Our latest National Trust Visit - Stoneywell, Leicestershire

Stoneywell was acquired by the National Trust in January 2013 and has recently opened for visitors. It's only the third property owned by the Trust in Leicestershire and, as such, is quite close by. 

We've been waiting to visit for what seems like ages. One of Martin's friends works there and she's been keeping us posted on what's been happening in the run up to it finally opening to the public earlier on this year.

The property was designed in 1899 by Ernest Gimson, one of the most inspiring and influential architect-designers of the British Arts and Crafts Movement, as a Summer home for his brother Sydney. He also built the two neighbouring properties for his other brother and sister. 

Whilst the property was originally built for Gimson's brother, Sydney, as a holiday home, it was fully occupied by Sydney's son, Donald, and his family for many years, before being acquired by the National Trust.  Inside the house, the property has been restored to how it would have been in the 1950s, which is when Donald has his happiest memories of living there with his family.

Stoneywell is a Grade II listed property set in the Charnwood Forest.  It's the only remaining cottage of its kind in Leicestershire and is one of only a handful of notable Arts and Crafts houses in England. 

As well as the cottage, gardens, outbuildings and woodland, Stoneywell retains many of its original contents and inside the property has been laid out in the way it would have been in the 1950s.

The latest National Trust magazine had a big spread on the property and confirmed that it is now fully open for business so we decided to take mum and dad for dad's birthday. 

Because of the location and the access arrangements for the property, it's one of those places where you need to book your visit. You can't just turn up. Booking is easy enough and can be done on line. You book an hour slot and need to arrive within this time to be able to park. 

Once parked, a shuttle bus service takes you a short drive to the property, where there is a guided tour lasting about 3/4 of an hour. 

The weather forecast wasn't the best but we decided to go ahead with our visit anyway, chucking all the wet weather gear in the boot just in case. As it happened the weather surprised us. No rain at all, though some biting winds on the car park which is quite exposed to the elements. 

We only had to wait a few minutes for the mini-bus, which took us down the road and dropped us at the property. It is literally five minutes away. 

We were greeted by National Trust staff, including our friend, and told a little bit about the layout of the site before heading off down the path towards the house, which is not at all visible from the entrance, which makes it quite intriguing, what were we going to find? 

We were lucky enough to be accompanied by a guide who told us a little bit about the gardens on our walk to the house. She told us about the 4 trees given to the family as a 25th wedding anniversary present and showed us the original Stony Well, from which the property got it's name. The well was shared by Stoneywell and the neighbouring property, which Gimson also built, for his sister, and is on the boundary of the two properties and accessible from both sides. 

As you turn the sweep of the bend in the path, the property comes in to view and is a real delight. A beautiful, higgledy piggledy, Hansel and Gretel looking building, which really appears to just come right out of the rock and the countryside around it, which was just how Gimson wanted it to appear. 

It was quite grey on our visit and we can only imagine how lovely it would look with clear blue skies and sunshine, we will most definitely have to make a return visit to find out. 

Once inside the property each room is unexpectedly spacious and does look just how it would have done in the 1950s, with lots of original furniture, that was bespoke made specifically for this beautiful family home, and plenty of personal bits and pieces.

There are lots of nooks and crannies and quirky touches, including different size and shaped windows, with amazing and completely different views from every aspect, narrow windy staircases and a few few steep steps and some low ceilings. 

It is a house where you are encouraged to really come in and experience what it would have been like, to sit on the window seats, to admire the views and to feel the wood of the old furniture and imagine what life it has seen. 

There is something to see in every direction you look and I am sure when we visit again, we will notice things that we didn't see this time. 

Back outside, standing back and really admiring the view of the house. the attention to detail is something that you don't necessarily notice on first glance.  Fortunately the guide was on hand to point out some lovely detailing, particularly on the roof, where the tiles start out very small at the top and gradually grow in size as the roof comes down to meet the ornate, but subtle and prettily detailed guttering and downpipes. 

We wondered around the back of the house, past the tennis courts, up to the old fort, where the children used to play for another lovely view of the house. Just imagine, growing up somewhere like this. There would have been no need for games consoles or constant TV, children could run wild with their imagination in the gardens, which would have made a very adventurous playground. 

There are lots of signs of Spring in the garden at the moment, with drifts of bulbs poking through all over the place and masses of variety of rhododendron just coming into bud. In another few weeks the gardens will be ablaze with colour and that is something we really want to see. 

We finished our wander with a closer look at the old well and the plunge pool beside, which looked very chilly today. You can just see the steps to enter the pool if you look closely. 

We then headed back to the old stables and the tea room for tea and cake ..... Mandatory on a visit to a National Trust property, you know, before catching the next mini-bus back to the car park and heading for home. 

Because of the booking system and the size of the mini-bus everything works really well, with you never feeling that the place is crowded and giving you a real chance to explore and take photos without lots of people in the background, always a bonus. 

We really enjoyed our visit and would definitely recommend it. We spent about two hours there in total, but only had a short wander around the garden. In warmer weather I am sure we would make more of the garden and the woods. I am sure there will be a other post sometime soon, where I hope to show some blue skies and flowers in bloom. Watch this space.

Back into the Fray

In my last post it was 9 October 1917 and Will was heading back to the front line after being on light duties for a few days following a compound fracture to his shoulder.

This turned out to have been a lucky break for Will, as the rest of the Battalion had experienced a real rough time at the front whilst Will was working safely in the stores and acting as the Orderly Corporal for the Company.

I am sure it will have been with great trepidation that Will went, by motor, to Ridgewood, to hit the front line again on 10 October.

As ever, Will's diary tells us what life was like for a soldier on the front line in WW1.

"10 Wed - Wet night, wet through.  Went into front line @ 6 o'c.  Rotten time.  Up to the knees in mud.  Absolutely rotten.  No letters from anybody.  Shell us pretty heavy."

"11 Th - Stood to @ 4 o'c until 7.  Slept in trench covered with water. No letters. Thinking of Ethel.  Shelled very heavy."

"12 Fri - Same as above.  Got relieved @ 8.30.  Got back @ 3 o'c and .........  Wet through to skin and cold as anything."

" 13 Sat - Came to Hooze Tunnels.  Rotten place.  Up to thighs in water & mud. Went up to front line with a ration party.  No coat on and got caught in a storm.  Wet through to skin.  Cold as anything."   

As always, we see that, even in the worse of times, Will still managed to keep Ethel in his thoughts.

The image below is taken directly from the Battalion War Diary, which was kept in the field. Over the three day period of 11-14 October, around 10% of the Battalion were either killed or wounded. The entry is very difficult to read, so is transcribed below.

"Casualties: Capt. S. Riddell killed; 2Lts A. J. Walters & R Coyles wounded; 12 O.R. killed; 77 OR wounded; 4 OR missing believed killed. Night of 14th to MICMAC camp."

Again, it looks like our William Preston Sidney was a very lucky chap.

The following week seems to have been a particularly dramatic week for Will, with the Battalion still on the front line, followed by the slightest of respite, before heading straight back for the front line again, where Will gets lost in No Man's Land and talks of the dangers of friendly fire.

"14 Sun - Took a party up to the Mound. Shelled all the way.  Moved from Hooze Tunnels to MICMAC."

"15 Mon - Arrived @ MICMAC @ 4 o'c in morning.  Wet through to skin.  Mud up to the eyes.  Fagged out.  No letters from anybody.  Cleaning up for inspections."

"16 Tues - Letters from home & Ethel (2).  Answered them.  Inspection by Colonel. Honours for different chaps.  Promised Cpl for gallantry in the field.  Letter from Ethel.  Answered it.  Bless her.  No striking thing happened."

"17 Wed - Rev 7. B 8. Parade 9 for gyms until 11.  Packed up for up the line again. Moved off @ 2 o'c for the Bund.  Landed @ 5 o'c.  Tea.  Gas guard from 11 o'c to 3 next morning.  Writ to Ethel."

"18 Th - Rev anytime.  Breakfast 8.  Drawing rations for 3 days up the line (front). Hard work & very tired.  Charge of the bombing section. Moved from the Bund up to front line @ 2.30.  Got lost and wondered about for 3 or 4 hours in noman's land. Landed in trenches @ 7.30,  Very cold & wet.  Shelled us.  Heavy barrage."

"19 Fri - Stand to 4.30 for 2 hours.  Kept very still & slept during daytime.  Still shelling like Hell.  Had some salmon for breakfast in the front line & tea (under a barrage) & Jerry coming over us in aeroplanes.  His very daring comes very low.  Be getting bit some of these days."

"20 Sat - Getting relieved by W Yorks tonight.  Windy.  Lot of chaps fired on our own chaps last time they relieved us with bombs, rifles & Lewes guns.  No one hurt for a good job.  Relieved by W Yorks 6 o'c.  Marched from F line to Bund.  Landed 10 o'c. Mud up to boot tops.  Very tired.  Soon asleep.  No letters."

Compared to this couple of weeks, the rest of October was fairly uneventful, with the Battalion spending a day at the Bund before moving on to another camp at Dickebush, where part of the Battalion, including Will's Company entrained for Wozerines.

They landed on 23 October 1917 and the following week was spent on cleaning up, guard duty, rifle practice and lots of inspections,

On 28 October the Battalion war diary states that instructions were received to recall all men from leave, courses etc.  On 29 October Will writes that rumours were going round of the Battalion moving to either Egypt or Salonica.

The month ended with the Battalion marching 5 kilos on 31 October to be inspected by Field Marshal Douglas Haig, who was the Commander of the British Expeditionary Force.

So, Will is now a Corporal with the 9th Battalion of the York & Lancaster Regiment.

Something was definitely in the offing for the Battalion, the rumour mill was rife.  You can find out what happened next for the Battalion in my next post.

In the Garden - February

Well, it's been a while since I've had anything to report in an 'In the Garden' post but February saw our first tentative foray back out there, since November. 

Like last year it's not that there isn't plenty to be getting on with, but I was pleasantly surprised when comparing last year's photos at this time to what it looks like now.  Our hard work in the Autumn has definitely paid off and nearly everywhere is looking fairly tidy. 

Last weekend we made our first visit of the year to our local garden centre for potting compost, as Martin wanted to get some chilies started off. We weren't going to bother with chilies this year as they haven't been that successful for the last few years, but Martin had some seeds for Christmas and Monty (Don) said they should be planted in February. I think we've been planting them too late, so we decided to give it one last go. They are now covered up and sitting nicely on the windowsill waiting for some sunshine to get them started off.

This weekend we were back at the garden centre for more dirt. This time for farmyard manure, soil improver and ericaceous compost. We wanted to try to top up and breathe some life back into our raised beds, which have been planted pretty intensively over the last few years, with not much goodness being added back in. 

We also want to try and re-pot the blueberry, which we have had for a couple of years and has outgrown the pot it came in. Blueberries like acidic soil and hate lime, so ericaceous compost is absolutely necessary if we want this plant to continue to thrive. I just hope that moving it doesn't impede it's growth or fruit for this year. It does appear that this is the right time to move it, so it will definitely be on the agenda for the coming weeks. 

By the time we got back from the garden centre and unloaded the car, we just about had time to revive the strawberry bed, before the weather turned.  I cut back all of the dead growth and dug all the plants up, so that Martin could top up the bed with nice fresh soil and manure. We then replanted them all, gave them a light watering and a good spray with the bug gun as some were looking a bit worse for wear.

I have to be completely honest and say that it was a real big effort to drag ourselves out this weekend. It was cold and we knew it was going to rain and neither of us really felt like it. Hopefully a bit more sunshine and a bit warmer weather will get us motivated again.

We did have a very pleasant distraction from a new friend who just popped in to visit.  How gorgeous is he?

We just managed to get packed away and back in before the rain hit.

From an 'in flower' point of view, I had a look back at last year's February post and things are looking very much the same, with the Hellebores looking far better in their pot than they ever did in the border and the Snowdrops doing us proud again out the front.

The wallflowers that we planted up in the Autumn are still looking very healthy and all are showing plenty of signs of flower buds, so it will be interesting to see how then look when in full bloom.

We've also got good signs of life in the bulb pot that we've had now for a good few years.  The same can't be said of a new one that we had at Christmas.  It's looking a long way behind, with only about three little green shoots showing so far.  Hopefully a few warmer days will see it pick up.

I'm not sure where I'm going to go with the gardening updates this year.  I don't want my blog posts to be like my 'Garderners' World' magazine, just a repeat of what happened this time last year, though that doesn't stop me loving reading the magazine when it drops on the mat.

I am going to try and keep my posts fresh and whilst I am sure there will be some repetition, I am hoping to be able to report on different activities across the year. Watch this space ... Id love it if you followed our gardening year again.

50 Things to do before I'm 60 - 1 to 10

Back in October, before my 50th birthday in November, I decided I'd like to put together a list of 50 things I would like to do before I am 60.

I easily managed to complete a list of about 35 things but then began to struggle with building it up to 50. 

Having thought about this somewhat I have now decided that I don't want to just make my list up to 50 with random meaningless stuff just for the sake of it. 

I am going to go with what I have so far and will continue to add to the list over the next few years as I am sure new things will continue to appear that I'd like to achieve. 

From a blogging point of view I thought it might be good to share my lists in groups of 10 and here are the first 10 that I'd like to share, some of which I have already ticked off or have made a start on.

Hand make Christmas and Birthday gifts

When I finished work a year ago, I knew I wanted to spend more time doing crafty and creative stuff. My first hand made Christmas and birthday gifts were beaded bracelets, which I made for all the ladies for Christmas 2015.

I really enjoyed making them and even managed to make a few to order, which was really quite exciting.  I now have a cupboard full of beads and charms so am sure that more of these will be made for birthday gifts this year.

Make bramble jelly jam 

Late Summer last year saw a massive foraging outing for blackberries, which resulted in both home made wine, from scratch, and bramble jelly jam, which is just delicious.  I know I will be making it again this year.

Have a posh afternoon tea

Back in the Autumn, my good friend Jo and I managed to find time to sneak in a posh afternoon tea at a local restaurant and it was just lovely, really chilled out with lots of time to chat.  We are already looking forward to doing it again in the Summer when we can do it 'Al Fresco'.

Photo by Aashish Rao Photography
This work is licensed under the
Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. 

Visit Balmoral Castle

A few years ago, Martin and I had an Autumn holiday in Banff, on the North coast of Aberdeenshire. On our way back we drove past Balmoral Castle. Since then I've always wanted to visit, as it just looked so pretty.  

The Castle is only open for a couple of months of the year so this year we have booked a cottage holiday near Ballater and have already booked our tickets to visit the Castle.

Make something in mosaic
Here's one that I seem to be dragging my heels on a bit.  I came back from our holiday on Dartmoor back in October, all fired up for having a real go at making something in mosaic.  I had lots of ideas and just needed to wait until I pulled together all of the equipment I needed to get started.
I've now got everything I need.  Tools, tiles, something to mosaic on, I just need to now get on and do it.  This is definitely one that I want to work on this year and am totally committed to actually producing something, as against just buying more bits and pieces.  Watch this space. 

Complete my online photography course
For my 50th birthday, my good friends Jackie & Phil, bought me an on line photography course, which I really want to work more on this year.

I have made a start with the basics, but need to try and put some real time aside to work through some of the projects that help me make more use of the features of our new DSLR camera.  At the moment I am only making use of a fraction of its functionality.

I am hoping that this will lead on to me doing more with my photography and perhaps publishing more photos on line, rather than just in my blog.

Holiday on the Suffolk Coast
Martin and I just love holidaying in this country, particularly exploring new parts of the coast. Neither of us have ever really visited the Suffolk coast and it is somewhere that we really fancy. It is definitely on the agenda for one of our holidays for this year.  We've just got to find the right cottage in the right location, which is proving tricky at the moment.

Christmas in a holiday cottage
For a few years now we've been talking about a family Christmas away from home in a nice holiday cottage. Well, we've already booked somewhere that looks very nice for this year's festivities.

Its called The West Wing and is on the Crow Hill Estate in Yorkshire

Holiday in all of the national parks of Great Britain 
Another thing that Martin and I love about Great Britain is the National Parks.  I would love us to have holidayed in all of them.  This may not be an objective that I fully achieve this year!

So far we have holidayed together on Dartmoor and Exmoor, in The Lake District, Northumberland, The Peak District, The North York Moors, The Pembrokeshire Coast, Snowdonia and The Yorkshire Dales, so we are not doing too bad.

That leaves us with The Brecon Beacons, The Norfolk Broads, The Cairngorms, Loch Lomond, The New Forest and The South Downs.

Our holiday this year to Scotland, near Ballater, will see us spending time in The Cairngorms, so that will be another we can tick off the list.

Upcycle my old placemats

Another crafty objective that I'd like to achieve this year is the upcycle of my old table mats and coasters.  I've made a start and hopefully it won't be too long before I will have completed this project.  So far it is looking pretty good and I think I am going to be happy with the end result.


So, that's the first 10 of the things that I'd like to achieve before I'm 60.  Some I've fully completed already, some are part way and some yet to be started.  You can be sure that I'll keep you posted with how I'm getting on.  Thanks for reading and letting me share.