Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Tag: National Trust

Manchester Trip : Quarry Bank Mill (Part One)

On a wet Sunday afternoon in November, we needed something to occupy ourselves for a couple of hours. A National Trust site with one of the largest waterwheels in Europe seemed like just the ticket and it wasn’t far away to drive. Fortunately, I got in free with my National Trust pass, Ross got in on that as well, with Liam having his family membership. Richard came along as well with his own specially purchased ticket and we were ready to walk in the rain for a while.

As a background to this site, it’s at its heart about cotton production during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. At the centre of the site stands the impressive mill itself, built in 1784 and an important part of the industrial revolution. It was established by Samuel Greg, who used the River Bollin to power the water wheel, and his family kept it going into the twentieth century. The challenges were obvious in the Victorian period with more competition and the site struggled to maintain profitability. By 1939, it was realised that the site wouldn’t be profitable and Alexander Carlton Greg took the decision to donate the site and the surrounding estate to the National Trust.

We had a limited amount of time and so we focused on visiting the mill which is the main part of the site. There was plenty of walking in the parkland and estates, but we didn’t have time and it was pouring with rain anyway, but there is more to see here than we did. Above is the counting house, part of the mill manager’s offices, where the money was handed to workers.

And this is the hatch view that the workers would have had when collecting their money. At its peak, there were 250 people working here, so it was a sizeable operation.

The manager’s office. We decided Richard would like this decadence.

This was more Ross, Liam and me…..

And there’s Liam.

Some cotton and the process was explained, effectively its a matter of harvesting it, then ginning it (separately the cotton fibre from the seeds), then cleaning it (by carding and combing) and then spinning and weaving it.

And a cotton plant. The whole cotton industry was an essential part of the industrial revolution, with the spinning jenny, water frame and power loom being developed as part of the process. There was an enormous demand for cotton products both nationally and internationally, with colonies exploited to secure the raw material and then they were used as markets for the finished material.

The next part of the museum were the working machines, but that will require its own page as I took numerous videos as well as photos. Ooooh, the anticipation…..

January 2, 2025
Birmingham – Back to Backs National Trust Property

All the previous times that I’ve stumbled my way into Birmingham, I’ve promptly remembered that I should have booked in advance to visit this National Trust property, the ‘Backs to Backs’. It requires some forward planning, and in a bid to surprise and delight myself, I actually managed last week to book to visit this week. I’m a National Trust member as I aspire to be at least lower middle class, although I sometimes wonder whether I shall reach such pinnacles of sophistication any time soon. Anyway, this tour is one of the best rated in the city and it’s one of the best reviewed National Trust sites in the country. I’m very slightly nervous to write that I didn’t feel entirely engaged with proceedings, but that feels a rather pompous thing to say given the keen and generous volunteers who support this venue. I had better fall back on Jay Rayner’s line of “if someone wants to call me pompous or condescending, they can go right ahead” here…..

I can’t illustrate this riveting post with many photographs as they were banned inside the buildings, although that seemed to be the policy of the guide today rather than a general policy. Having noted that, our tour was quite busy and it’s not an unreasonable request from the guide. The tour is ninety minutes long, which did rather stretch my interest somewhat. I have to add a rider here that I’m generally boring, I read everything possible in museums, spend hours in them and frequently find myself on Google searching something new that I’ve learned during my meanderings. There was a lot of entering rooms, which in the case of the residences, were full of items that weren’t original to the properties, then listening to stories from other people on the tour about their mangles from the 1950s. Now, I have no complaint here, this is exactly the visitor that the National Trust gets and it’s the engagement that they want. I’m a life member of the National Trust (I drop that in for the reasons mentioned earlier about being aspirational), it would be ridiculous for me to be disappointed at that and it was rather pleasant to be by far the youngest on the tour. I like being the youngest, so a special award to the National Trust here for arranging this for me and also for the other tour participants for sharing their stories of how they had baths in tins around 70 years ago. One of the beauties of the tours is that over half the attendees stated that they had been brought up in houses similar to these, so of course they wanted to share their memories.

I’ll have to phrase this carefully, but I haven’t quite reached the higher levels of being ‘woke’ yet, but the tour guide did meander into discussion areas, shall we say, that the National Trust themselves might not have been entirely happy with. It’s too easy to be critical, but I suspect there’s quite a difference in style between the different tour guides, so experiences will likely differ. Anyway, back to the very many positives and that was the enthusiasm of the guide, but there was also one standout room which was on the top floor and was left in an unrestored condition. This clever idea showed more architectural history, which is very much my thing, such as the divide which was put in during the nineteenth century when the house was split, the staircase that was added and the layers of paint on the walls. I thought, just for my interest levels, that most of the other rooms were a little over-restored and stripped of some of their architectural relevance, although one room did contain an interesting photo of how it looked before restoration. I would have quite liked that to have been the case for all of the rooms, just to see how they ended up before they were tidied up. There were a few original traces though, such as stencilling on the walls and some original wallpaper.

Photos of the toilets were permitted. Here’s an early toilet before sanitation was added, they were only connected to the sewerage network in the early twentieth century and none of the properties ever had bathrooms fitted.

I’m pleased that I went on this tour, not least because more urban sites such as these are exactly what the National Trust need to reach out to a new audience. The story of working class people is often overlooked and the National Trust of course inevitably have to focus on their country houses. They’ve ensured that these properties survive, some of the very few ‘back to back’ houses to still be standing, so they tell an important story. I also understand why the National Trust have restored the rooms to three different periods of history and they’ve certainly spent a lot of money making these structures accessible to visitors. The awkward nature of the buildings is why they can’t easily allow visitors to walk around on their own, although they’ve got a lot of space that’s closed off at the moment (they were holiday lets for a long time, but it seems they closed during Covid) and there’s no access to any of the cellars. The old sweet shop on the corner has also closed, although has been turned into a little waiting area for visitors.

Being pre-prepared, I had read the visitor guide book in advance of my visit, and that is very well written and provides the sort of architectural information that I was interested in. As an observation rather than as a complaint, there were numerous slight inconsistencies with the guide book and the tour guide, the former notes that, unusually, there was a gas lamp in the courtyard that ensured it wasn’t dreary, whereas the tour guide mentioned that there was minimal light entering the properties. The guide book says that there were four toilets, the guide said that there were three, the guide book says that this wasn’t a Jewish court, the tour guide said it was. It’s all minor, but I sort of like a little bit of accuracy in the story telling and so I did rather glazed over some of the guide’s little facts that seemed quite odd to me. It’s thought that there were over 500 different families who lived in the houses during their 200 years of occupancy, although the National Trust have strongly focused on three families and that’s what the guide spoke about.

The guide book goes into plenty of detail about the slum clearances and the almost random nature of why these properties weren’t demolished in the 1960s. It appears that it’s simply because the ground floors were being used as shops and the council never quite got around to demolishing them. They were listed in the 1980s and then thanks to funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund and the European Regional Development Fund they were saved and then placed in the hands of the National Trust.

This is a fascinating location to visit for anyone and I’d merrily recommend it, it’s a piece of history that could have easily been lost. There isn’t actually anything particularly special about these houses and their yard in terms of saving them, it’s just that they represent where tens of thousands of people once lived. Many former residents of yards such as this were never that impressed about the tower blocks that they were moved to, but the survival of these units is a credit to the National Trust and those who funded their restoration, including many members of the public who sent their own donations in to help. The volunteers are doing a marvellous job in their story telling and it’s clear that their efforts are resonating positively with the vast majority of visitors. So, they don’t really need to change anything, although speaking just personally, there was a bit too much social history here for me and not enough architectural and building history. But, different things for different people and it’s clear that the National Trust have got the balance right judging by the reviews. All rather lovely and it’s just over £10 for the tour, or free for National Trust members. They don’t advertise it, but apparently it’s always worth wandering in when the tours are meant to start just in case they have any no shows.

September 4, 2024
Friday : Off To Wales (Part Two – Hanbury Hall)

In the next riveting instalment of the expedition that Liam and I went on to Wales, we stopped off at Hanbury Hall, primarily to get value from my membership. Not that I would have paid to go in at £13 per person, or £14.30 if Gift Aided, but that’s a different matter.

The building seems well proportioned to my non-architecturally minded eye, looking rather beautiful in the sunny weather.

The entrance to the property, which has a date of 1701 visible above the door, but that’s a made up addition from the Victorian period. It was probably finished in 1706 and replaced Spernall Hall which was previously on this site.

Ooh, books. Not quite as decadent as the selection at Blickling Hall, but still plenty of interesting titles.

I can’t actually remember why I was taking photos of the bookshelves.

I’m not really into interior design and don’t subscribe to Homes and Gardens, but I liked this room, very peaceful.

I’m sort of pleased that the National Trust put up a sign about this painting, as it is more complex than it at first appears. It was painted in 1836 and is of Thomas and Harry Vernon, painted as girls to prevent them from being kidnapped and ransomed. I must admit I’m not entirely convinced by this, there were child abductions in the early nineteenth century, but documents such as https://www.jstor.org/stable/41999356 don’t suggest they were wealthy children being pinched. Indeed, I’m suspicious enough to suggest that the National Trust have made this up, as breeching is well documented and I’ve never seen kidnapping having been given as a reason.

Another view of the same room, it’s clear this was my favourite in the house. The National Trust took over the property in 1953 and after some work was done on the house, it was primarily rented out as private apartments. I’m sure that it must have been a grand place to live, but it has now been fully opened up to the public.

I was less interested in this room. But Liam and I were amused to hear a child complain that they were bored and wanted to leave, with the parents saying “there’s just a few more rooms left to look in”. The child had at that stage only been in two rooms, so I’m not sure that a future in historical properties is beckoning.

Liam in a room, the details of which I’ve forgotten.

They’ve gone to some effort with the staircase, with the painter being James Thornhill, in whose studio William Hogarth was a student.

I’m not convinced that this is entirely comfortable and it all feels a bit excessive, but each to their own.

There’s some work going on at the site at the moment with the construction of a new restaurant, with these being some of the artefacts (if you can call them that) that they’ve found. The National Trust have been keen to push on with the work as visitor numbers to the property have continued to rise, so the facilities need to be improved.

The engineering project going on, I think this was Liam’s favourite part of the visit.

The effort made to use bricks that will fit in.

They’re going to unblock this archway which seems like a good idea.

I’m always pleased to see a bit of Hogarth.

One final bedroom to visit before our tour of the house was complete. The volunteers were friendly and engaging during the visit, but they were kept busy as there was a constant flow of visitors. Unusually for a National Trust property, visitors could walk around the rooms in whatever order they wanted, there wasn’t a directional flow that had to be followed.

A rather pleasant view from the window of the bedroom. The gardens had been left to go to rack and ruin since the grand days when they were laid out by Capability Brown, but work started to restore them in the 1990s and they look suitably grand again now.

Another photo of the construction work and although it was Friday, there wasn’t much going on.

The National Trust are certainly spending some money on gardeners, everything is immaculate.

Less money has been spent on the window closing mechanism, which looks more like I’ve been put in charge of it.

Liam took the opportunity to get an ice cream.

And a little collection of photos of the gardens and the exterior of the house. It was pleasant to have a little meander around the house and gardens for an hour or so, although we were getting towards closing time and so we didn’t have much more time. It’s well reviewed on-line, with the majority of the grumbles seemingly being the cheap Christmas decorations they used a couple of years ago. I’m in agreement with those reviews, there’s no need for Christmas decorations when you have such a grand house to show off.

Properties like this are fortunate to survive, there was a period in the early twentieth century when so many of these glorious residential buildings were pulled down to avoid paying death duties. The owners of Hanbury Hall have had to sell their furniture on more than a couple of occasions, but the building itself has remained intact. One of those instances was in 1935 when Sir George Vernon refused to pay the tithe dues and his items of furniture was seized and sold by public auction at the hall. He was the President of Worcestershire Tithe Payers Associations and I’m sure he was pleased at the passing of the Tithe Act in the following year.

Anyway, it was all rather lovely to have a quick visit to the house, before we started on the drive to Gloucester (we do eventually get to Wales).

June 16, 2022
Thursday to Sunday : Blickling Hall, Blickling Church and Bonds Chip Shop in Aylsham

It’s quick progress (well, slightly quicker, I won’t get carried away) on this blog when I’m in Norwich, as I managed to do little of note on the Thursday, Friday or Saturday, although since I had an opportunity to go to Blickling Hall on the Sunday that seemed a marvellous idea to get the most from my National Trust membership. I’ve visited here on numerous occasions before, it’s a flagship National Trust property and I think very over-priced for non-members to go in at over £15, but there we go…..

Going through the front porch, it must be handy owning a property with this much space. Anyway, there’s a date of 1620 visible to the top-right, contemporary with the original construction of the property between 1619 and 1627 for Sir Henry Hobart, the Lord Chief Justice.

The frontage from a different angle. The volunteers at the house were pro-active, friendly and helpful, although I suspect they were low on numbers as some of the rooms were closed off. As an aside, I do wonder what the National Trust are doing with all the rooms that are closed, they surely can’t need that much office space. I’m especially disappointed at the lack of access to the former servant rooms, as these often tell some of the most interesting stories of how the property was run and how the servants lived and worked.

Located at the bottom of the stairs is what some people refer to as an original Holbein, although the National Trust say that it is a copy. The painting was at Newbattle Abbey, a former monastery turned into a residential property following the Reformation. It’s a decent copy though, I wouldn’t have been able to tell the difference, although I’m not entirely sure why it’s shoved down by the bottom of the stairs by the mops.

My favourite room in the property, the Great Hall, or as far as I’m concerned in terms of the naming, the library.

Any working environment is substantially improved by having so many books and I could sit here for quite some time without getting bored. I could also fit a bar billiards table in here and I might even have my own cue like other professional players that I know.

What a beautiful sight. This collection of books is of national importance and there are around 14,000 of them, mostly a legacy from the book collector Sir Richard Ellys (1688-1742), but added to over the years. There are some very early books here, including incunables from the early years of printing.

The tapestry room which would annoy me as I’d want to remove the crumples. I’m pleased that tapestries on walls has gone out of fashion over the last few hundred years.

One of the state bedrooms, more style over substance here as far as I’m concerned, but I think that’s what guest rooms are really for in country houses. This room has a fine view of the lake and it’s just a short walk from the library for any guest wanting a night-time read. I’m fascinated about what life must have been like for those with wealth here and whether they realised the enormous privilege that they had, or whether it was so part of their normality that they didn’t much think about it.

I approved of their gentle humour.

Walking around the outside of the house gives an indication of its size. The last owner of the property was Philip Kerr, 11th Marquess of Lothian, a man who had some fascinating roles, including the Ambassador to the United States and earlier on in his career, the Private Secretary to David Lloyd George. The property was given to the National Trust in 1940 following Kerr’s death, although it didn’t open to the public until 1962.

It started to rain after I had left the hall, so I decided against walking around the gardens which I’ve meandered around many times before. There are 55 acres of formal gardens, which feels excessive for any one family, but I won’t get involved in class based discussions here. And, in addition to that, there are thousands of acres of land around the estate, although much has been sold off over the generations.

I think this is wisteria on the wall, it all looks very suitable for the National Trust and its image.

I’ve never had chance to visit the RAF Oulton Museum at the property, located next to the cafe and there are plenty of knowledgeable volunteers here. It commemorates the existence of RAF Oulton between 1939 and 1946 which was located at the Blickling Estate and there’s some continuation of heritage as the rooms that the museum now occupies were used by air crew and wing sergeants during the Second World War.

And just at the end of the drive is St. Andrew’s Church and it’s open seemingly every day, although the constant flow of visitors from Blickling Hall must help to justify that.

The nave of St. Andrew’s Church, which was used by Blickling Hall, which was unfortunately substantially reconstructed during the Victorian period and it’s perhaps a drab and sterile affair in comparison to other churches in the county. However, it holds some charm and there are some memorials to previous residents of Blickling Hall.

Despite the Victorian renovation of the fifteenth century church, there are some survivals from the earlier building, including this older piscina.

And this chest, which is around 500 years old.

The font is medieval, although I can’t imagine that paintwork is particularly old. I’m going for the Victorians fiddling with it.

Steps down to a vault under the chancel.

The Commonwealth War Grave of LE Billington, who died at the age of 20 on 4 March 1945. Leslie Billington was on board an aircraft that crash landed at RAF Oulton on the way back from a military operation on the European mainland.

Bond’s Chips in Aylsham and I have my usual complaint that they don’t accept cards. On this occasion, I had guessed in advance about that situation and had cash, but this lack of card acceptance is now becoming increasingly rare and it’s no surprise they’re receiving negative reviews about their policy.

The service though was friendly and the sausage is better than the photo suggests, this is a proper butcher’s sausage and the batter had a pleasant taste to it. The chips were served as a suitably large portion and I was satisfied with the whole arrangement. And there was a little eat-in area which made things easier.

June 7, 2022
Glasgow – Tenement House

This is the Tenement House in Glasgow, now in the care of the National Trust for Scotland. As National Trust members can also gain access to properties in Scotland for free, I thought that I’d pre-book a ticket since it’s only open on Fridays to Sundays.

The National Trust have displays on the ground and first floors. They perhaps don’t need so much space for their shop and cafe given the limited area they have to work with, but I suppose it all raises revenue for the charity. The volunteers (or staff, I’m not sure whether they’re paid) here are friendly and engaging, so it all felt welcoming.

An exhibition room in one of the two flats that were on the first floor. The other flat, which comprises of four rooms, has been returned to what it might have looked like at the beginning of the twentieth century.

The bathroom in the flat. I hadn’t quite realised that this tenement was one which was built in the 1890s for the middle classes, I had for some reason thought that it was a block which had been lived in by the poorer members of society. I asked the friendly volunteer about this and she explained that this was quite an aspirational development and that many other people in Glasgow would have lived in much worse conditions. I think my confusion was because I associate tenements in Glasgow with something rather less salubrious. Anyway, as bathrooms go, it’s not bad at all and would have felt quite state of the art at the time.

The bedroom.

What a lovely idea, a bedroom in a cupboard. There’s one in the room the other side as well.

The kitchen area with its large range. The property was lived in by Agnes Toward between 1911 and 1965, before she gifted it to the National Trust for Scotland.

And the living room.

There wasn’t a vast amount here to see and so I think I’d have been disappointed if I’d paid full price, which was £8.50 for an adult, probably too much given a visit isn’t going to last more than half an hour. But, given that I got in free, I thought that this was an interesting diversion for a Friday morning. It is though perhaps not a typical example of how the average Glasgow resident would have been living in the late nineteenth century, although to be fair, most National Trust properties aren’t really very good examples of how the poorest lived.

August 27, 2021