Hanbury Hall: Major Sports



The above picture shows the front entrance of Hanbury Hall built in 1701 and surrounded by 20 acres of  recreated gardens and then by a further 400 acres of parkland.

The estate is situated in the village of Hanbury, near Droitwich in Worcestershire and of course since 1953 in the capable hands of The National Trust.

Hanbury Hall

 D. and I visited here last Saturday (21/04 ) and first took a guided tour around the ground floor of the house. Apart from the impressive staircase 'Hercules ' paintings, ( recently restored at a cost of eighty thousand pounds) and the usual family portraits, I was taken by the table in the dining room, pictured here.



I admired the plates and asked about them. Apparently  they were only made and introduced about three years ago and they tell the story of how Emily inherited the property in 1771.
The plate below shows the elopement of the above mentioned lady with the local Curate; causing quite a scandal all those years ago in 1789.



What an excellent idea to  show  family history, using dinner plates, don't you agree?

The grounds of the estate were thought to be parkland only, until in the 1990s drawings were discovered which showed a set of formal gardens adjacent to the house
Thus it was in C. 1993  that the National Trust began re-instating  the gardens to their former glory.

Yesterday, when we saw them, they did look immaculate.













Outside the formal gardens were the trees and parkland gently rolling away





But the over riding impression that we gained from this  memorable visit was the riot of colours, one could espy in  the borders as one entered the garden gates.







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Now to end on something completely different: The Major on the subject of sports.

Major sports.


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Well after last week's downpours, I feel like the man who wrote to the "Times " saying that ' This must be the   wettest  drought in living  memory. '  So all I am able to say is however you manage it,  enjoy the week ahead.

Ck.

Comments

  1. Ken MacSunday, April 22, 2012

    Love these English country estates, thanks for the tour

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. CurlykaleSunday, April 22, 2012

      thanks Ken Mac. It really was an interesting visit and oh! those colours.
      Ck.

      Delete

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please feel free to comment and point out faults.
glad to have you aboard .

Curlykale.

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