Tangy Mill

From now to the closing date of 

The Landmark Trust Spring Raffle on May 25 I will give you a taste of the properties you could spend your £5000 holiday in.

Tangy  Mill,  Scotland
 
Sleeps  6

The Landmark Trust acquired Tangy Mill in 1973 from Mr McConnachie although it was not until the summer of 1979 that work began. Although the Mill had been disused for so many years, all the machinery was still there, and so, as much as possible, we have tried to leave it as it was, with the accommodation and furniture fitted amongst it all.

Read more about Tangy Mill here

Betws-y-Coed

From now to the closing date of 

The Landmark Trust Spring Raffle on May 25 I will give you a taste of the properties you could spend your £5000 holiday in.

The Rhiwddolion valley

At least until late medieval times the upper Conway valley was inaccessible, sparsely inhabited, and plagued by lawless bands who found the oak forests a useful hideout. But with the arrival of peace came the desire for permanent homes, so that many of the earliest houses in the district date from the 16th century. These are often found in small upland pockets of fertile land watered by a stream, where they lie sheltered and hidden.

Ty  Capel

The remote Rhiwddolion was formerly a slate quarrying community, but long before that it was on the Roman road that runs from Merioneth to the Conwy valley. Ty Capel was a school and chapel in the days of the slate quarry.

Sleeps  3

 Ty  Coch

 

Long before it was a slate mining community,  Rhiwddolion was on the Roman road that runs from Merioneth to the Conwy valley. Ty Coch, meaning 'Red House', is much older than Ty Capel.

 Sleeps  4

 

 

Ty  Uchaf

By the early part of the 20th century the mines and quarries had closed, and employment possibilities declined. The few remaining villagers of Rhiwddolion, finding the Roman road of little use to them and the whole hamlet out on a limb, slipped away. The chapel was closed in 1956, and the Landmark Trust bought it in 1967. Ty Coch continued to be lived in after the quarrymen’s cottages had lost their roofs, but it became increasingly marooned from modern life and in 1968 it was also sold to the Landmark Trust. Ty Uchaf came into the hands of the Trust in 1998, acquired in order to preserve this unspoilt setting.

River Clean-up in Bath

The highlight of our grandchildren's stay with us last week was the visit to  @Bristol science experience. Prior to this, theie favourite had been Royal Victoria Park   where they enjoyed everything from zip-wires to sand pits . As part of my exercise regime for my new hip I walked to and from the park accompanied by the two older children.

Manoevering the pontoon to anew dredging position

Our route included the river bank where we joined the small group of spectators watching the Environment Agency clearing rubbish from the riverbed.

After repositioning the pontoon next to Victoria Bridge more rubbish was grabbed from the river bed.....

.....Including 120 shopping trolleys

.....and three cars including a Morrisa Minor

To minimize fruitless searching, a couple of divers first groped around the riverbed marking promising oints with buoys.

It didn't take long for the divers to enroll Dominic and Mia-Rose into the diving team.

The blue pipe is air:  the red one is power for lights and cameras:  the yellow one relays their depth to the controller on the platform.

One Month To Go

If you have not bought your tickets yet in 

The Landmark Trust Spring Raffle 

 you have only one month to do so.
First prize is £5000 to spend on a holiday at
The Landmark Trust

Swiss Cottage

From now to the closing date of 

The Landmark Trust Spring Raffle on May 25 I will give you a taste of the properties you could spend your £5000 holiday in.

Swiss  Cottage,  Devon

Sleeps  2 + 2

Designed in about 1815 by Jeffrey Wyatville this is an early, and wonderfully well-made, example of the nineteenth-century passion for the Alps. Swiss Cottage is situated within the ornamental gardens of Endsleigh and commands magnificent views of the River Tamar.

Read more about the Swiss Cottage and Endsleigh here

Well, Well

From now to the closing date of 

The Landmark Trust Spring Raffle on May 25 I will give you a taste of the properties you could spend your £5000 holiday in.

St.  Winifred's  Well,  Oswestry

Sleeps  2

 What stands today at St. Winifred's Well is a very rare survival of a late fifteenth-century timber chapel, made all the more important by its association with Saint Winifred, who was a seventh-century Welsh Princess.

Read more about St. Winifred's Well here

On The Beach

From now to the closing date of 

The Landmark Trust Spring Raffle on May 25 I will give you a taste of the properties you could spend your £5000 holiday in.

The  Shore  Cottages ,  Caithness

 

One sleeps  2,  one sleeps  6

 This tiny cottage is one of a terrace of simple fishermen’s dwellings built in the 1840s and sits on the beach overlooking a beautiful cove known as The Shore. The bay is sheltered by high rocky cliffs and is a favourite of birds and seals.

Read more about the Shore Cottages here

No Heating for 50 years?

From now to the closing date of 

The Landmark Trust Spring Raffle on May 25 I will give you a taste of the properties you could spend your £5000 holiday in.

Sackville  House,  East Grinstead
 
Sleeps  8
 
Sackville House was built around 1525 as a continuous jetty house with the original wagon way giving rear access. There is no evidence of how the hall was heated, as the brick chimney stack is a later addition of 1574.

Read more about Sackville House heree

The Smallest Inhabitable Castle?

From now to the closing date of 

The Landmark Trust Spring Raffle on May 25 I will give you a taste of the properties you could spend your £5000 holiday in.

Stogursey  Castle

 

 Sleeps  4

 What remains at Stogursey Castle today are the vestiges of almost a thousand years of use. The cottage now used as a Landmark was chiefly built in the seventeenth century, but also incorporates fabric from the mediaeval gate towers.

Read more about Stogursey Castle here

Shute Gatehouse

From now to the closing date of 

The Landmark Trust Spring Raffle on May 25 I will give you a taste of the properties you could spend your £5000 holiday in.

Shute  Gatehouse,  Axminster

 

 Sleeps  3 + 2
 Built by William Pole when he bought Shute in 1560, this was the gatehouse to a large medieval and Tudor house immediately behind, now much reduced in size and known as Shute Barton.

Read more about Shute Gatehouse here

Silverton Park Stables

From now to the closing date of 

The Landmark Trust Spring Raffle on May 25 I will give you a taste of the properties you could spend your £5000 holiday in.

Silverton  Park  Stables

 

 Sleeps  14

 Silverton Park Stables is a quadrangular stable block and all that remains of a much grander project: a large nineteenth-century mansion, known as Silverton Park. It was designed by architect James Thomas Knowles for the fourth Earl of Egremont.

Read more about Silverton Park Stables here

Visible from Trent & Mersey Canal

From now to the closing date of 

The Landmark Trust Spring Raffle on May 25 I will give you a taste of the properties you could spend your £5000 holiday in.

Swarkestone  Pavillion
 
Sleeps  2

Swarkestone Pavilion belongs in type to the same family as the late Elizabethan and Jacobean prodigy houses, but reduced to miniature proportions. It may have been built to celebrate the marriage of Sir John Harpur in 1630.
 
Read more aboujt Swarkestone Pavillion heree

Irresponsible Broadcasting

We have three of the grandchildren here for a few days to give their parents time to get to grips with the twins who arrived last week. How they will manage six  of them I can only wait to see. I have been transferring some old cassettes to CD recently and played one to the children yesterday - Roald Dhal's Dirty Beasts - which they enjoyed as much as I did. The original material is brought to life splendidly by Timothy West and Prunella Scales, the well-known narrowboaters.
It is a shame, however, that their recent TV series - Great Canal Journeys - promoted the notion that cruising the canals is a contact sport and that crashing into boats, bridges and other canal structures is not only acceptable but quite fun. There are enough idiots on the canals at present who have been persuaded by misguided TV shows that the sun always shines when you are boating. It is simply irresponsible to chase audience ratings in the manner of such shows.  Thirty years ago Anthony Burton presented a more realistic and informative series Back Door Britain: broadcasters would improve understanding and knowledge of the canals by re-running this.

The Ruin at Hackfall

From now to the closing date of 

The Landmark Trust Spring Raffle on May 25 I will give you a taste of the properties you could spend your £5000 holiday in.

Hackfall  Ruin

Sleeps  2

A Janus-faced Georgian folly. The Ruin is in the remnants of an outstanding 18th-century garden at Hackfall, conceived and created by the Aislabies. It reflects the consensus of the time that the irregularity of the Gothic style coincided best with that of a wild landscape

Read more about hackfall Ruin here

Following the Da Vinci Code?

From now to the closing date of 

The Landmark Trust Spring Raffle on May 25 I will give you a taste of the properties you could spend your £5000 holiday in.

Rosslyn  Castle

Sleeps  7

The restoration was completed in 1984 and the first Landmarkers stayed in the summer of 1985. Unusually for us, the Landmark Trust does not own or lease Rosslyn Castle, but as an experiment we let it on behalf of Lord Rosslyn. This experiment proved to be a great success and in 2002 Collegehill House, which was built as an inn and stands next to the chapel, became a Landmark in its own right.

Read more about Rosslyn Castle here

Queen Anne's Summerhouse

From now to the closing date of 

The Landmark Trust Spring Raffle on May 25 I will give you a taste of the properties you could spend your £5000 holiday in.

Queen Anne's  Summerhouse 

Sleeps  2 

This foursquare folly was probably built in the early 18th century. The summerhouse was later renovated by Joseph Shuttleworth earning its date stone of 1878, and seems to have served as a pavilion throughout Shuttleworth Estate's golden years.

Read more about Queen Anne's Summerhouse here 

Watch a video

Lost Village in Suffolk

From now to the closing date of 

The Landmark Trust Spring Raffle on May 25 I will give you a taste of the properties you could spend your £5000 holiday in.

Purton  Green

Sleeps  4

Inside survives a hall from 1250, a great rarity

Purton Green is one of the many lost villages of Suffolk and all that remains is this house. Inside the late medieval walls survives a hall dating to 1250, a great rarity and whose elaborate decoration evokes its important past.

Read more about Purton Green here

Sleep in a pigsty

From now to the closing date of 

The Landmark Trust Spring Raffle on May 25 I will give you a taste of the properties you could spend your £5000 holiday in.

The   Pigsty,  Robin Hood's Bay

Sleeps  2

Once a real pigsty, Squire Barry of Fyling Hall is said to have been inspired by the classical architecture he had seen in the Mediterranean during his travels in the 1880s when building this home for his pigs.

Read more about The Pigsty here

Live under a pineaplle

From now to the closing date of 

The Landmark Trust Spring Raffle on May 25 I will give you a taste of the properties you could spend your £5000 holiday in.

The   Pineapple, Scotland

Sleeps  4

This elaborate and eccentric summer house was built in the shape of a pineapple in the 18th century by Lord Dunmore. The architect of this triumph of a folly remains unknown but local tradition says that it was built by Italian workmen.

Read more about The Pineapple here

My NHS Experience

Prior to my recent hop operation,my previous spell in hospital courtesy of the NHS was 1972. At that time the ward housed twelve beds down each side. Polished parquet floor, subdued lighting and a general hushed atmosphere of calm. In the centre  of the ward was a desk where the ward sister or her deputy processed any paperwork whilst keeping an eye on the ward. The help lights for every bed was visible from anywhere in the ward and were attended to promptly. There never seemed to be more than  three nurses on the ward at any time but everything was accomplished and they were still able to feed those of us who were laying flat.What a change has taken place  in the intervening years.........

Day 1
Up at 5.30 to shower and shampoo with the disinfectant supplied by the hospital. Did this again last night: freshly laundered towels and bedlinen and clean pyjamas. This morning, new towels and all clean clothes.  Due at hospital 7am.  On arrival join small group all clutching designated requirements waiting for the door to Admissions to be unlocked. Once in I am allocated a bed where I change from my ultra clean clothes into a backless gown.  Identity checked for the second time and wrist bands attached bearing  my name, NHS  number, hospital number and bar code for simple processing hereafter.  A parade of interested parties visit over the next few hours -anaesthetist, surgeon, theatre assistant, physio, catering, pharmacist - each asks my date of birth. Don't they trust the wrist bands? By the time I arrive in the theatre anti-room sometime in the afternoon I have been asked my DOB at lest a dozen time and five or six times I have been  required to verify my signature on a yellow form. They definitely do not wan to operate on the wrong person. To ensure the wrong leg is not chopped up a large arrow has been drawn on the one destined for surgery.In the theatre anti-room someone is looking for a report from haematology. There is a note on my records that a report exists but the content of the report cannot be found. After asking my DOB and confirming that I did really sign the yellow form they ask me about this report. "What did it say?"  to which I respond "I am not a haematologist" I am not reassured by the readiness to commit me to surgery on the basis of my interpretation of a lengthy report I did not understand. However around this time I fall asleep and wake up some hours later in the High Dependency Ward feeling decidedly woozy. Intravenous Morphine makes me nauseous so medication is switched to Paracetamol and Codeine.  Apparently the Non-Steroidal Ant-Inflammatories that were de rigeur twenty years ago are no longer in fashion.
Day 2
Wheeled through the hospital to a recovery ward - six distinct bays of four beds each.. My impression is of an endless flow of nurses, each wheeling a trolley with a laptop on, all looking for someone to do something to. Two of these take blood samples from my A-line . Word gets around that I am game for this and two more attempts are made to take my blood. These I rebut. How much blood do they need?  I am reminded of Anthony Hancock in The Blood Donor. All this activity does not seem to find its way onto my records: After  filling three bottles- 390ml, 400ml and 730ml - a nurse offers me a catheter . I wonder if she is on commission. Perhaps the NHS really has been privatised and staff have to supplement their income by selling treatments. One generous nurse offers to repeat my medication two hours after they have been administered.  I realise I have to keep my wits about me here or I shall end up with a big bill for duplicate drugs.. At some pint in this fuzzy world I am informed that the doctors have decided I need an injection in the belly-button at 8pm - the time apparently is important. At 10pm I am woken for a perfunctory jab in the tummy. and the question Do you want a hot drink? Was that it? What an anti-climax. Where was the doctor in clinical gown, gloves and mask?
Day 3
Not a good day. Despite my request for no more pain-killers I am given Paracetamol, Codeine and Ora Morphine which combine to make me feel very ill.  The day passes. Food has started to appear at regular intervals - three meals a day with snacks between. The game here is that patients place their orders the day before but have moved on by the time they are served and so ones diet is determined by the kosher vegan  who previously inhabited your place. The only thing which really registers is that at 8pm I get another stab in the tummy. Apparently this is to be a daily privilege for the net 28 days.
Day 4
Each shift change a nurse introduces him or herself as the person who will be looking after me. That is the last  I see of them. I now discover a new catering game. Every morning I order brown bread and Marmite from the menu. Throughout my stay  it is never delivered. Variations on toast, marmalade and jam are produced but never what I ordered. For lunch I ordered roast chicken and salad.  I receive vegetable cottage pie apparently because I ordered both hot and cold items. Life is so interesting here. As the anaesthetic clears from my system I am finding the bed uncomfortable but a new person enters my life - the physio. She is tasked with getting me up and about as quickly as possible  - not bed-blockers here!
Day 5
Last night the help bell seemed to be ringing all night.When it sounded at 9.30 I started timing it - 35 minutes before a nurse responded. I hope it was not urgent.  Getting up and waking with a zimmer frame. Exploring the corridors. At the end of our group of mini-wards is a reception area and a staff room for the nurses. When I pass there are six nurses  in there  earnestly discussing-  medical matters  I presume. I am still puzzled by the medication round. This requires a nurse to man-handle two PC laden trolleys - pushing one and pulling the other.  Gentle enquiries reveal that one PC is unreliable but carries more information so the input all data on both machines. Does the system warn against over dosage or incompatible medications? Apparently not. According to the nurse the real benefit of this time consuming system is  not having to decipher doctor's handwriting. Seems rather elaborate to me. John, in the next bed to me, has a complicated drugs regime and every round he has to question the nurse at length to ensure they understand what is required. At 75 it is fortunate he has a sound memory and a forceful manner.
Day 6
Did not sleep  very well. Woke up at 4am soaked in sweat. nurse came and changed me but woke when the drugs round was in progress, now feeling cold.  I addressed my concern to the nurse "Could I have a blanket please? I'm cold" He said he would take my blood pressure etc. When that was done I repeated my request. He laughed and pulled the curtain round my bed. My fourth request was yelled across the ward as he was leaving. "Sorry my friend, I thought you wanted the curtains around" Surely nurses should be able to understand English.  I am ready to go home now.

Day 7
I go home

This is not a scientifically reseated report; it is just my experiences. They maybe unique. For that reason I have not named the hospital.

I should add that all my contact with the hospital prior to admission was conducted efficiently and cheerfully. Never once through my daily phone calls were any of the staff anything less than helpful.

Field unchanged since 1840

From now to the closing date of 

The Landmark Trust Spring Raffle on May 25 I will give you a taste of the properties you could spend your £5000 holiday in.

Obriss  Farm,  Westerham

Sleeps  5

Obriss Farm is typical of the small mixed farms which were formed in this area in the Tudor and Elizabethan era. The farm, surrounded by traditional byres, a stable and a smokehouse, has a field pattern not changed since 1840.

Read more about Obriss Farm here

A Gatehouse by Pugin

From now to the closing date of 

The Landmark Trust Spring Raffle on May 25 I will give you a taste of the properties you could spend your £5000 holiday in.

Oxenfor  Gatehouse,  Surrey

Sleeps 4

In 1843, Augustus Pugin produced a group of buildings considered to be among his finest work; one of them was Oxenford Gatehouse. Pugin used local materials in a Picturesque style that adapted that of the Middle Ages for his own time.

Read more about Oxenford Gatehouse here

Thoughts for Easter

At Easter we think of those who make sacrifices for others

 

From Signal Box to Folly to Observation Tower

From now to the closing date of 

The Landmark Trust Spring Raffle on May 25 I will give you a taste of the properties you could spend your £5000 holiday in.

Nicolle  Tower,  Jersey

Sleeps  2

Nicolle Tower began as a single storey signal box built before 1792. Then, soon after 1821, Philippe Nicolle converted it into a two-storey folly. The third floor was added in 1943 by the Germans to make an observation point.

Read more about Nicolle Tower here

A Medieval Hall House

From now to the closing date of 

The Landmark Trust Spring Raffle on May 25 I will give you a taste of the properties you could spend your £5000 holiday in.

New  Inn,  Suffolk

Sleeps  8

Travellers have always needed hospitality, and New Inn in Peasenhall presents an adaptation of the classic form of a medieval hall-house for this purpose, with wings for food preparation and storage and lodgings added on either side of a central open hall. It may have been purpose built as an inn: it was certainly in this use by 1478.

Read more about the New Inn here

A Manor Hoswe in Norfolk

From now to the closing date of 

The Landmark Trust Spring Raffle on May 25 I will give you a taste of the properties you could spend your £5000 holiday in.

Manor House near Diss

Sleeps  8

Manor Farm is a mainly late Elizabethan vernacular building which has remained largely unaltered since its first use as a yeoman farmer’s home. Judging from the lavish oak partitions and moulded beams within, the farmer was comfortably well-of

Read more about this bilding here

Estate Agents in Preston

We have been looking for somewhere to rent in Preston and started our search on Righmove. This, of course, yielded 2000+ properties which appear to match our criteria. Being unfamiliar with the geography and having a couple of requirements which are not always selectable within the search filers I eventually decided to email all the agents outlining our needs and asking if they have anything of interest.
The response was interesting: It may not be representative of the whole country but it certainly fits some of the stereotypes.
Agents contacted:                                 36
No response in four days                      22
"Look at our website"                            9
Nothing to offer                                     3
Emailed appropriate details                   1
Phoned the same day with details          1

So 10 out of 10 for Paul at Reeds Rains

And 9 out of 10 for  Entwistle Green

The rest are a waste of time

What to do with one million bricks

From now to the closing date of 

The Landmark Trust Spring Raffle on May 25 I will give you a taste of the properties you could spend your £5000 holiday in.

Martello  Tower,  Aldburgh

Sleeps  4

Nearly a million bricks used in its construction

Martello Tower is the largest and most northerly of a chain of towers built to keep Napoleon out. This quatrefoil shaped building has a stone-flagged battery on the roof, with the mountings of guns and a high, thick parapet for shelter.

Read more abou the Martello Tower here

Frenchman's Creek

From now to the closing date of 

The Landmark Trust Spring Raffle on May 25 I will give you a taste of the properties you could spend your £5000 holiday in.

Frenchman's  Creek

Sleeps  4

Frenchman's Creek is a secluded granite cottage in a romantic setting. It is approached by a quarter-mile path that winds it way through woodland down to the Helford River. Should you want to go elsewhere there is the Lizard to explore, and Mounts Bay, or to the east the granite elegance of Falmouth.

Read more about Frenchman's Creek here

Fort Clonque, Alderney

From now to the closing date of 

The Landmark Trust Spring Raffle on May 25 I will give you a taste of the properties you could spend your £5000 holiday in. 

Fort  Clonque,  Alderney

Sleeps  13

This dramatic fort, built in the 1840s, is nestled in a group of large rocks off the steep south-west tip of Alderney. The buildings were refortified by Hitler in 1940 who believed Fort Clonque to have some strategic value.

Read more about Fort Clonque here