Story Search Results

The country house in society #48

Country houses are to be found throughout the British Isles and are a peculiarly English phenomenon. Houses range from mediaeval manor houses to classical Palladian mansions, elegant Georgian residences to the Gothic buildings of the Victorian era. A great many have survived for two main reasons: Britain has been spared much of the havoc of war and revolution affecting other countries. Wentworth Woodhouse, Yorkshire   Wentworth Woodhouse (above) is one of the largest stately homes in Europe and was visited by King George V and Queen Mary in 1912. It is now with the Wentworth Woodhouse Preservation Trust and is much bigger than this photo shows!   The...

Ghostbusters! #8

...in an old Gothic mansion on the moors or somewhere remote where you could hear eerie noises all night long – sound familiar?  Yes, it was a bit like watching my own life and especially as the lead actor, who was nearly always Peter Cushing, looked exactly like my dad!  In fact, so much so that at one New Years’ Eve Ball a man was so convinced that it was Peter Cushing he kept pestering my dad for an autograph; my dad eventually signed the actor’s name just to get rid of him!  As the night wore on I got more and more scared by the film and by midnight, when the film had ended, I didn’t dare leave the lounge to go up to bed – imagine climbing those s...

Ghostbusters #8

...in an old Gothic mansion on the moors or somewhere remote where you could hear eerie noises all night long – sound familiar? Yes, it was a bit like watching my own life and especially as the lead actor, who was nearly always Peter Cushing, looked exactly like my dad! In fact, so much so that at one New Years’ Eve Ball a man was so convinced that it was Peter Cushing he kept pestering my dad for an autograph; my dad eventually signed the actor’s name just to get rid of him! As the night wore on I got more and more scared by the film and by midnight, when the film had ended, I didn’t dare leave the lounge to go up to bed – imagine climbing those stairs...

Meet the Neighbours - Blithfield Hall #78

...e 1820s a Gothic façade was added by the designer John Buckler, it is thought.  The interior decoration was carried out by Gothic-style plasterer, Francis Bernasconi, a man of Italian descent who became one of the most successful ornamental carvers and plasterers in Georgian Britain. The Dining Room   Sadly, in 1945, the Hall was sold by the 5th Baron Bagot to the South Staffordshire Waterworks Company, as they planned to build a reservoir which was completed in 1953 and opened by the Queen Mother. The reservoir is 14 metres deep and approx. 4km long and took 500 men six years to build.  It was made in a shallow valley through which the River Blithe r...

The Church of the Holy Angels #55

...ve in the Gothic revival and whose numerous works included London's St Pancreas Station and the Albert Memorial. His son, George and Bodley worked together on the project and created a modern English perpendicular style of church. Specifically, it is English Gothic of the latter half of the 14th century but together Scott and Bodley promoted an ecclesiastical version of the William Morris movement. George Bodley, Architect  C1900   William Morris was an artist, writer and decorator concerned with raising standards of Victorian design and through the Arts and Crafts movement he promoted the creative dignity of craftsmen as opposed to manufactured goods....

Ghostbusters! #7

...in an old Gothic mansion on the moors or somewhere remote where you could hear eerie noises all night long – sound familiar? Yes, it was a bit like watching my own life and especially as the lead actor, who was nearly always Peter Cushing, looked exactly like my dad! In fact, so much so that at one New Years’ Eve Ball a man was so convinced that it was Peter Cushing he kept pestering my dad for an autograph; my dad eventually signed the actor’s name just to get rid of him! As the night wore on I got more and more scared by the film and by midnight, when the film had ended, I didn’t dare leave the lounge to go up to bed – imagine climbing those stairs...