The Manor Reborn

Over the course of the last couple of weeks I have been following, using the wonderful BBC facility of iPlayer the programme called The Manor Reborn, centred around the National Trust property of Avebury Manor in Wiltshire.

At the start of the programme I did wonder if the BBC could possibly pull off this project. They convinced the National Trust to lend them the fairly run down and much undervalued property of Avebury Manor. In doing so there was a budget and the plan was to restore the inside of the manor to its former glory. Each room taking a spin from the the previous residents and a period of history. Rather than the usual do not touch philosophy of many of the National Trust properties, Avebury was to be recreated with a hands on approach.

Furniture was to be created from scratch using traditional methods of the time, the same with painting techniques and fabrics; all under the watchful eye of two historical professionals, and well known interior designer and the whole programme hosted by the very familiar Penelope Keith and Paul Martin.

The BBC site for the programme is HERE.

I have to say, that as a National Trust member, I was slightly irritated with the National Trust from almost the beginning of the series. Simply their lack of trust in a respected organisation and respected historical professionals; even in the final programme, at the handing back of the property to The Trust there was, from certain quarters disapproval, but the teams involved have achieved a remarkable thing. Avebury Manor is certainly on our visit list for 2012.

If you can access iPlayer and can view the series within the copyright time constraints view the programmes -  fascinating. The workmanship and dedication of the restorers was outstanding.

Anyway, here are a few photos that I managed to take from the television using my iPhone.

Well done BBC for pulling off, quite an achievement and for broadcasting a super series.

Weekend Cooking - Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management

,Back in March of this year I saw an interesting two part review of Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management (Abridged version published by World Classics).

Here are the links to Review One and Review Two written by Bunny's Stuff.

I was interested in the review and as I had a voucher that I wanted to spend on books that would become part of my library collection I ordered it from Waterstones.

The book arrived and is really interesting and is currently resting on my cookbook shelf on the hall bookcase.

Last week there was a documentary broadcast on BBC 2 presented by Sophie Dahl about the life of Isabella Beeton. I recorded it, and finished watching it this morning.

Isabella was one of 4 children. Her father died when she was young and her mother, like many women of the time remarried to a widower who also had 4 children. Isabella's mother and Step Father went on to raise a total of 21 children. From early sources Isabella was aged about 12 years old and was instrumental in helping look after her younger siblings.

She then married Samuel Beeton and I think became a women of future generation. In addition to being a wife and later mother she also worked within Samuel's publishing business. Isabella knew grief. She lost two of her four children and sadly passed away aged 28 years.

What is sad, is that her headstone, (photographed from a live pause on the TV) reveals that she was a "fellow worker" in her husband's publishing world. There is no mention of her journalism and achievements as an author. Which was very much a sign of the times of Victorian England.

The program made some of the dishes that Isabella produced in her book. This one was a favourite of mine from the program, although I have no plans to make it!

Here is the recipe from the book

And here is the finished pie, suitably decorated!

The program ended with a dinner party. The table decorated in full Victorian splendour. The dishes were those explored on the program and the guests were all the experts who had given advice and insight in the life and times of Isabella Beeton.

History of Cardigan........

Thanks to the BBCHistoryMag Twitter feed I became aware of the following post - a fascinating task of knitting with history.

"History of Cardigan told through a cardigan" http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-12123866

Snippets from the the news......

BBC News - Life goes online after death with 'memory boxes'
Published 3rd December 2010
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-11900774

The Independent - Identified at last: faces of the Somme - Europe, World
Published 28th December 2010
http://ind.pn/dRYl4n

A glimpse from the Antiques Roadshow

I was catching up with my viewing of the BBC Antiques Roadshow from last week (14th November 2010) when a rather interesting item came upon the screen.

The item was described as a ham stand, and of slickware and contained a genealogical mystery. The photo is not terribly good, although I am rather impressed with the result from a iPhone via a pause replay of a TV program!

The details on the stand are as follows:

M representing the surname and both the bride and groom had the initial of J for their respective forenames. The fish symbol implies that the groom was either associated with the fishing industry or a keen fisherman. The name of Clapham refers to the location of the wedding and the date if September 3rd, 1787.

So who were J & J M and where is the Clapham refered to on the plate?

It does stand to reason that anyone who could afford a plate that would house a ham that size would come from a household of some income and thus could be an angler, rather than a fisherman living on a tiny income, but at this stage in the research I must not jump to any concluions.

Oh, the estimate given to this rather fascinating antique was between £2,500 and £3,500.

BBC - A life without work

** A life without work **

A century after a ground-breaking investigation into unemployment, the remarkable journey of one British family has been traced.
< http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/news/magazine-11584487 >

This was a fascinating account of the population and work study by Rowntree in York in 1910.