The Distancing Diaries - 30th June & 1st July, 2021

On Wednesday, still in a state of euphoria after England's magnificent win the previous evening, I did my Wii Fit workout, had a wander around the garden and swept the downstairs rugs before Jon joined me for breakfast. After he'd made sandwiches we headed off to Shropshire for our National Trust adventure.

The fabulous 16th Century Benthall Hall is situated on the outskirts of the former mining village of Broseley, just a few miles from Ironbridge Gorge (a 45-minute drive from home). The house is still occupied by the Benthall family, but has been owned by the National Trust since 1958.

 

The hall was built around 1580 on the site of an earlier 12th Century Medieval manor house. During the Civil War, it was garrisoned and the site of several skirmishes, the refectory table which was used to barricade the hall window during a particularly ferocious battle, still bears the repairs after a direct hit from a musket ball. 

It's hard to get your head around the fact that this is still a fully-functioning family home, although the present incumbents live & work in London during the week, returning only at weekends.

Inside, Benthall Hall retains its oak interior, ornate panelling and elaborately carved staircase furnished with 16th & 17th-century furniture, rare English porcelain and an eclectic assortment of portraits. The family ran a successful business in India for generations, trading in coir, which was wound down following Independence in 1947. There are lots of amazing paintings of the Benthall family in both India and Morocco, a favourite holiday destination, but sadly copyright laws meant photos weren't allowed.

The garden is largely the product of two tenants. George Maw (1832–1912), a local tile manufacturer and crocus enthusiast developed the garden from around 1865 onwards. Subsequently, the Victorian era Romantic painter and sculptor Robert Bateman (1842–1922), son of the famous horticulturalist behind the incredible Biddulph Grange Gardens, added the rockeries and terraces of the current garden.

Just like on our visit to Snowshill Manor last week, more kind holiday-makers (Londoners, this time) offered to take our photo.

Roses have never been my thing but the rose garden at Benthall is gorgeous.

Despite a gloomy start, the sunshine broke through the clouds and we enjoyed a gloriously warm and sunny afternoon and my pure silk, angel-sleeve maxi dress, handmade in Delhi in the early 1970s turned out to be a perfect choice.

Next to the hall stands the church of St Bartholomew. The original building was razed to the ground during the Civil War and rebuilt during the Restoration (c.1667 -1668). We hunted in vain amongst the wildflowers for the gravestones of Jon's ancestors, ten generations of which had lived in Broseley until the late 19th Century.

Back at home we sat in the garden drinking tea with the lads slumped at our feet. We ate pizza, cooked to perfection in the Rangemaster and spent the evening quaffing rum & cola and with a football-free evening, watched back-to-back episodes of the Eastern European drama, The Pleasure Principle.

On Thursday I did my Wii Fit workout and wrapped the flurry of eBay sales that had come in overnight. The forecast was for a warm but cloudy day with a threat of rain showers but I threw caution to the wind and pegged some washing out anyway. I'd noticed that the ledges in the middle room bay window were shrouded in dust so washed them down and rearranged the bits and pieces displayed on them.

After breakfast, Jon headed off to get Young Kim, our daily runaround, MOT'd (he's Korean) whilst I refilled the garden waste bin which had been collected earlier in the week and took The Virgin of Guadalupe outside to watch over the pots. 

Richard arrived with a couple of parcels, one containing a gorgeous 1970s Phool midi skirt with a quilted hem that I'd won on eBay at the weekend.

My friend Tricia had taken a fancy to something I'd bought on a charity shopping mission and I offered to send it her way. In return, she sent me a parcel of things for the Kinky shed...colour-co-ordinated cotton loveliness!

Also in the parcel was this incredible Dior slip/nightie. How fab is that tattoo-inspired print?

Apologies for not emailing and thanking you yet, Tricia. I'm thrilled to bits! I was out in the avenue chatting to a neighbour when Jon came back with the news that Young Kim had failed his MOT, but fortunately with minor, cheap & fixable issues. 

After our lunch, our fab friends & fellow traders, Graz & Steve called round. We'd not seen each other since November 2019 so we were all very excited, so much so that I forgot to take a photo so I've nicked this one from their Facebook page. They have a very cool vintage shop in Birmingham's hip and happening Digbeth. Check out their website HERE.

After waving them off I got stuck into some gardening, potting up tomatilloes, basil and black cherry tomatoes and planting out some more beetroot after we'd harvested and eaten our crop on Tuesday night when we'd roasted them with peppers, red onions, potatoes and halloumi.

Some of the other edibles we're growing.....curly & flat-leaved parsely, chives, rosemary, three varieties of mint, bronze fennel, oregano, marjoram, coriander, sage, thyme, summer savoury, caraway, anise,

Onions, garlic, parsnips, carrots, beetroot, red & green basil, ornamental gourd (not edible but part of the squash family), courgettes, patty pan, gherkins, peppers, chillies, cucumbers, ruby red chard, tomatoes (including cherry & moneymaker), tomatilloes, beetroot, cauliflower, red cabbage...

Loganberries, rhubarb, gooseberries, strawberries, goji berries, raspberries, red and blackcurrants, sweetcorn, potatoes, globe artichokes, mizuna leaves, radicchio, Batavia red & green lettuce, two varieties of rocket, Shiraz peas, Greek beans and broad beans.

 

And a rather marvellous ginger plant....thanks to Lulu who blogged about finding the roots for sale in Wilko so I rushed down and bought one.

Frank's finally discovered the catnip (grown from seed!)

In my head, on a warm and sunny day, I'm living the self-sufficient dream on a remote Greek island.

It was the first outing this year for my hand-printed, artisan-made, organic cotton maxi dress bought from Cotton Cottage in Goa in February 2020. 

While I spent the late afternoon pottering around the garden Jon got to grips with the Rangemaster's fan-assisted oven, making an organic spelt flour loaf in Sunday's vintage Hovis tin. 

Tea was Glamorgan sausages with salad accompanied by a glass of Greek beer. As it's another football-free night so we'll be watching more of The Pleasure Principle. 

See you soon!