Athelhampton House

Before we left to head westwards for our outing on the Monday, we let the cats and dogs out for some fresh air. Stripey-cat soon manhandled a small rodent to the ground, but then it escaped, cunningly disguised as a leaf . . .

Then began the stake-out. First Big Ginger and then old Mrs Furry wanted a piece of the action.


Stripey told the others in no uncertain terms, "Nope, you CAN'T have it! 'smine." And indeed they'd have had trouble getting it, as I had noticed it creeping beneath her undercarriage . . .

Forest Cat was too dignified for all this and said that He didn't want it anyway . . . He thought hunting with packs was CRUEL . . .

We told them what would happen if they were BAD cats . . . These Scottish pussums at Athelhampton must have been Very Bad Indeed . . .

We peeped through the gates at this beautiful house. My OH has always wanted to visit here and finally got his wish.

One of the fountains surrounded by carefully clipped Irish Yew trees.

A throne fit for a King graced the corner of the Great Chamber. Supposedly the ghost of a pet ape who was unfortunately shut up in the secret passage leading from this room (and who presumably expired there) can sometimes be heard scratching on the linen-fold panelling . . .

This old chest speaks volumes about how such things were made in the past. You can just see the master craftsman measuring up the designs with his compasses. If you do quilting, you will know that similar designs got transferred onto fabrics too . . . If you look very closely at the left hand panel, you may notice that the right hand edge of it isn't 100% straight - it broadens just a tiny bit towards the bottom, a little mistake which must have happened when they were measuring up where the patterns were going to go.

The fire was lit in the hearth and threw out a very welcoming heat.

This is looking across at the far wall. Where we entered the room, this would have been to our right.

OH and I loved the beautiful carvings on this chair.

So grand . . .

This was the jail. No, wait a minute, it was the wine cellar. What makes you think they didn't trust the servants? I think this is supposedly haunted too. Probably a previous butler feverishly counting the bottles. . .

One of the absolutely stunning ceilings in the house.

The wallpaper in this doorway was carefully hand-painted. It must have taken weeks to execute.

This stunning piece of craftsmansip graced the door into the Green Parlour below.

This had to be my favourite room. It had a wonderful atmosphere and the dark green didn't matter as it was always going to be a dark room, even if you had painted it white.

How wonderful to have your ancestors' clothes squirrelled away so you could use them in displays in later centuries . . . I think my ag. lab. ancestors were lucky if they had a set of tidy clothes for church.

I wish we had more rooms to "dress" where I volunteer. The former bedrooms are for displays and exhibitions. I thought this wedding dress added a whole new dimension to this bedroom at Athelhampton.

Isn't this just SUMPTIOUS?! I adore the wallpaper, and the huge mirror, and the beautiful copper bath. I wonder who gets to polish that?!

Another gorgeous room. Not sure if I wouldn't get the heeby-jeebies in there in the middle of the night though . . .

Off of the bedroom was a small chapel for prayer and meditation.

A pretty bridge spanned the River Piddle. We noted a few small fish darting about in the clear water.

A corner of part of the gardens, with a beautiful Hamstone garden room.

Arrival . . .

One of our regular customers for water outside the gate . . .


Well, our holiday seems just a pleasant memory already. OH and I are laid low with germs caught in Foreign Parts . . . I have to say, as one who NEVER has a headache, the one which accompanies this current Bug is a blighter and even Ibuprofen struggles to cosh it.

The rain it is falling, the wind is picking up and the big old pine tree across the lane is starting to thresh its branches and leaves are fluttering along the lanes and fields. The plans I made yesterday to carry on tidying up the garden, have now been abandoned in favour of drier indoor pursuits. I have washed, measured and cut up a gallon of crab apples for wine, and these are now releasing their juices into a gallon of cold water in my brewing bin. Now I have to save up for 3 1/2 lbs of Demerara sugar . . .

I have plans to start a Christmas present for one of my daughters today, so I will go and look for the x-stitch design I know I still have (being a hoarder).

As for the photos, I have SO many I had better try and post twice a day or it will be next month before I share them all with you. We stopped just outside Wimborne for some fresh air, at Badbury Rings, a favourite place of ours when we lived in Dorset. The National Trust have made it a bit more "orderly" since we still lived in the county, fencing things off and putting out picnic tables . . . We preferred it wild and woolly. The drive up beneath the double row of 365 massive beech trees takes some beating, although there are quite a few gaps which were the result of the hurricane back in 1987, as well as deliberate fellings of diseased trees since then. HERE is a link to photos of the wonderful avenue.



On our first full day in the Forest, we had a gentle amble along a route well-known to us.

And also drove to the nearest town for a newspaper and some food for the week.On the way home we found ourselves involved in a little vintage car rally.




It was a couple of days before the sunshine caught up with us, so these photos look a bit moody and monotone.


Some of the wildings apples and crab apple trees which we harvested to bring home with us for wine and jelly making.

Catching up with friends . . .

On the cusp of the Dorset border, we stopped again, to meet up with a dear friend. We wandered across a meadow, so peaceful, and on the other side was a lake . . .

a peaceful one, a magical hidden spot.

Two little girls played in their den . . .

and my husband was pleased to relax in the sunshine . . .

And somewhere, a friend was fishing . . .

And another good friend was such good company. It was good to meet up again. Cheers Danette!

Getting away . . .

Just LOOK at the amazing art work of these Medieval hinges . . .



We began our holiday last week (which was partly a working one, as we were house-sitting and animal-sitting for a friend) by stopping off in Wells on the way. OH wanted to explore after I had told him how beautiful the city and Cathedral were from my visit back in the spring. It didn't disappoint and to our delight, it was the day for a street market which had some wonderful stalls. We wished we'd had the money to buy some of the gorgeous spun glass balls and baubles, and loved an antiques/collectables stall where we did part with a little cash to start off some Christmas shopping (just a stocking filler). There was a stall selling wonderfully fresh pots of herbs (mine have all gone totally over now) and other stalls selling local produce.

OH loved the Cathedral, as I knew he would, and we sneaked in some backstage internal photos this time. Shhhhhhhh! Don't tell! We still didn't have time to fit in a visit to the Museum or to visit the Bishop's Palace as we only had enough change for an hour's parking, but there is always Next Time.
The Cathedral from the edge of the Close.

Above and below - I loved the fanlight above this door. A beautiful Regency cottage in the Close.





The fabulous stairway and fan vaulting of the Chapter House steps, leading to the circular Chapter House. This dates from 1306. History of Wells Cathedral HERE.

This little chap was carved into the bottom of a pillar at the entrance to the stairway above.

Looking through a window at the top of the Chapter House steps out onto the Museum and the School of Music.

Market Stall selling a profusion of herbs.

Looking down the street from the market. Further down there is a water running by the kerbside, just as it does in Cheap Street, Frome (only there the runnel is in the centre of the street).

You can see the water in this view. The creamy coloured stone marks the entrance to the Bishop's Palace.

Market cross or butter cross, I'm not sure which.

Tomorrow - meeting with friends and ever onwards . . .

Back from our hols . . .

Just briefly popping in to say we're back home, but having taken over 300 photos, it is taking forever to download them and I have run out of batteries for my camera! Hopefully later today I can do a posting.