Today at the UK Historical Authors’ Blog I am talking about the conservation work at Ashdown House and the stunning hard hat tours that are available to visitors this season. My fellow guides and I are now fully trained to take people up to the seventh floor of the scaffolding to view the ongoing restoration [...]
As Spring arrives and many British stately homes open to the public for the season it’s natural that lots of the big and famous houses such as Blenheim and Chatsworth attract a lot of interest. They are spectacular, of course, and well worth visiting. But it’s also nice to share and celebrate the smaller, quirkier places [...]
A week ago I was lucky enough to stay in this beautiful farmhouse for a reunion of my college friends and today at the Word Wenches blog I am chatting about old friends and reunions. Meanwhile over on the Ashdown House Blog there is an update on the conservation project and the treasure we found in the [...]
A very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to everyone!
Today on the Hoydens and Firebrands Blog I am talking about the rags to riches rise of the Craven family of Ashdown in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth century. Sir William Craven, the “Dick Whittington of Yorkshire” went from living in a one roomed cottage to being Lord Mayor of London and accumulating a fortune [...]
Today I am playing truant from my writing in order to do some work for Ashdown House. Yes, Ashdown is spreading its wings on the internet. The seventeenth century hunting lodge now has a twenty first century Twitter account, facebook page and blog, of which I am the curator! This new development is to allow [...]
I recently enjoyed a BBC TV programme by Michael Cockerell all about the great offices of the British state, but whilst my other half was lapping up all the political insights I was getting very excited about the history behind various buildings that featured in the series. The first of these was the Palace of [...]
A few years ago I spent a memorable hour completely lost in the maze at Longleat House. I’m not sure of the precise moment when my enjoyment at wandering amongst the yew hedges turned to frustration that I could not find my way to the centre, and from there to genuine panic that I would be stuck in the [...]
Here is a thing of beauty! This Regency gaming table went on sale as part of the contents of Ashdown House, auctioned off at Sothebys last year. As you can see from the chequerboard top, it was designed for games such as chess or draughts but could also be used for cards games like faro, piquet [...]
Today over on the Ashdown House blog I’m talking about the location of the Battle of Ashdown, and King Alfred the Great’s famous victory over the Vikings. Where was the site of the battle? Yes, you guessed it – in my back garden! (Well, almost…)