The Distancing Diaries - Day 116 & 117

On Tuesday (day 116), after my Wii Fit session and our usual fruit and yogurt breakfast, Jon made sandwiches and we headed half-an-hour down the road, crossing into the neighbouring county of Staffordshire.

Our destination was Shugborough Estate, best known as the ancestral home of Patrick, Earl of Lichfield (1939 - 2005), the celebrated British society photographer. Built on the site of a moated medieval bishop's castle, Shugborough was bought by the wealthy Anson family in 1624 for £4,000 (a fortune at the time) but was torn down in 1693 to create a more modest country house. The building was enlarged in 1745 by architect Thomas Wright to create the elegant Georgian mansion that stands today.

Thomas Anson (1695 - 1773), great grandson of the original owner, inherited the Shugborough Estate in 1762 from his brother, George who had died heirless. George Anson joined the navy as a 14 year-old boy and rose through the ranks to become the First Lord of the Admiralty. In 1740 he commenced an epic 4 year voyage circumnavigating the world. On the journey he captured a Spanish treasure ship laden with £400,000, the largest haul ever seized by an English sea captain. 

Thomas had been on the Grand Tour as a young man where he'd developed a passion for classical Greek art and commissioned his friend, the architect James Stuart, to reproduce classical monuments in the grounds of Shugborough.

After Thomas's death, the family fortune leaked through the hands of his grandson, also called Thomas (1795 - 1854), who gambled his vast inheritance away. In 1842 the contents of the estate was auctioned to raise funds. In 1960, in lieu of his grandfather's death duties, the 5th Earl, Patrick Lichfield, gave the Shugborough estate to the National Trust. For many years it was looked after by Staffordshire County Council until the National Trust took over the administration in 2019.

The estate is still occupied by the Earls of Lichfield and has a working farm and several varieties of rare breeds of livestock.

Based on the Horologium of Andronikos in Athens and designed by James Stuart, the Tower of the Winds was completed in around 1765. 

Designed by Thomas Wright in 1750 as a folly, The Ruin was once more extensive, was composed from parts of the original manor house and included a Gothic pigeon house. 

Built around 1760 the Doric Temple was designed by James Stuart and based on the Temple of Hephaistos in Athens. 

The design for the Chinese House was taken from sketches made in Canton by Sir Percy Brett, who accompanied Admiral Anson during his circumnavigation of the globe. It was completed in 1747, making it one of the earliest examples of oriental design in the country and a precursor to the Chinese Pavilion at Kew.

Built in the late 1750s, the Shepherd’s Monument takes its name from its central marble relief by Dutch artist Peter Scheemakers and originally formed part of the kitchen garden wall. The outer columns of the monument were added later, in 1763 by James Stuart.

Hadrian's Arch, based on the building of the same name in Athens but with tributes to Thomas's brother George & his wife, who had recently died after he'd commissioned the construction.

Two theories exist that explain this monument. Designed in 1749, the Grade II Listed Cat Monument either commemorates Admiral Anson’s cat who accompanied him on his voyage of circumnavigation aboard Centurion, or it’s a monument to Thomas Anson’s favourite cat Kouli-Kan, the last in a line of Persian cats that he kept as pets for many years.

Unlike other National Trust properties we've visited, although beautiful, there was an air of neglect hanging over Shugborough, maybe because the cash-strapped council had scrimped on the upkeep for years. The mansion's exterior was sad, grey & dingy and both the cottage & formal gardens felt melancholic and uncared for. Hopefully, the National Trust can lavish some much needed care and attention on Shugborough, it will become the grand family home it once was.

WEARING: Vintage block printed kaftan (bought from our friends, Old's Cool Traders, last month), plum hat (retail buy, October, 2019), 1970s tooled leather lion's head belt (charity shop), vintage tooled leather bag (car boot sale, 2012), Doc Martens (eBay)

After a few hours of wandering the extensive grounds we returned to the van for our picnic lunch and drove back home. Although neither particularly warm nor sunny we sat outside with a coffee and the lads at our feet. I did some pruning and dead heading while Jon squashed down the rubbish in the garden waste bin, due for the fortnightly collection tomorrow, managing to squeeze more in.

The rest of the afternoon was spent at the PC, I caught up with blogland, downloaded my Shugborough pictures and tried on last week's Ebay purchase which had been delivered while we were out. Ever the optimist, Jon booked a room for us in Greece for the first couple of nights of our September adventures (fully refundable in case it doesn't happen!)

Tea was stuffed vine leaves, grilled haloumi, bread and salad. We watched two episodes of Dr Michael Scott's Ancient Invisible Cities, Cairo and Athens which, by bizarre coincidence, featured several of the buildings which Thomas Anson had reproduced in the grounds of Shugborough.

SOURCE

I was surprised that it was 6.15am when I woke on Wednesday (day 117), the lads were sound asleep and it was really dark. Although yesterday had been dreary and dull, this morning we had the added pleasure of drizzle. I did my daily Wii Fit workout and ate my fruit & yogurt alone as Jon needed to be at the MOT place early so he'd taken a flask of coffee and a pack of yogurt topped rice cakes to eat while he waited.

Taking advantage of Jon being out of the way I went on-line and bought him some presents for his birthday next month and then swept the upstairs rugs and dusted the spare bedroom & landing bookshelves before getting dressed. Obviously I had to wear the latest addition to my wardrobe, the 1970s cheesecloth top I'd bought from eBay that had arrived yesterday. If you buy a garment 'cos love it, it's almost guaranteed to slot into the rest of your wardrobe seamlessly, this the perfect match with my Phool midi skirt and Lottas.

By now Jon was back - without a vehicle. The mechanic had found a problem so he'd had to catch a taxi back and leave the car at the garage while they fixed it. As nobody we knew had been in a taxi since Covid hit, Jon was a bit wary but both he and the driver wore masks and there was a perspex screen dividing passenger and driver with a gap to pay by card, so he felt perfectly safe.

Yes, those are more clumps of crocosmia but no signs of flowers yet!

The massive lime tree does have its benefits. Despite the drizzle, the area beneath the dreaded tree remained dry so Jon was able to apply woodworm treatment to the skirting boards he'd salvaged from Liz & Al's woodpile.

Meanwhile, having cleaned the spare bedroom, I decided on a midsummer review of my wardrobe, adding a pair of sandals & a top to the charity donation bag and five vintage dresses, two scarves, a belt and three pairs of sunglasses to the stockroom. That should atone for the new-to-me cheesecloth top and another amazing blouse I won on eBay yesterday (whoops!)

Whilst ferreting through my belongings I came across these Clarks' Artisan sandals I'd bought last year. While coral pink & rhinestones aren't my thing I'd liked how they looked when I tried them on. They were absurdly cheap & still in the box and I thought that with the cushioned sole & suede interior they'd be brilliant for walking around Greece - much as I love my Indian chappals they offer no support and, after wearing them for hours, they play havoc with my hip. How wrong I was! The bouncy sole was perfect but after walking to the beach on the first day in Corfu my heels were blistered to buggery.  I'm going to make a determined effort to wear them in properly this week and, if I still get blisters, they're going back to the charity shop.

I also rediscovered this block printed rucksack whilst I was rummaging. I'd spotted it in the charity clearance shop a couple of weeks before lock down and, as I was already loaded down with books, had asked Jon to grab it for me knowing that it was something good....

I can spot vintage Anokhi from 100 yards! This is mid-1970s, it's huge compared to Frank (who's a big lad) and well worth £1!

Next up was a bit of problem solving. I use this hair oil most days - the owner of Asian food group KTC is one of our neighbours & he has a fleet of Mercs with the personalised plates to prove it - it's great on my hair but annoys me as there's no inner lid to moderate the amount you need. After another oil overload I remembered that when I'd emptied the kitchen cupboard last week I'd unearthed this 1970s kitsch souvenir drinks pourer.

He does the job perfectly!

I bought him from a car boot sale along with a handful of other kitsch Spanish holiday tat a few years ago but rather than a bullfighting relic I've decided that he's a Cretan Minotaur.

After our lunchtime noodles Jon applied a second coat to the skirting boards and, as the drizzle had ceased, trimmed the laurel bush, refilling the garden waste bin within minutes of it being emptied. I had a wander around the garden and discovered.....beans!

Squirrel hates the drizzle

Jon got a call to say the job was sorted and the car had passed the MOT so he went off in a taxi to pick it up (this time, although both Jon and the driver wore masks, there were no screens and the driver had a coughing fit halfway through the journey). Despite the on-off drizzle my patio plants felt dry so, after a catch-up with Liz on the phone, I unraveled the hosepipe and got stuck in.

Yesterday at Shugborough I'd fallen madly in love with these huge pom poms which I assume are members of the allium family.

As luck would have it Jon got this gardening catalogue through the post yesterday and I've spent the rest of the afternoon drooling over it, although he's not quite sure why they think he's a member of the aristocracy.

I can't decide whether the pompoms are Beau Regard, Cristophi, Globemaster, His Excellency or Jackpot but I know I need some in Stonecroft's borders, in fact I've compiled a massive wish-list of plants I want.

Tonight we're having grilled haloumi with roast veg for tea. It's Wednesday which means it's rum and cola for afters. Cheers!

Stay safe & see you soon.