A Quick Reminder

Hey guys, just to remind you of my new blog Hang It Up over on Wordpress!

I've recently been blogging about my holiday to Amsterdam with my friend Beth so check it out :)

The Wurst Women In Europe: Part 1

The Wurst Women In Europe: Part 2

oxoxo

Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet and Blacksmith Fair





 Last weekend Alex and I spent the afternoon visiting the Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet in Sheffield. It's an open museum of the old steel workers cottages and workshops and dates back to the 13th century. It used to be a scythe making plant which acquired it's power from it's water wheel. The steel works itself dates back to the 19th century. The rooms are set out as they would have been back then and everything is as authentic as possible. What's really nice is that there are a lot of things like quilts and rugs that have been replicated by the Hamlet Haberdashers who I'm assuming are a group of sweet little old ladies working away!



 

 

 

 

I absolutely love this bed!

 





There were a few staff members walking around in costume and worse still in character. A very stately looking man with top hat and cane accosted us at one point and asked if our husbands were looking for work and then proceeded to guffaw at the idea of women voting. We didn't get many photo's of that room as we were too busy laughing politely through gritted teeth and shuffling towards the door.

 

There were however other folk there too, some real men's men with dirty clothes and beards wielding hot iron who we didn't mind getting nearer to, seeing as there was also a blacksmith fair going on!

 





 

 

It was really interesting to look round the dwellings especially the Manager's House which had the lovely piano and William Morris wallpaper. As much as I love to see things like this from the past, I always find everything pre-House of Windsor era really creepy and I don't really know why. Everything just has a very stale, ghostliness to it.

 

They also had the water wheel up and running publicly which was amazing to see. 



There was also a room with looms in for weaving and hand spinning wool into thread. It's amazing what intricate methods for creating things like rugs and lace were invented in such a time as that. I find it hard to imagine because it's just not the way my brain works. We live so surrounded by technology these days, for example I can't even get my cards made because I've convinced myself that I need Photoshop and Illustrator to do it and yet these people were creating so much in such a technologically barren time. It's crazy impressive!

 

It was a thoroughly good day. I love spontaneous days out like this and I would recommend this one if you're into your history or just like quaint grittiness of yesteryear!

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Brodsworth Hall + Gardens

Not long ago I went to Doncaster to look around Brodsworth Hall and it's enormous period gardens. I went with my mum, sister, brother and his wife and kids and we saw some really interesting stuff.
The house itself is one of the only country houses still left in it's victorian splendour. It was originally a family residence that's been inherited, sold, bought again, destroyed and then rebuilt over many generations.
English Heritage have been in possession of it since the 1990's and have chosen to leave the interior just how it is and has been since the 1860's.
I must say, the rooms were a lot smaller than I expected. I thought they would be extravagant spaces to walk around in but they were quite average sized, there were just many, many of them!

My favourite part of the day was walking round the gardens. They're divided into four sections;

• The Italian Garden with fountains, urns and statues.
• The Formal Gardens with wide lawns for croquet, tennis etc 
• The Grove had lovely winding paths along ornamental landscapes
• The Rose Garden was designed like a leaf with paths representing the veins and was seriously vibrant in colour!

There was one thing about this place that I really loved. All the pets that had been in the family have been buried in their own pet cemetery at the bottom of the garden!! They're mostly dogs but there is a parrot buried there too. I love when animals are held in such high regard.

oxoxo

Goddards House & Gardens

I had a day off on Saturday so me and mum went to have a look around Goddards which is the family home of Noel Terry of Terry's Chocolate. Yes, I'm very proud to say that the Terry's Chocolate Orange that everyone loves originates from good old York!

The house is magnificent and is positioned really nicely. It's set back from the road out of view, with a lovely gatehouse where the groundskeeper would have lived. The architecture is arts and crafts style and the interior and furniture follows suit.
They want you to experience the home just as the Terry's did, so you're able to do things like order a sherry in the drawing room which was very novel!

Noel's children say they had the perfect, idyllic childhood growing up there and it becomes obvious why when you step out into the 4 acre garden. Not just a large expanse of grass though, it has wonderful little nooks and crannies and pathways leading to who knows where. Not to mention a bowling green, tennis lawn and to top it off a huge rocky pond hidden away in the wilderness at the bottom.
You could get lost in it for hours.

So glad the weather was nice for it too. If you're ever in York you should definitely visit!