The Distancing Diaries - 1st & 2nd November, 2020

 

After BoJo finally turned up to address the nation, confirming what had already been leaked to the press, England would be in lockdown for a month starting on 5th November, I poured us a couple of large rums and brought forward our National Trust visit from Thursday to Monday. The rest of the evening was spent watching Spooks, DNA and Michael Palin could wait for another night.

On Sunday I was up at just after 7am. I saw to the lads, made mugs of tea and brought them back up to bed where Jon snoozed and I finished Snow Blind. Jon made us mushrooms and eggs on toast to which I added lashings of Henderson's Relish. After I'd put away the previous day's laundry I sat at the kitchen table and painted my nails whilst watching The Andrew Marr Show. 

This week's colour was Barry M's Ginger.

Sunday: Vintage Afghan dress, Indian silver tribal torque & clog boots (all eBay), Hindu deity belt (present from Liz)

Jon went round to see Tony (sitting in his garden, of course), who isn't at all disappointed to have a month off work. He works in retail and the amount of covidiots he has to deal with on a daily basis drives him round the bend. It's worse since it became mandatory for shop workers to wear masks, customers will come in the shop and remove theirs saying I don't need to wear one because you are.... And we wonder why this virus is spreading out of control!

I mopped the kitchen floor, got dressed and caught up with Blogland. I haven't worn this Afghan dress in ages. I'm not sure why. 

When Jon got back we had noodles, grabbed our masks and set off for our last visit to the clearance charity shop for a while. 

The main reason was to stock up on books and luckily there were plenty on the shelves although I've got a feeling I've read that Karin Fossum book already. I don't think I'll be in any rush to read The Man Who Returned From The Dead, it's the book on which The Revenant was based, not the most cheerful film ever made, but it was 2 for £1 & there wasn't anything else we fancied (or hadn't read already).

I couldn't say no to this superb quality, fully lined, woven 1970s maxi skirt by Renjoy of London. I'm not normally drawn to checks or tartan but thought the colours would look good with my vintage Ossie Clark jacket...and it does (I think!)

WEARING: Vintage 1970s Ossie Clarke jacket (Second To None), Renjoy maxi skirt & felted wool hat (both charity shopped), 1960s-does-Edwardian lace-up boots( car boot sale), Original Biba dragonfly choker (inherited from Mum)

It was a showery and blustery day and attempting to sweep up the leaves would have been a pointless exercise so the rest of the afternoon was a lazy one. As a few of you had slipper envy I thought I'd show you them again...I bought the red ones in Corfu last year and loved them so much I bought a back-up pair in Crete in September. They're made of lambswool, have leather soles and cost around €10 from many Greek tourist shops. 

We had roast potatoes, parsnips, mixed veg, veggie sausages and Yorkshire pudding for tea and spent the evening watching Spooks. 

I made a start on my latest book when I went to bed. It seems odd to read an Ian Rankin book without the dysfunctional (but lovable) D.I. Rebus but it's a cracking read nonetheless. I'd already got to chapter four by the time my eyes were starting to close.

On Monday I was up at 6.30am, the strong winds that had been raging for most of the night were starting to die down and a quick inspection of the garden when I went to empty the bin revealed no damage. I did my Wii Fit workout and wrapped the weekend's eBay sales before joining Jon in the kitchen for our fruit & yogurt breakfast. After coffee we gathered the essentials (our National Trust membership cards, face masks and the car keys) and headed out to what would probably be our last cultural day out for a while.

 Our destination was our nearest National Trust property, the incredible Wightwick Manor (pronounced Witt-ick) just outside Wolverhampton city centre, an 11 mile drive from our front door. We'd last been to the garden back in June (HERE) but this time, much to our joy, the downstairs of the house was now open. We'd fallen madly in love with Wightwick Manor when we visited with Krista and Chris back in 2012 (HERE).

 Wightwick Manor was gifted by then owner, Geoffrey Mander, to the National Trust in 1937, the first house given under the country house scheme which had been introduced a few months earlier. Sir Geoffrey continued to live in the house with his wife, Lady Mander, opening the building to the public on Thursday afternoons. As the property got more popular the National Trust provided helpers to welcome guests and offer guided tours.

Wightwick Manor was a survivor of the fickle nature of fashion. Its Aesthetic Movement interiors, heavy with the designs by William Morris and his associates, had almost been lost in the 1920's but found new life in the 1930s and 40s. With its barley twist brick chimneys and oak framed white-washed walls, the design of house looked to be something from five centuries earlier, rather than just five decades old. 

When the wealthy industrialist, Theodore Mander, commissioned the building of a new manor on Wightwick Bank in the Old English style in 1887 he started the Mander family's love for Victorian art & design which would unfold over a century of collecting and preservation. However, his untimely death in 1900 left the care and development of the new home to his eldest son, Geoffrey (1882 - 1962). Educated at Harrow & Cambridge, Sir Geoffrey Le Mesurier Mander, served in the Royal Flying Corps in WWI and was a practicing lawyer. He entered the Houses of Parliament as a Liberal MP for Wolverhampton West in 1929. He was chairman for the family firm, Mander Brothers, for a generation, a major manufacturer of paints, inks and varnishes in the British Empire.

Sir Geoffrey Mander remarried in 1930. His new wife Rosalie Glynn Grylls gave up her ambitions to be a Liberal MP and focused her attention on English literature and art. Starting with a biography of Mary Shelley, her surroundings at Wightwick soon inspired her to research the Pre-Raphaelites, especially Rossetti.

Wightwick had no Pre-Raphaelite art prior to 1937. Once the house put into the care of the National Trust, Sir Geoffrey and Lady Mander started to buy art to put on display for their visitors. The first was a portrait of Jane Morris by Rossetti.Over time a unique collection developed, with some major pieces supplied by the National Trust, and small works and sketches either purchased or donated. The collection has over 70 works by D.G Rossetti; 50 by Edward Burne-Jones; 23 by Evelyn De Morgan and 20 by Millais. 

When it was built the house was fitted with electric lighting, cutting edge for 1887. Wightwick was built with central heating and many of the original radiators still work.

Surprisingly William Morris never came to the house, nor did his company formally design for it. Instead, all the wallpapers, fabric wall coverings and soft furnishings were bought through the Morris & Co shop or catalogue.

Unlike the artwork, Morris & Co designs were included in the 1887 and 1893 buildings. However, they were much enhanced after the 1937 saving of the property, when Sir Geoffrey expanded the Manor's Morris collection. This included sketches for Morris designs, as well as large items of furnishings, such as carpets and curtains.

New to Wightwick Manor is the purpose-built Malthouse gallery, run in partnership with the De Morgan Foundation, displaying drawings and paintings by the pioneering female artist, Evelyn De Morgan (1855-1919), and the creations of her husband, the pre-eminent ceramic designer, William De Morgan (1839-1917).  

I've always loved De Morgan's ceramics but shamefully knew nothing about Evelyn's exceptional talent. I was spellbound.

After the drooling over Wightwick's interior and the De Morgan collection there was still more to feast our eyes upon, namely the splendour of the garden and surrounding woodland.

 

We'd loved the colour and planting schemes when we'd visited in June and November didn't disappoint, either. Even this late in the year there was still plenty to admire (and the weather couldn't have been lovelier).

Back at home we ate toasted cheese sandwiches. Jon did a post office run and I made a start on sweeping up the leaves, until the gale force winds of earlier made an unwelcome return and sent me scuttling back into the house where Jon had lit a fire as the warm temperature of earlier had plummeted.

Tea was a salad with a glass of wine, Rioja for Jon and white Zinfandel for me. The plan for tonight is more Spooks and Who Do You Think You Are? at 9pm.

Sorry about the image heavy post, it's hard to edit when I love everything I've set my eyes upon. All of my Wightwick manor photos are HERE if you're not sick of them.

Stay safe, sane and fabulous and see you soon!