Waxwing

Waxwing
"To see a world in a grain of sand,
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand
And eternity in an hour."

From "Auguries of Innocence"

by William Blake

Thursday 22 December 2016

Christmas at Packwood







B and I visited Packwood House today to have a look round the house decorated for Christmas.

First of all a look round the gardens starting with the Kitchen Garden




















And then into the house itself.








This year's theme is "The Theatre of Christmas at Packwood"

Packwood House acted as a stage for its previous owner Graham Baron Ash during the 1920's to 1940's and this year's decorations reflect this by bringing the theatre to Packwood. The National Trust team has worked closely with artist Jennifer Collier who has created the paper decorations this year. All the materials used have links to Packwood - photos, maps and if you look closely you will see pages from Edith Holden's "Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady".
























Time for cake and a gingerbread latte :)





(On the one in a million chance the lovely NT lady I chatted to in the tearoom about the delights of using Olympus cameras and the gardens at Morville Dower House sees this blog post. Just to let her know that I remembered the author's name when I reached Knowle!! - its Katherine Swift and the books are "The Morville Hours - the Story of a Garden" and "The Morville Year" ).

9 comments:

SeagullSuzie said...

I love those paper decorations. Beautiful all round and still lovely gardens and architecture to visit and photograph.
I wanted to get over to Killerton House https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/killerton/features/a-grimm-christmas-at-killerton as they are doing a fairy tale theme...life and work has just got in the way sadly, but maybe before they remove it all, we'll get over next week.
Happy Christmas if I don't get to blog over the next few days.

Rosie said...

Cake and gingerbread latte sounds just the thing to enjoy after visitng the house and gardens. I love the outdoor decorations in the kitchen garden and the paper ones indoors are amazing, as also are the trees and flower arrangements. Love the stained glass too and the wreath on the door. It looks a lovely festive place to visit at this time 0f year. Wishing you and your family a very Happy Christmas:)

Ragged Robin said...

Seagull Suzie - Thanks so much. I nearly missed out on visiting a NT property this year - in fact, with so much left to do I shouldn't really have gone yesterday! Now rushing around trying to make up lost time!! :) Hope you get to see Killerton next week - looks wonderful :)

Wishing you a very Happy Christmas too :)

Rosie - thanks very much. So glad I made the effort to go - paper decorations were just so beautiful and she had made paper flowers too. Really lovely.

Wishing you a very Happy Christmas too :)

Bovey Belle said...

What beautiful decorations, inside and out - I loved the lampshade towers which look very Christmas treeish. Also the use of the Edwardian Lady papers - I wonder what she would think if she could see how her memory lives on SO strongly still today.

Our only NT property is the one I used to work at, so I am familiar with their large tree and decorations. I doubt they will have altered it much. There is an NT shop in Llandeilo now, so I would think the little one inside Newton House has now been closed down.

If we ever get back to living in England, I shall make sure I visit a Big House all decked out for Christmas.

Ragged Robin said...

Bovey Belle - Thanks so much. I thought the whole thing was very effective and so different although if I am honest I did have a slight tinge of regret at the thought of books being cut up! I am assuming they were tatty specimens! When you visit the lanes of Warwickshire where she walked and cycled it is easy to feel very close to her.

I am sure you will return to England - someone out there will the special person to buy your lovely house. There seem to be many lovely NT properties in Herefordshire! :)

worcestershirehill.blogspot said...

Hi, lovely photographs of Packwood House. I also visited and was told the paper used in the decorations were copies of the achives.

Could you let me know what Olympus camera you are using. I have an old SLR Olympus and would like to use the lenses with a DSLR Olympus, but I am not sure which camera to purchase.

Regards.

Gillian Martin.

Ragged Robin said...

Worcesterhill - Thanks for visiting and leaving a comment - that is interesting about the paper used.

My Olympus dslr is an e420. (entry level). Have had it now for about 6/7 years. I don't think Olympus still make dslr's new but you could possibly still get their dslr's second hand. I am not sure if slr olympus lenses would fit - you would have to check with Olympus or a camera shop. Ever so sorry I can't help more - hope you manage to get it sorted.

Rohrerbot said...

Amazing what they did with the paper and holiday lights.....beautiful. This whole place is gorgeous. Dessert for this post.....look amazing! So do the hot drinks behind them. The bird panel in the window looks like a crossbill of some kind. Pretty interesting place. I like this visit a lot.

Ragged Robin said...

Chris Rohrer - Thanks so much Chris - I was so glad I had made the effort to see the decorations at Packwood - they were so different this year and very beautiful :) Cake was actually a little dry :( They have some interesting stained glass type panels in windows at this house so must go back when house fully open and get more pictures :)