Holiday Snaps

A couple of weeks ago David and I went on a little trip away, with his parents, to Staffordshire. Our home for the week was Tixall Gatehouse, owned and maintained by the Landmark Trust. It is the most amazing building, originally the gatehouse to an Elizabethan manor house, which was demolished long ago. Work began on the gatehouse in the 1560s, the standard of carving on the stonework is astonishing, and the building uses many classical motifs in a purely decorative way.

    

The front and rear facades are both equally decorative, and the four turrets, one on each corner, are finished with distinctive ogee shaped domes. (that is me getting into the car by the way!!)

Here are some pictures of the building taken closer up, can you see all the details in the stone work? Do you notice the classical orders are followed vertically, Doric, Ionic and Corinthian, clearly someone had been studying their classical text books!

My favourite feature on the whole building were these elegantly nonchalant angels above the gateway, there to greet us on arrival, they do look a little worn, but then they are over 450 years old!!

The front facade has soldiers above the gateway instead of angels, not quite so welcoming!!

The views from the rooftop over the Staffordshire countryside were incredible. Tixall is on the edge of Cannock Chase an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Our neighbour across the way was Shugborough Hall, ancestral home to the Earls of Lichfield.  

Also in Tixall, a little way from the Gatehouse is this sweet little lodge gate, which also has an ogee shaped roof, and is believed to be part of the same estate as the Gatehouse. It is now a private home.

Our closest neighbours were sheep, with their sweet little lambs, it was a delight to see them, and they slowly got used to us, and get closer to us as the week progressed.

And here are some of the places we visited while on holiday.

Biddulph Grange Gardens

Biddulph Grange has a beautifully kept garden, maintained by the National Trust. The Victorian Garden was created by James Bateman, and is filled with plants and trees he collected from all over the world. The garden has several themes, including the Italian style terrace above...

The Egyptian Garden, complete with Sphinxes and monkey god in the temple...

And a stunning Chinese style garden. The garden looks fairly tranquil in the photos, but when we visited it was absolutely POURING with rain!!

St Mary's Church, Ingestre

This beautiful English Baroque church is believed to be the work of Sir Christopher Wren, and would be his only parish church outside of London. The building of the church was commissioned by Walter Chetwynd, and he paid for its construction. 

Work began on the church between 1673-1676. 

The interior of the church is truly breathtaking! It isn't normally left open, so if you plan to visit you might need to contact the key holder, we were very lucky that someone passing by could let us in.

The ceiling is a very fine example of plasterwork popular in the late seventeenth century. 

Notice the pillars along the nave, which are very similar to a design used by Wren at St Brides in London.

The pulpit and tester are said to be the work of Grinling Gibbons, a prolific carver in the seventeenth century. I'm not entirely sure it's true, but they are certainly in his style. The Tripartite screen above is also attributed to Gibbons.

this is the font.

Here are some close-ups of the carving.

 There are also some stunning Arts and Crafts Movement stained glass windows, one by Burne Jones (on the right)  

The other  by Baroness Gleichen (on the left) from the William Morris Studio.

Lichfield Cathedral

Lichfield is a rather pretty city, it has some beautifully kept parks and this amazing cathedral (note the poser in sunglasses who 'just happened' to get into my shot!! (thank you David!)

The interior of the Cathedral is worth seeing, but the most amazing thing I thought was this doorway,  

the main entrance to the cathedral. The stone carving is exquisite!

Buxton

Buxton is a small spa town in the Derbyshire Dales, surrounded by beautiful rugged countryside. It is most famous for its Opera House, alongside which is the Winter Garden and Rotunda...

It is also famous for the crescent, almost, if not perhaps more elegant than the Royal Crescent at Bath. The Crescent is currently being renovated after years of neglect, and is due to open as a hotel and spa in the next couple of years.

Here is a shot of the centre of the crescent.

Well, there you are, a little snapshot of our recent holiday. I hope I haven't bored you all!! I realise that there are no miniatures in this post, but they will be coming in another post very soon, as I popped along to the Kensington Dolls' House Festival after my holiday, and have a few things I'd like to show you.

Ta ra for now!!

Andy xxx

Fancy a Pint? The Swan Inn Gets a New Punter!

Ah! Spring is FINALLY here!! After what seems nothing short of a new Ice Age, we have suddenly arrived full swing into spring! The sunshine of the past week or so has brought out all the lovely spring flowers, so the garden is filled with colour once again, the birds are getting frisky, and the butterflies and bumble bees are embracing the early sunshine.

What better time to take you by the hand and take you through the changes at the Swan Inn?

You might notice Fred, the new customer seated on the settle at the back of the room. It's another Woodside Doll, from their cheaper range. He does have a slightly similar look to the barman, so maybe they are related (well this is a country pub!!).

You might also have noticed the little canine companion, which was a little stocking filler a few months back. And what else? well, there is the table and chairs, picked up from The Dolls' House in Northleach, as I felt the pub needed a bit of furniture in it. I'm not entirely convinced that it's right for the pub, but I love the chairs that go with it.

Charlie has seen a few changes also; gone are the narrow benches (there's one still under the window)  to be replaced by a lovely settle (from Northleach again!). I seem to have misplaced his dominoes somewhere though! I have also been thinking of dirtying the fireplaces a bit too, adding some soot, to make things look more realistic. What do you think?

Behind the bar there is a new swan! the old one was really a white duck, and when I saw this little china swan, I thought it might look a little more graceful behind the bar. 

I also got some new things for the kitchen. The mixer was another of those 'heart over head' purchases that I was discussing in my last post. I think I can just about get away with the period, but it doesn't really matter, as I do love it! The knives, jars of pickles, utensils and bowl of eggs were all purchased at a dolls' house fair just a few miles away near Milton Keynes.  I think the maker for most of the items was called Dollshouse Delights (sorry if this is not the case!!).

I also got the little broom, dustpan and brush from the same maker. I like little dolls house brooms and brushes, they remind me of Beatrix Potter's Tale of Two Bad Mice.

My next little project will be to make some little curtains, or perhaps just a pelmet in gingham fabric for the window above the sink. 

Recent Purchases (and a Note of Caution!)

Hello! I was going to post a few pics of some recent purchases I had made at dolls' house shows and shops over the past couple of months. It occurred to me as I was taking the first few photos, that despite the fact I love all the things I have bought, I had mixed feelings when I actually got home and tried to place the items. I realised that I had been buying things simply because I liked them, and not because I had a place in mind for them in my dolls house. To put it another way, I was buying with my heart and not using my head!!

Take the first item I have shown you; the bonheur-du-jour, made by Escutcheon who had returned to Miniatura in Birmingham after a long absence, I saw a similar one in a book of dolls' house miniatures and had loved it, so when I saw this one, I snapped it up! It only really occurred to me later, back at home, that I didn't really have anywhere to put it!

 I have put it into the main bedroom, in the corner, but I had liked the arrangement I already had there, and the pink upholstered chair just didn't look good next to the bonheur-du-jour, so that meant rearranging the bedroom even more.

I have put the pink chair next to the dressing table, but am still not happy with the result, I think it doesn't work next to the chinese Chippendale chair. Or am I taking this whole thing way too seriously!?!!

I also purchased this exquisite hand painted china plate (the photo really doesn't do it justice!) which came from Escutcheon too. Again, I have absolutely no idea where to put it! It still hasn't found a home and is currently sitting on the floor of the bedroom!

Another purchase made at Miniatura has ended up in the library, after much placing and replacing in different rooms! Can you see what it is?

It's a beautiful pie-crust edge table, made by John Hodgson. I have an almost identical life sized version of this table in my bedroom, so knew I had to have it, trouble is, where could it go? Fortunately, I am happy with it being in the library, though it is hard to see all the fine detail on the table when it's so far back in the room.

I bought a few more miniature books by Ellie de Lacy. You may have noticed the book shelves need a lot more filling!! I hope the picture above isn't too dark for you to see one of Ellie's books on the desk, which has a sweet little silk page marker!

This chair was also added to the library recently, after sitting in the attic for months with nowhere to go! I bought it in a sale at a nearby dolls' house shop. It was only by chance that I noticed it matched a chair I had in the library already. so it made sense to put this with the other one!

I suppose this is really just a little note of caution, to think about where things are going to go perhaps, before rushing in to buy them. There will always be things that you buy simply because you love them, but you need to keep an eye on the practical side of things too sometimes!!

Or maybe I really am taking this whole miniatures thing far too seriously!!!!?