The Distancing Diairies - 27th & 28th April, 2021

On Tuesday, after a Wii Fit workout (me), watering the ever-increasing number of seedlings  (Jon) and breakfast (both of us) we fired up the camper and headed to Shakespeare's county of Warwickshire, a journey of just over 25 miles. 

Our destination was Baddesley Clinton, a moated manor house dating back to the 13th Century, eight miles from the historic town of Warwick. 

The manor was purchased by the under-treasurer of England, John Brome, in 1438 and subsequently passed on to his son, Nicholas (d.1537) who rebuilt the nearby parish church dedicated to St. Michael as penance for having murdered the parish priest, a crime reputed to have taken place within the house (the blood-stained floorboards were pointed out to us on a previous visit).

When Nicholas died, the house was passed to his daughter who had married Sir Edward Ferrers, the Sheriff of Warwickshire, in 1500. Baddesley Clinton remained in the Ferrers family until 1940. It was sold to the National Trust in 1980.

Under the care of Lucy, the head gardener, her three full-time staff and an army of 45 volunteers, the gardens at Baddesley Clinton are glorious, a riot of colour and a jumble of blooms. The shop had bags of ten spent hyacinths in a rich beetroot purple available for a suggested donation of £1.50 (we gave them £2!)

Baddesley Clinton has, like many National Trust properties a resident cat or two. This is Tommy who was far too busy mousing to hang around for fuss.

We sat in Gilbert, drank tea and ate our cheese sandwiches accompanied by the bleating of lambs in the neighbouring field, under the watchful eye of a robin hanging around for scraps. 

Baddesley Clinton's gorgeous garden had inspired us to get a few more tasks done in ours so, back at home, I cut off the flower spikes from our newly acquired hyacinths, planted them in a border and gave them a good watering. Jon got started on radically pruning one of the holly bushes while I potted on my sunflower seedlings. The forecasted rain started just as we'd finished. We've had our driest April since 1936. The average rainfall for this month should be 78cm, here in the Midlands we've had 5.1cm. At the risk of sounding like an old fart, it'll do the garden some good! After roasted halloumi and veg, we watched more of Waking the Dead.

By the look of the puddles in the avenue when I opened the curtains on Wednesday morning, I think we'd probably achieved our average monthly rainfall overnight. After my Wii Fit workout, I threw a load of washing in the machine & hung it up in the utility room then joined Jon for breakfast. As it was still raining I thought I'd crack on with a bit more ancestry.

Deserted China Clay Pit, Herbert Truman (1883 - 1957) SOURCE

When I wrote about my ancestors, the Adams family, a Staffordshire pottery dynasty, Lulu commented that William Adams once owned shares in the long-abandoned Cornish China Clay Quarry at St Dennis along with her 5x great uncle, Joseph Poulson. I thought it was brilliant that my ancestor was in business with one of my virtual friend's ancestors and wondered about his interest in Cornwall, a world away from the Staffordshire potteries. I didn't have to ponder for long, tracing William Adams' branch of the tree a little further I discovered he - and I - had Cornish ancestors.

Thomas Flamank (my 13x great-grandfather, above) was a lawyer and a former MP from Cornwall who, together with Michael An Gof, a Cornish blacksmith, led the Cornish rebellion of 1497, a protest against taxes imposed by Henry VII to raise funds for a war against Scotland. Thomas argued that it was should be the business of the barons in the North to defend Scotland's border and that the taxes were illegal. An army of over 15,000 Cornishmen arrived in London on 16th June, 1497 and although they fought bravely, without artillery or trained soldiers they soon found themselves overwhelmed by the King's trained and well-equipped army. On 27th June, 1497 Flamank was hanged and beheaded at Tyburn in London, and his limbs exhibited in various parts of the city.

Cornish memorial to Flamank & An Gof

And there's more! Thomas's granddaughter, my 11x great-grandmother, Margaret Fauntleroy (1507 - 1582) married Sir Thomas Hill of Heligan. This was the family who originally owned The Lost Gardens of Heligan (although they weren't lost back then), one of the biggest visitor attractions in the UK. The family sold the estate to the Tremayne family in the latter part of the 16th Century. I've only been to Cornwall once, I've always fancied visiting The Lost Gardens of Heligan, now I'm keener than ever.

SOURCE

By mid-morning, the rain had cleared and it was time to play in the garden. We had a to-do list as long as your arm but with high winds and it being damp underfoot we stuck with clearing the bottom of the garden and shredding as we went along. 

After a break for lunch, a sandwich & crisps just by way of a change, we continued until Jon declared we'd enough and downed tools for the day. 

Back indoors I got the wheelie bins ready for collection on Thursday morning and had a massive blog catch-up while Jon planted lettuce seeds and artichokes.

Liz and Al called round for an alfresco coffee and a wander around the garden. The temperatures had been predicted to plummet and our teeth were chattering when they left. Tea was a goat's cheese, marinated tomato & basil quiche with broccoli and mushroom mornay (made by me). We'll be cracking open the rum shortly and looking forward to The Great British Sewing Bee, the happiest programme on the TV.

See you soon!

PS My lovely friend Kezzie's post made my day (HERE), she's been inspired to create a Vix-like outfit.