few embarassments for CBC which I, of course, wont mention here, *Cough Cough,missing planes*!


 Treasure Hunt:  Right after dinner, our venue hosts needed to clear the tables for the evening reception so we had planned a Treasure Hunt to ensure that everyone enjoyed and got to see the wonderful and extensive grounds of the Mansion.  .
Each team received a map of Valentines, a list of clues and the treasure hunt leader (our furtherest travelled guest- from China!!!!) showed them a hyena to kick off the first clue (Answer to the hyena was a Haha!)
 The treasure hunt was that little bit too hard and cryptic and What we DID not bargain for was how highly competitive the teams became and how they doggedly refused to give up the chase.   We divided them into 3 teams- Owls, Pigeons and Rabbits and they each had to find the letters hidden in the Valentines gardens and features by solving cryptic clues. Each had their own treasure, wrapped up and hidden in the anagram location, within the mansion.  We were very lucky, having laid them the night before (CBC and treasure leader were gallavanting round the park at 9.30pm!!!!) that the public did not choose to take them, especially as some of them were hidden in the Kitchen Garden which also houses the cafe!
Our entertainment for the guests also included some outdoor games which we had purchased:

Archery:
 


Croquet: which, like the treasure hunt, also got a little too competitive!!!
 
Rather later than planned, was the cutting of the cakeS!!!

The first cake was a French patisserie cake which was a lovely custard, strawberry and summer fruits light sponge with chocolate curls which came from our favourite family-run business, Le Moulin in Hornchurch.  It was covered in fruit, including Physalis (and sadly,  I didn't get to eat any!)


The second was rather lovingly created by my Mother,who makes amazing cakes. She spent months on this fruit cake, handcrafting over 600 flowers so I could have my wildflower meadow in cake form, if not in real flower form.
 C 

It was so exquisitely made and so personal and unique and we loved it!  She even had special Swarovksy letters made for the top.

I was just so sad that she had, by this time, gone home sick, as she felt really ill and didn't get into enjoy her moment of glory.

Right after our photos and cutting of the cake, I went off to the Regency Parlour to change into my evening outfit as there was no way I would be able to swing dance in a long dress.


My dress of choice was a Vivien of Holloway white satin dress with turquoise stars which I teamed with a turquoise sequinned belt of old and a pair of flat canvas shoes from Shoe Zone (glam aren't I?!)  and the obligatory swishy petticoat I already owned!
 Our first dance, which you must have seen in my wedding day video was a lindyhop routine to Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy,  which we had SUCH fun learning and dancing to! 
Straight after our routine, the Cunning Plan Ceilidh band kicked off with our fun ceilidh with the absolute sweetest caller!
 A constant stream of people danced all evening and the band were so kind to stick around so late as we actually started the ceildih 2 hours late after delays over speeches, cake cutting and having to do the photos at that late time!

 
One particularly special thing for us was that they agreed to play and teach Childgrove, the dance that my ultimate favourite heroine and hero- Catherine Morland and Henry Tillney first dance together in Northanger Abbey, the TV series.

 

Whilst all this was going on, other things were afoot.  Food upstairs in the drawing room, sweetie buffet in the Holcombe room and my favourite part of the entertainment.

You have long known of my hat obsession and extensive collection.

I decided that though I couldn't afford a hired PhotoBooth, what I could do was to bring my own camera and tripod and most of my hat collection.

These, I set out onto a table at some stage after the meal including the Mansion's own hat stand along with other props.  This proved to be the hit of the evening with a constant stream of people trying the hats on, taking photos and generally having a laugh!

Ha ha, photobombed!!!

I think I got them all back!!!


After the Ceilidh finished, a set of 90's disco music rounded things off.  It then remained my duty as the hirer of the venue, to try and clear it up in the space of an hour which was a little stressful considering the amount of things to clear, the amount of helpers and the amount of headache!  However, we achieved this and finally CBC, myself and family were able to set off to at last get some sleep.

We had a wonderful time at the Reception as did our guests and the only thing I would do again is to try and organise more help and a better system of clearing up at the end!
 

I will probably round off these posts with a few more things I wanted to write or include, but I fear this will never get published if I don't hit the Button now!


Photos Copyright of Karen O'Reilly at www.kaphoto.co.uk