Show Beatrix some love on Valentine's Day!

Someone once told me that the older you get the faster the time goes and I'm beginning to think that this is true. 

The time since my last post and our wintery closed months that followed seem to have passed with a super speedy blur – and I'm sure that I'm not the only one who's feeling this way. I mean it's February already!

THIS is February!

Our Hill Top has been looking a bit odd these past couple of months, the objects have been safely packed away, furniture covered and things have generally been out of place as we carried out the deep clean.

At the time of penning this post I'm pleased to say that it's looking much, much better inside the house and over the last couple of weeks a lot of things are being slowly returned to their rightful homes. It's like the house is coming back to life again and before we know it Hill Top will be open to the public once again.

With so much going on recently I think that the theme of this post is really a little update on what I've been getting up to.

I wish I could say that I've played a big part in putting things back out at Hill Top but I really can't take credit for any of it.

This year I was lucky enough to be allocated a place on the annual Housekeeping Study Days course. This year it was held down in Surrey at Polesden Lacey.

I am sure you'll agree that it's quite a contrast to our little Hill Top! It is an amazing property with a huge and beautiful collection, opulent surroundings and it's share of interesting past residents . It was wonderful to experience a totally different property.

It was a fairly decent journey but it was so so worth it! Through the course you get a good grounding in every aspect of preventative conservation and all the ins and outs of what we as house staff need to know to care for a collection of a variety of different objects and materials properly.

I really did enjoy it and have come back to the Lakes full of enthusiasm. It was a residential course, which means you stay over in a hotel as the course is taught over a number of days. This course was 3 nights and 4 days and as well as a whole lot of great learning it was fantastic to be able to meet and chat to others who are in similar roles as me from all across the country. To be honest, looking back I can't believe I was ever nervous about going!

Some other things I've been up to include measuring the plates at Hill Top so we can buy some new stands for them, this should improve the support they have and ensure they last for decades to come.

Not up to 'stand' ard :P

I've also been scaring away spiders and hoovering up their cobwebs with a vacuum at the Beatrix Potter Gallery and most recently I attended another course at Rufford Old Hall in Ormskirk on caring for historic wooden floors. Phew, quite a variety of jobs ey?

Finally, this week has seen me help Liz, our House and Collections Manager, to put up the new exhibition in the gallery ready in time to open for the new season.

Some of you might think that this doesn't sound too exciting but I would have to disagree, I mean, I actually get to touch and handle original Beatrix Potter artwork including sketches and watercolours. I do think I'm incredibly lucky sometimes, when I have a great day it's really a great day! :)

This year our exhibition is “On holiday with Beatrix Potter” with a focus on the people who came to visit and meet B. I know you probably think I'm slightly biased but I do urge you to come visit us this year, the exhibition is a great one – plus, if nothing else you can evaluate how straight I have put the artwork up, or not as the case may be..

On Tuesday we were getting some of the art out of the store ready to go up and Liz asked me to find a page in a sketchbook, 'half timbered buildings in Wales'. When I finally found it I was REALLY excited! I actually scared Liz a little with my excited squeal which apparently sounded a bit like I'd had a disaster haha.

Serious conservation face...Silly jumper :)

In the book were sketches and watercolours from different places that Beatrix visited in 1905, what was so exciting is that when I flicked the page and saw the images I instantly recognised them as my home town of Ruthin! Not many people know where this is so I'll explain, it's in a small county called Denbighshire in North East Wales... around 35/40 minutes from Wrexham (coincidentally where the majority of my family are from) if that helps at all? So yep, there is it, this means that I am Welsh, not that you would ever guess it from my (lack of) accent.

They are really rather good drawings and I was so thrilled to see my little town in B's sketchbook that I actually recounted the story of what I had seen to both my parents and wasted no time in telling them which buildings and businesses you can see in the images. For those of you who know the area, look out for The Castle Hotel, Barclays bank and the Wine Vaults :)

Valentine's day is soon approaching (it's a week tomorrow in case any of you still have last minute preparation to do :P ) however today marks another exciting day – tonight Wales takes on England in the 6 Nations Rugby! I know what you're thinking and you would be right, Wales are going to thrash England! We may be a small nation but we're extremely proud and extremely optimistic. It would be wonderful though if the land of dragons and daffodils came out on top – sorry English readers.

To go with this little slice of Welsh pride my “Hello there” comes in the form of this Welsh doll in traditional costume.

Cymru am byth <3

How did B acquire such a thing? To be honest, I have absolutely no idea but I would like to think that it's from one of her Welsh jaunts, one reason to visit the area would be because her uncle had a house in the next town over.

Although Wales is certainly not all about the black traditional hats and red cloaks, I can't help feel a sense of pride that the Welsh are being represented in this way, however small.

Like Pete, I also am looking forward to the arrival of Spring, I don't know about where you are from but here in the Lakes we have been in the minuses a hell of a lot recently and I honestly cannot wait for warmer weather. If I were to include a musical link it would go a little something like this "I can't feel my fingers, I can't feel my toes..."

Hopefully by March's post we'll have some of the sunny stuff :)

For now I will bid you farewell, I'll be back next month with another post but if you're looking for something to do in the mean time, why don't you come visit us when we open again on the 14^th February.

Ta ta for now

Words and pictures by Natalie :)

Winter Fashion

Hill Top Farm in winter

Beatrix Potter had spent most of her life in London, visiting the countryside for spring and summer holidays.  However, once she bought Hill Top Farm, she faced the snow, ice and rain of winter with her usual determination.
She wore skirts and jackets made from Herdwick wool and would visit her tenants with an old sack over her shoulders to keep out the rain.  No walking boots or wellies; clogs would be the standard footwear. 

Clogs by the spinning wheel at Hill Top

Cath, centre, wearing long skirt and jacket of Herdwick wool helping to plant the Beatrix Potter rose (not in winter!)

There are tales of her helping to dig sheep out from snow drifts.  Herdwick sheep have been known to survive for weeks buried in drifts, nibbling their own fleeces for nourishment.   These are luckier.

Winter snack bar

Cattle aren't brought in to keep them nice and warm; as ruminants sheep and cattle have their own built in central heating provided by their digestive system. However, trampling hooves on wet  ground soon reduce it  to a muddy mess which won't grow grass for a long time. 

Breakfast cereal? (mentioning no names)

  Edwardian farm wear was based on natural fibres and women would wear long skirts.

From BBC Edwardian Farm series - more pics on their website

Now farmers have a wide choice of materials designed to keep out wind, rain and snow. 

What the well-dressed farmer  wears to work

And National Trust Rangers bob around the countryside like winter robins.

Paul models Ranger gear

Even dogs have their own walking boots!

Sam modelling boot on sore paw whilst waiting for a walk

In between Beatrix's time and the present, I can remember Lake District walks meant sensible shoes and plastic macs and have fond (?) memories of students wearing clogs clattering along the corridor on their way to early morning practicals at agricultural college.  It wasn't that long ago!
 

We are nearer to Spring than we were in September....

I have to confess that I'm not a winter person. If winter consisted entirely of blue skied, frosty days with the occasional dusting of snow I might feel differently, but up here in the Lakes winter is made up mainly of leaden skied rainy days,with occasional sleet to liven things up a bit (although it's snowing quite hard as I write this). For a gardener this is bad news and I sometimes scan the National Trust vacancy list for jobs in East Anglia where the yearly rainfall total is about what we get in a month. And don't get me started on the short days, having got up at 6 am this week for a gardeners meeting at Lyme Park I'm convinced there should be a law against getting up in the dark!

But there is one bright spark in this otherwise unremittingly gloomy season, and that's for the six weeks after Christmas the garden is closed to the public. That's not meant to sound unwelcoming; for the other forty-six weeks of the year you are most welcome to come and see the garden; but for those six short weeks I get it to myself. It's now that I can do all those jobs that are difficult when we're open, I can block the paths with branches when I'm pruning things, I can leave jobs half finished if the rain gets too heavy and come back to them tomorrow, I can leave muddy footprints on the paths and even park my van outside the house if I need to.

One such job which came to the top of my list yesterday was to cut back the rather too rampant ivy around the side gate to the vegetable garden. Ivy (Hedera helix) is a useful ground cover plant in shady areas and a good food source for a wide range of wildlife. This particular clump had escaped my notice over the last few years and it wasn't until I looked closely that I discovered just how out of control it had become. What started off as a little gentle clearing around the gate turned into a full scale assault on stems as thick as my arm which were threatening to completely engulf a couple of damson trees.
The end result was a much clearer veg garden wall and a huge pile of ivy that took three trips in the van to get rid of!

Before

After

At the moment it looks rather like a bad haircut, but in a month or two you'll never know it had been cut back.

Incidentally ivy is dedicated to Bacchus, the Roman God of wine, who is often depicted wearing a wreath of ivy and grape leaves. Apparently it was thought that wearing a wreath of ivy leaves would ward off intoxication. I may try it next time I'm in the Tower Bank Arms!

Elsewhere in the garden, the snowdrops are just beginning to flower and the daffodils are poking their leaves up through the ground although still a month or two away from flowering yet, but as Percy Bysshe Shelley (why is no-one called Bysshe anymore?) wrote, 'If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?'

Snowdrops

As always I have a long list of jobs including lots of pruning, loads of digging, some new apple trees for the paddock and a new fence in the veg garden. I won't get them all done before we open again on February 14th, but at least you'll be able to get up the garden path!

My musical link this time had to be this and I'll leave you with a short poem by Oliver Herford.

I Heard a Bird Sing.

I heard a bird sing
In the dark of December,
A magical thing
And sweet to remember

'We are nearer to Spring
Than we were in September,
I heard a bird sing
In the dark of December.

See you next time.

Words and pictures by Pete the Gardener.

Behind the shutters of Hill Top: Putting the house to bed

After a busy season at Hill Top with an excess of 100,000 visitors through the house, Sunday 3rd of November is the final day Hill Top will be fully open this season. Upon saying goodbye and thanking the very final visitors out of the door, closing the final shutter, taking away the final vase of fresh flowers and stopping Beatrix's favourite Wag-tail cuckoo clock for the final time, the house and it's contents will begin a few months of well earned rest over the winter season.

Standing outside Hill Top over the winter, you may be fooled in to thinking all is quiet and peaceful inside, but our house staff and volunteers will arrive (with their thermals on) laden with brushes, dusters, hoovers and tissue paper (not forgetting the all important tea bags and perhaps the occasional cheeky biscuit) to begin the process of putting Hill Top to bed.

Take a look and this short video, starring some of our House and Collections staff and volunteers. It is a fantastic insight as to what we do behind closed doors in the winter months at Hill Top. 

The preventative Conservation work completed in the house over the winter months cannot completely prevent Hill Top from deteriorating but it certainly slows the process down. The work is essential to keeping Hill Top open to visitors for generations to come, so that in another 100 years our great, great, great grandchildren can still come and experience the magic of seeing an original Beatrix Potter illustration, or see where she sat and wrote her stories.

The Hill Top gardens and shop are open throughout the winter months, so if you happen upon one of the team during your visit, please ask us more about the work we are doing in the house over the winter. We will be happy to answer any questions.

We would like to thank everyone who has taken the time to visit us at Hill Top this year. Our staff and volunteers have thoroughly enjoy sharing our stories and inspiring people to know more about Beatrix Potter, along with caring for the house she loved so much. We will open our door again in February 2014, but for now, Good Night...



The oak front door at Hill Top



Emerging from winter hibernation

Hill Top shop is now in the final countdown to re-opening, and behind the scenes all is very much a hive of activity.

The shop looks somewhat forlorn amongst the remnants of snow.  But will soon sparkle as it emerges from its hibernation. I find this time very exciting as we see seasonal staff return,  pre-season training gets underway, and everyone wears a certain determined look as they race to get everywhere ready for that first day of opening.

The shop, not much outward sign of life (and only remnants of last week's snow visible)

Inside, the shop looks a lot less dormant than its exterior and resembles little of what it will become over the next few days! As with all preparations there always appears to be a lot more mess made before order can be restored!

One side bears all the remnants of the stock take; areas numbered, and count slips hanging off every shelf and cupbaoard door.

Tell tale signs of the recent stock take exercise - an essential winter activity

The other side of the shop has become a holding bay for the deliveries of new stock. Well- they say you can't make an omelet without breaking eggs!! Over the following days this chaos will gradually be cleared, and the shelves stripped of their merchandise, all ready for a thorough clean. Finally this blank canvas slowly transforms as it fills with colour from the product merchandised and displayed back onto its shelves. One last tickle with a duster, and all goes under wraps with dust sheets ready for the big unveiling on opening day.

New season 'goodies' all ready for unpacking

As I write this bog snow has started to fall. Hill Top has a series of wooden bunnies placed around its garden as part of the children's trail. This poor little bunny has only just emerged from the last snow fall. Let's hope this is the last of this cold weather, and we can all look forward to an early spring.

One little rabbit hoping for an early spring!

Gillian- Retail Manager

No space too small!

Although Hill Top house has closed its doors to visitors for the season, not everyone who works there gets the winter off. Scattered around there are small spaces where lots of work is still getting done, keeping things going for pre-Xmas visitors to the garden and shop, or laying the groundwork for next year's visitor season.

So here's a glimpse behind the scenes at some of those essential spaces that our staff and volunteers use in the course of their work. We thought it might be useful to have a yardstick by which to judge the spaces, so for our first candidate, the Hill Top Shop Office, we can tell you it is just over 2 'Peters' wide...(see below)

 

special Hill Top measuring  scale

 

The eagle-eyed may recognise Rose here (released from Wray Castle for a little while)

Like a magic kingdom the Hill Top shop office is entered from a secret door in the shop .. .it used to be a corridor (can't you tell?!) with a ticket office window on the left and was where visitors came through from outside into Hill Top garden.

Next comes the Hill Top Property Office, located in half a small barn borrowed from next door's farmer, luckily the animals moved out first....an estimate here would be 8 'Peters' wide. Whenever there is a meeting in here people have to swap seats to let anyone in or out of the door and if you're last in you get the small camping stool which puts you at the level of others' elbows....

Cath, Jo and Robin with a lot of files - no paperless office here!

Last but not least is Pete the Gardener's shed, located a few steps from the back door of the house it has the most fantastic wisteria-covered roof in early summer. Sorry we can't give its size in 'Peters' as Pete the gardener would be too upset at any mention of a rabbit in relation to this shed!


Room for Pete's gardening tools and not a lot else!

One of the things that amazes our Trust colleagues from other properties when they come to Hill Top is that a place as busy as Hill Top is run from such very small behind-the-scenes corners. In these small spaces shop stock is decided and ordered, plans are worked up to help give visitors an enjoyable time, tour group visits are organised, volunteers are contacted, war is plotted against garden pests and hundreds of other tasks too numerous to mention are carried out smoothly and efficiently.

So the next time you visit your own broom cupboard or smallest room you might spare a thought for our hard-working team members beavering away in something similar!


post by Linda
photos by Pete the gardener.

Probably the best view in the Lake District?

Winter has well and truly arrived this week, which is bad news for our roofers and my cold toes, but good news for getting amazing photos of the Lake District. Wray Castle has some fantastic views of the high fells, which now look even more dramatic with a covering of snow.

On Sunday the sun was shining and the snow was visible on the highest tops- on the photo below you can just see Bowfell in the background with a good covering of snow.



The Langdale Pikes and Bowfell (with snow).

 After wall to wall sunshine at the weekend, Monday arrived and there was even more snow. Our contractors at the Castle turned up on site very early and took these atmospheric photos of the early morning fog still hanging in the valleys.



The Langdale Pikes just visible through the fog.

The Fairfield Horseshoe looking very foreboding.

You also get some great sunrises and sunsets in the snowy wintry conditions. This photo of the gorgeous sunrise on Thursday was taken at the back (south) side of the castle, looking down Lake Windermere towards Bowness.


Winter sunrise.


Another photo from Thursday shows the castle in the middle of a snow storm. I am not sure much work was done on Thursday but at least our contractors had a good time taking photos and admiring the view!




The Grand Porte-cochere of Wray Castle, complete with scaffold and snow!

 After a couple of hours of snow on Thursday morning, it soon turned to rain and all the snow has gone now, apart from on the tops. Today was another sunny day and a chance for one of our friendly Robins to enjoy the views from our picnic terrace.




Robin enjoying some winter sun with a view!



The Fairfield Horseshoe, Lake Windermere and Ambleside.


Is this the best view in the Lake District? Why not come and judge for yourself?

To see more photos visit our facebook page, where you can post your own Wray Castle photos as well.

Size really does matter!

When it comes to Christmas Trees size and shape is everything! And luckily for us our Ranger Team have delivered on both counts!

Earlier this year I had a 'wild' idea to have a 20 foot Christmas Tree at Wray Castle. In fact I didn't think it was such a crazy idea really. When you have a building on the scale of Wray Castle it would be wrong not to get the biggest Christmas Tree possible. The Castle itself is a masterpiece in showing off; everything is over the top, so why not get an over the top Christmas Tree to celebrate our first Christmas open to visitors?


The Tree has arrived- its so big only half of it fits on the trailer. Look at me- I am helping, really!

 Getting the tree into the Castle didn't seem that hard really- especially when you take a 'supervisory' role like I did! Looking at the photo below the tree does appear to be a lot wider than the doors, but fortunately the branches are very flexible with soft pine needles so it was possible to squeeze it through the doorway.




Now, how do we get it upright?

Getting the tree upright required a long rope, pure brute strength, and some ingenuity to stop the trunk of the tree sliding about on our beautiful Minton tiled floor. Once upright and secured, we then had to start the mammoth task of decorating it. The Rangers got the hardest job and were sent up the big extendable ladder to arrange the fairy lights, whilst being directed from below by two members of the Wray Castle House Team.

Looking down at the central hall from the first floor landing- isn't is pretty?

Being a bit of a scrooge, I had only bought one set of lights, but it soon became apparent that one set was not enough. (In fairness to me though, I wasn't too sure that I would be getting the 20 ft tree I asked for, but it turns out this tree is even bigger than that!) Even our building contractors were giving advice on the quantity of tree lights though, or lack of them - and so I had to bow to all these expert interior decorators and get some more lights.



The decorated tree- complete with two sets of lights!

Lottie, Harriet and all the Rangers did a great job getting all the decorations on the tree, whilst I did a job much more suited to my skill set - hoovering! The finished tree really does look fantastic. Even a bah humbug like me cannot fail to feel Christmassy seeing this tree every week.

These photos don't do it justice so why not come and see it for yourself. Wray Castle is open every weekend until the 23rd of December 10.30 - 4pm. You can even do some decorating yourself as we have two other 'normal' sized trees to decorate and Christmas wreaths to make.


The end is also the beginning

Last Sunday we closed the doors of Hill Top (the house anyway, the garden and shop stay open until Xmas) and of the Beatrix Potter Gallery at the end of our 2012 season. (Wray Castle is closed during the week now but is open at weekends through until Xmas.) For us though, the end of one part of our work year is the beginning of another.

Behind the scenes our closed period is a very busy time as conservation, maintenance and improvement projects all get underway. For Hill Top house in particular it's an opportunity to give the house and its contents a really good 'deep' clean and then to protect them from a Lake District winter (cold and damp...so ok a bit like a Lake District summer!); we call this 'Putting the House to Bed' . We've shown this video before but for others who have not seen it here's what happens behind the door and shutters at Hill Top house over the next weeks.

For the Beatrix Potter Gallery this year's exhibition is taken down and the delicate drawings and watercolours carefully put back into storage ready for others to take their turn in the limelight next year. To prolong the life of Beatrix Potter's artwork we use different pictures every year and choose a new theme for every exhibition which then determines which pictures are brought out. (Preparing the Gallery for next year will be a big job).

Although the front door at Hill Top is closed now until next year, the garden gate is still open, so it's still possible to visit and see the house from the outside (you often get the garden to yourself and can get some lovely seasonal photos.) Although our seasonal visitor services team take a well-earned break, others are still hard at work, including our shop staff at Hill Top and the Hawkshead shop and will give visitors a warm welcome.

A different view of Hill Top house and garden

Also at this time of year we take the opportunity to make changes, often based on comments we've had from visitors over the season, and to bring in other ideas to give visitors an even more enjoyable time next year.

It's also a chance to get any bigger building repair and maintenance jobs done. At Wray Castle, for example, the next few months will see major repairs and improvements being carried out; although in this case the builders will be working around the visitors as the Castle is open at weekends until Xmas. You can follow progress on-line via the dedicated repairs blog or see footage from the rooftop webcams when you visit the castle in person.

A colourful piece of kit for some serious repairs work at Wray Castle

We always start off thinking there's plenty of time in the three months or so we're closed but it passes all too quickly and before we know it it's the end again, this time of our closed season, and we're ready to start anew. Now where's that duster!


post | Linda
video & garden photo | photographybyward
Wray Castle photo | Rose Lord

Conservation in Action at Wray Castle

September. Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness. And Conservation in Action month at Wray Castle.........

Warm welcome, cold feet

Beatrix Potter's Hill Top is a great favourite with Japanese visitors and we welcome tens of thousands of them through our doors every season.

For 2012, we've used a local translator and commissioned a Japanese language guide to Beatrix Potter and Hill Top to put on our new website - this will go with our other Japanese language publications of welcome leaflet and Hill Top guide book to help make their visit more enjoyable.



the guide in Japanese 


A chilly start

Despite the milder weather in the last few days, opening so early in the season is always a challenge as it can be very cold indeed for the Visitor Services and House staff working in very chilly conditions. From one of our Visitor Services team, here's one thought on the subject (we think he's kidding...) 



"just emerged from the ticket office, where I have been trialling the latest Hill Top Ticket Office staff uniform. Jo says that as soon as they confirm that they can do it in black, with the Trust's logo she will order us a set each."

 
post by Linda with help from Visitor Services
photos by Linda and Flickr | Facecover

Snow, snow - quick quick snow!

One day to go before the Beatrix Potter Gallery throws open its doors to the public, to show off its newly refreshed interior, and of course there has been loads to do.

Then it snowed

With such a tight deadline until we open, were we worried? of course not .... until the snow arrived last Saturday, making the Lake District a beautiful playground but not ideal for getting deliveries.  It also curtailed the second of the volunteer training days as folks rushed off at lunchtime to beat the ever-thickening snowfall.

Snow fell in Hawkshead last weekend but it won't stop us opening this Saturday!

Volunteer Training
In the volunteer training days a week ago, the volunteers who will be helping to bring the gallery to life, had their first chance to see the gallery with its new look. Unfortunately life never being simple, work was not yet complete and we were still awaiting some information boards and display cabinets.  What they could see though everyone seemed very impressed with, and they left looking forward to Saturday's opening.

Ready to go
Since then the staff have pulled out all the stops, had a few late nights, and with the snow melted and/or cleared  we're ready to go (and hopefully we won't get more snow for the opening!)

post by Paul K
photo credit veryhappyhacks on Flickr.com

Hill Top ... while we're closed

Although both Hill Top and the Beatrix Potter Gallery are now closed for the winter it doesn't mean we all put up our feet and take a rest. The winter months are when the hard work of deep conservation cleaning and any repair and restoration gets done. Here's one tricky job that needs a lot of teamwork if it's not going to end in disaster!

how many staff does it take to move a painting!