And they’re up!

This week has been a very big week for us at  Hardwick Hall, we have been re-hanging two of the largest Gideon tapestries in the Long Gallery, after their return from two years of conservation work. Monday and tuesday were full of preparation work, we had to re-route our visitors as we were going to be working directly over the door where people usually come into the Long Gallery. We used two scaffolding towers to hang the tapestries, so these needed to be built. I love working on the scaffolding, it usually means were doing something exciting  and it allows for a really different perspective of the beautiful rooms I get to work in!

Going up!

Then we had to staple the velcro strips onto the wooden batons on the walls where the tapestries will hang. originally the tapestries would have been nailed up, and later were attached with poppers, but now we use velcro. Many people find this surprising, but it gives a really firm hold and allows use to easily remove the tapestries, should we need to for any reason. Next the walls then had to be cleaned, we did this with a backpack hoover and a veeerryy looonngg pole.

One of the poppers

The velcro strips

The Textile conservators arrived on tuesday and set about doing the final prep on the tapestries (which had been delivered some weeks ago). The ladies who worked on the Gideons have been working with Hardwick for a long time, on many different projects, and have been responsible for the conservation work on all the Gideons so far. They are based at the National Trust Textile Conservation Studio in Blickling, Norfolk.

The reverse of the tapestry (on the right) show it’s vibrant original colours

Here is a link to the blog of the fabulous ladies at the Blickling conservation studio, I am so very jealous of their jobs and they do such amazing work. Seeing the before and after on the Gideons they made some areas that were really badly damaged barely noticeable! They have also been working on an embroidery from Hardwick, Penelope, so there are a lot of entries about that process, really interesting reading! Another project they are undertaking is the tapestry from the Ballroom at Powis Castle, that I helped to take down a couple of months ago.

After the velcro is sewn onto the top and side of the tapestries more velcro is pinned along another side. The tapestry then needs to be re-rolled so the end the will be hung first is on the outside. The side with velcro pinned on goes on the inside of the roll, as it is attached to the velcro on the plastic pipe the tapestry is being rolled onto. This prevents the tapestry from slipping when the roll is held vertical. I was lucky enough to get to help re-roll the second tapestry, and to pin some of the velcro on!

Re-rolling the second tapestry

We started to re-hang the first at twelve and we had hung them both by three. It was a much easier and smoother process than I had been expecting. The team worked really well and by the time we were hanging the second tapestry we had quite a crowd of public watching. For a moment I did feel a little stage-fright then, but it was soon forgotten! As well as the crowd we had several cameras and there were a couple of newspaper reporters who came to join in the fun so here are a few videos of the event. The first at the beginning of putting up the first tapestry, and the second after it had been re-hung.

The crowd

The rest of wednesday afternoon, and thursday we got to spend talking to the public about what we had been doing, and the Gideons project in general. I love talking to the public, and I am so glad we got to show them this fantastic event, it was so nice to hear people saying how much they enjoyed it. It is wonderful when someone responds well to me enthusing about work, and I am so lucky that I have always had opportunity to interact with the public and share with them what I do. As you can probably tell from the length of my blog posts, I am rarely short of things to say! Thursday evening I got another opportunity to talk about what I do by taking my second ever ‘Last One Out’ Tour with a lovely group of people from Australia.

Before conservation

Talking to the conservators the couple of days they were here was really interesting and enlightening. They had brough photos of the damage to the Gideons and then pointed out the conserved spots on the tapestries. The difference was amazing, from a distance you can hardly notice the damage. Cleaning the tapestries makes a huge difference in their appearance, taking off the dirt and dust. Before this point these tapestries had never been cleaned, and they have been hanging in Hardwick for 400 years! Then the conservators work to ensure and damaged areas are stabilised, so that they can hang for another 400 years without ending up in any worse a condition. Holes are backed with fabric in colours sympathetic to the original tapestry, meaning you can see what has been lost if you look for it. I think this is brilliant as it is not blurring the lines between what is original and what we have done to the tapestry.

After conservation

After looking at the restored tapestries we looked closely at the three still in need of conservation. With the returned tapestries hanging one side of the door, and those awaiting conservation the other the difference is startling. The damage the conservators were pointing out was so awful, and the more they showed us I thought I was going to cry! What is really working is the fact that in many placed these tapestries are literally hanging on by a thread, and if it takes us too long to raise the rest of the money it is really scary to think how much more damage will have occurred. I know I have already asked once but after taking a closer look at the tapestries I feel no shame in posting the link to our Just Giving site again. These tapestries are in dire need of major conservation work and it would be wonderful to see them on their way before too long!

Finished!

Thankfully I had Friday off because as fab as this week has been, I was knackered by thursday evening and really looking forward to a lazy day! This gave me a couple of days to prepare for working my first solo shift on sunday! Although I have been the only team member in the house before there has always been someone else in the office who was in charge overall, however usually procedure for weekends is to only have one house team member in and they be responsible for everything. Sunday was my first turn to be in charge, including being main point of contact within the Hall for the other departments on site, and delivering the morning brief to the volunteers. While I was a little nervous I wasn’t too worried as I knew as long as nothing terrible went wrong before 11, after that the Vols would be in, and our Vols are brilliant! Everyday there is a Voluntary Day Leader that organizes the team and they do such a good job. It frees up an awful lot of time for the House Team to be getting on with the morning routine and our other projects. Sunday went really well and I enjoyed having more responsibility for the day, looking forward to more work as a team this week though!

The first tapestry we re-hung on wednesday

The angel on the second tapestry we re-hung

50 things and thousands of stairs!

This month saw the re-launch of the National Trust’s ’50 thing’s to do before you’re 11 3/4′ with a new ultimate list compiled with the help of a ‘Kid’s Council’. The list is full of brilliant activities to do in all seasons, such as:

4) Build a den

16) Make a daisy chain

24) Go on a walk barefoot

29) Explore a cave

43) Build a raft

They are all fun activities that make me glad its camping season again. I did nearly everything on the list myself as my childhood involved being a scout and a re-enactor and countless camping holidays. For me these activities were not hard to come by, and were in the most part encouraged (mum did use to get frustrated sometimes that in summer it seemed my feet were always shoe-less and grass stained, or a little annoyed when I went paddling in one of my pretty medieval dresses! :s ). The only thing on the list I have never done is 49) Find a Geocache, but given that I had never heard of a Geocache until a few years ago they probably were not about when I was a kid (that makes me feel old!).

Spring has sprung!

Hopefully like me these activities will already be part of a kids summer, but I know not every child has as much access to the outdoors as I had growing up. That is where the National Trust plays a really important role. The trust is protecting not only beautiful historic properties but also amazing open spaces so kids can find do these sorts of creative activities and have these experiences I believe form a really important part of childhood. Movements like this promote how easy it is to get outdoors, and the endless fun you can have when you’re out there!

Hardwick has its own ’50 things’ map available when you come and visit, and it shows where you can do about 34 of the 50 things on the list! There are also links on the Trust web page as to where you can do the activities near you, the main web page for kids here: https://www.50things.org.uk/ and lot’s of videos from inspiration in the NT YouTube page. Reading the list I remembered all the fun I had with friends and family completing the items on the list, it brought back some wonderful memories and made me realise how lucky I was to have such an active childhood. Like building a very unsuccessful raft on a school trip and ending up in a lake that was also home to some very large pike! Watching the frogspawn grow in the pond near my house with my little brother, or just sitting out on the school field at break times making daisy chains and grass trumpets. A lot of these memories involved getting mucky, getting soaked and occasionally bruised or into trouble, but that’s what childhood is about! I’m thinking I may have to re-visit a couple of these things to, and find me a Geocache!

Sheep on the Hardwick Estate

In contrast the Metro just reported (May 7th) a list of ‘Top 50 ways to live life to the full‘ a kind of ’50 things’ for adults.  The list, which has some really good things to aspire to achieve, starts by saying ‘Stop worrying about money’, easier said than done however with other items on the list being;

3) Take two holidays a year

7) Pay off your debts

10) Use money for fun rather than a rainy day

26) Blow money Shopping

29) Save money for your grandchildren to enjoy

31) Earn more than your age

39) Pass your driving test

40) Get a degree

Money seems to be one of the main focuses of the list, or at least you need money to be able to do a lot that is on the list. The second biggest focus of the list are relationships, with partners, friends and family. Some of the items are more of a work in progress, challenges to work on your mindset, while others are experiences. So far I have complete about 21 of the 50, with a few others to be checked off not to far into the future (‘No 21. Visit all Britain’s historical landmarks’ I’m looking at you!).

A sunny day at the Hall

People have said, about both lists, that it is sad we have lists like this drawn up for us, that people are straying so far from being ‘happy’ someone has to sit down and write a list to tell us how to enjoy ourselves. I agree, when you look at it like that it is sad, but I know how easy it is get caught up with worrying about money (being a uni graduated at the start of my career in the current climate it is not surprising). Personally however I think lists like this are a good idea. Some people will look at them and think ‘that’s nothing new’ but others will look at the lists as something to work towards, supplying new ideas for entertainment or adding to your Bucket List and a reassuring reminder that other people have the same worries you do. No one is saying that if you don’t complete these lists you have failed at childhood or happiness, but it also reminds people what is important, to lighten up and live your life rather than worrying about it instead! I know I’ve picked up a few new ideas.

Anyway, back to Hardwick. Last week was another busy week but we got a lot done to show for it, so as well as feeling shattered Friday night I felt very accomplished too! Us chaps had finished cleaning all the linen being housed in the Still Room and now we had to decide where to move it to! You would think in such a huge building that there would be plenty of space but at Hardwick, as with all other properties I have visited, every space not open to the public is full of curious items from the collection not on display. The linen could not go back in the cupboard it came from in case it became mouldy again, so we had to find it a new home.

The linen in the Still Room

After many discussion and different options we decided on a plan, to move some of the ceramics from the attic down to the cupboard and put the linen in their place in the environmentally sound store. While this was a good plan, it did mean moving ceramics from one part of the Hall to the opposite corner of the building! So that was exactly what me and Claire did, luckily having been working here for a few weeks now we were fairly fit to start with, but I can tell you now we are a lot fitter now (or possibly just knackered!). 

From the Attics to the cupboard there are 95 steps. We did this journey at least 14 times, not to mention how many times we went up and down the main stairs and the ladder in the attic to get to ceramics off the shelf. We must have walked up and down at least 3000 steps on thursday alone! By the end of the day our thighs were aching but we were nearly there. Friday we finished the job, we had moved over 120 pieces of linen and towels and around 60 ceramics! Now everything is neatly stored and the Still Room is ready to be prepped and then opened to the public!

Ready, set, heave . . .

However there is no rest for the wicked as next week is the great Gideons re-hang! I’m really looking forward tot this, even though it is quite a daunting prospect I think we’ll manage brilliantly. If you’re in the area on wednesday 15th come and watch as we put these amazing tapestries back in place. There are three Gideons left to be conserved and if you would like to help us raise the money please donate to our newly launched Just Giving page, any help would be greatly appreciated!

Phase One Complete

I mentioned in another post about the Gideon Tapestries and the huge project Hardwick is undertaking. The project has been going on for many years, and many more remain until all the tapestries have been conserved. I have been lucky …

Dressing up . . . for grown ups!

I have been a Medieval Re-enactor for half my life and it has been an amazing experience, teaching me so many things, some that I often find useful in my job. I have never needed encouragement to dress up, and I get to wear some gorgeous clothes, so it is nice to know I am not the only one! Re-enactment season has started again, with a St George’s Day themed show at Bolsover Castle last weekend and one at Rufford Abbey this weekend, but I was feeling impatient for the show this weekend.

The Swords of Mercia Society

The Dragon Knight threatens Lady Alice

 

Luckily Thursday was costume day at Hardwick, when all our ‘Living the History’ volunteers don their fantastic Tudor garb and bring the Hall to life, talking to the public about Tudor life and dress. I was in my element, admiring all the clothes hand-made by our very talented volunteers. It was amazing walking down the Long Gallery and seeing everyone dressed up, it helped the imagination picture the Hall as it may have been in its heyday, when Bess was entertaining.

Our Fab Living the History Vols

It’s not just the ladies

I know I am more than biased but I feel that events like the costume day, and the presence of costumed interpreters really enhance properties. I love asking them questions, like about their costumes and they are so passionate and knowledgeable. I also love being on the other side, answering the public’s questions, and I love wandering around these fantastic sites in costume and imagining I have stepped back in time! It’s a really brilliant way of engaging people, especially children in history, bringing it to life, and having someone in costume to talk to makes it all seem that bit more real and relate-able, it makes the distant past more accessible. This is something I will always try to support (and take part in too!)

Spinning in the Long Gallery

This week at Hardwick, when not oogling pretty costume, we have been carrying on the Deep Clean, we’re now in the Dining Room. I was mostly dusting the windows that are on the front of the Hall, I did get some odd looks from people outside! The weather was lovely and bright so I had a lovely time looking out while doing my cleaning. However this is going to have to go on hiatus for a little while over the next couple of weeks as we have a huge project coming up, we are re-hanging the returned Gideon Tapestries. Next week we are starting the preparation for the big event, which will be in a couple of weeks time. Firstly we shall be taking down the paintings that are hanging in the gaps where the returned tapestries will hang. There are twelve paintings to move in total, and we shall be building the scaffold in order to do so, it is a big job but I am looking forward to it. I shall tell you more about the project, along with how we got on taking the paintings down!

The Dining Room Curtains

Can’t complain about the view

The glass casting colours on the window sill

I also seemed to spend a lot of time changing light bulbs this week. Changing light bulbs? What a boring thing to talk about, well not when your changing bulbs in a historic property, it is not as straight forward as we would like it to be. The other day it took us 45 minutes to change 2 bulbs! We had to change one in the Entrance Hall lantern, using the big ladder. The ladders live on the top floor, and the big ladder is so big we have to carry it across the top floor to the main stairs, which are wide enough to carry it down, and the across the ground floor to the bulb. The ladder is then positioned over the table in the Entrance Hall, and I can get up to change the bulb. The second bulb was on the main stairs, but needed the medium ladder, so we had to take the big one back up and across the top floor, and bring the other down! Phew! However I do love looking around when at the top of the ladders!

The ladder in the Entrance Hall

Much better

This week I took my first tour round Hardwick! I love talking to the public and really enjoyed taking the tours round Powis. I do miss having the depth of knowledge I did about Powis but I am working on learning as much as I can about Hardwick, and taking the tour Thursday made me realise I have already learnt quite a bit! The tours are called ‘Last One Out’ tours, where we take members of the public round with us as we close up so they get a glimpse into a part of our daily routine.

Bess’ Coat of Arms in the Entrance Hall

It is so nice to be able to share this element of our day with the public, and they get to see Hardwick in a different light. We let them have a go at closing curtains and turning of lights, and we walk around the Hall by torch light. The tour was a lovely first tour as there were just a couple of people on it, a gentle start for me. Luckily these ‘Last One Out’ tours focus on our work and how we look after the property, the challenges we face and the steps we take to care for the collection. This element I am well versed in, and Claire and Sadie were on the tour with me so they answered the questions about the history I didn’t know. We make a fab team! I am looking forward to taking more of these tours, and will continue to build my general knowledge about the history so I can take other tours too. The House team is also going on tour training soon too!

 

 

A big weekend!

Hello all, this is just a very quick post to let you know I am finally re-connected to the world wide web! (sigh of relief). Unfortunatly however I won’t have time to post this weekend as it is the first weekend of re-enactment season (hurrah!!).

Beautiful Ladies

 

For many years now I have been a Medieval Re-enactor, originally with a group called The Order of Fighting Knights, we are now know as Swords of Mercis, based at Bolsover Castle, Derbyshire. This weekend we a re doing our first show of the season and I am so excited. I didn’t get to go to many shows last season so I am really looking forward to catching up with all my friends!

 

Ever since I decided at a very young age I want to work in this sort of field (originally I was going to be an Archaeologist on Time Team) my mum has been very supporting and our early family holidays consisted of lots of visiting heritage properties. We were members of both the National Trust and English Heritage. One trip to Bolsover Castle we found a re-enactment going on, and at the end of the show the group said they were looking for new members, and me and my brother jumped at the chance. I was eleven when we did our first show, now over ten years later this hobby has given me access to some of the most amazing places in the country, as well as a fantastic insight into the heritage industry that many on the outside do not get to see. But more about my hobby in another post.

Now from a big weekend for me to a big weekend for the Trust, the Free Weekend! Found yourself at a loose end this weekend, well hundreds of Trust properties across the country are offering free entry for this weekend only! All you have to do is follow this link > > > http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/get-involved/competitions-and-offers/offers/free-weekend/

Find out where your nearest property taking part is, print off a voucher and join in! The Greyfriars House and Gardens (Worcester) Powis Castle and Gardens (Wales) and Hardwick Hall (Derbyshire) are all taking part, so gte out there and discover your local Trust! I love the idea of this weekend, letting people discover the wonderful places we care for for free! Hopefully this will give people a taste for what we do and encourage more supporters and more people to become members. I love knowing that I can just go and visit any Trust property with my card, and many of our family holidays and day trips are still planned around visiting properties, there is still so much to see!

Well whatever your doing this weekend I hope you have a good one!

What haven’t I been doing!

I couldn’t decide what to call this post so my mum said; ‘well what have you been doing’ and I replied ‘what haven’t I been doing!’ so there you go! Apologies again for the gap between posts, I am still without internet in my new place (very frustrating!) so I’m at mum’s again stealing her internet.

I have been very busy at work, learning the ropes and settling in my new place ad have already done so many amazing things at Hardwick! There are so many differences between Powis and Hardwick, but also a lot of similarities. Monday and Tuesdays are closed days, something that didn’t happen at Powis until we got to 2013. Mondays are spent doing the weekly clean, we each take a floor and vacuum and dust it, and the we are responsible for this floor for the rest of the week. Tuesdays are spent doing the Winter Clean, which I love doing! We will also be doing projects on closed days over the coming months, which I am so excited about.

The sun shining on Hardwick Hall

So far me and Claire have already got to clean both the bed in the Blue Bedroom and the bed in the Mary Queen of Scotts room. I can’t believe I have already got up close and personal with these amazing textiles! To clean textiles we use a museum vac and place an ironing cloth over the textile. we then use a very low suction, and this combined with the ironing cloth ensures that we remove the dust from the surface, but that we are not pulling any of the fibers out. To do the beds we used two different attachments, one flat hoover head for the large areas and one small nozzle to go over the embroidery. It was a very satisfying job seeing the difference after taking the dust off, it was especially bad on the flat areas and on the creases and folds in the back velvet of the Mary Queen of Scotts bed. Here are some photos of the lovely embroidery taken by my colleague Claire.

The embroidery on the Blue Room Bed

One of the flowers on the Mary Queen of Scotts Bed

Cleaning in the Blue Bedroom

 

There are some afternoons when I will be able to work on my own projects, and get some of the backlog of work that has built up while the team have been short-staffed, such as cleaning a large amount of linen found in a mouldy cupboard a few months ago. This seemed like a huge task but with more team members and a few quiet afternoons we blitzed the work! It feels really nice to be able to help out getting tasks like this ticked off the list, as the one thing I have realised is that there is always work to be done! Brilliant for me as I get to try my hand at loads of new things. Such as spending the other afternoon cataloguing books that had been moved to the attics, with some very interesting and intriguing titles. Some of these were first edition novels, and books of psalms and hymns, as well journals about agriculture and horticulture. Talking with a colleague while doing this made me again take a step back and realise just how lucky I am, to work where I do, and have done!

The linen to be cleaned

My work station – The Mould Vac

Such a glam job!

We continued our Winter Clean in the Chapel, Paved Room and the Cut Velvet Dressing Room. The Paved Room has some fantastic plaster work around the walls, so I spent the day up the ladder dusting the plaster. It is detailed with gold paint and so I cleaned it by dusting it with a pony hair brush into one of our backpack hoovers. Here are some photos of the detail on the walls.

Beautiful sun in the Paved Room

That’s some interesting headwear

I love discovering new things so I got very excited when I was cleaning in the Cut Velvet Dressing Room and discovered a secret about the side table, it is really a drinks cabinet! Unfortunately no longer stocked with alcohol it instead had two cigarette tins in and a book. I am looking forward to learning many more secrets about Hardwick’s amazing collection.

The table, which has a lamp on it

The inside of the cabinet

Opening just last week was a new exhibition called ‘Virtue and Vice’, inspired by the Virtue and Vice tapestries hanging in the Entrance Hall and on the Chapel Landing. The theme of the exhibition looks at how religion not only shaped people’s lives but also shaped the way the dressed their homes. There is an exhibition in Bess’ Bedroom and there are display boards placed around the Hall where the theme has been used in the furnishings and decoration. I am looking forward to studying the information over the next couple of weeks, while the exhibition is on display. Find out more about the exhibition on the National Trust Website.

The exhibition in Bess’ Bedroom

Well I hope to have my internet up and running soon so I can keep you informed with what I’m up to at Hardwick, but untill then follow our new Twitter account; @NTChaps. Members of the Hardwick Hall House team will be taking it in turn to tweet about what we are doing, and I promise pretty photos too!

Hello Hardwick Hall!

Well I have survived my first week at Hardwick Hall. What an amazing place to work! It is so big, huge compared to Powis (and especially compared to little Greyfriar’s!) but I think I am getting my head around everything. …

Farewell Powis, It’s been fantastic :)

Well I have left Powis Castle, and Wales all together for the slightly chillier climes of Derbyshire. My last weeks at Powis were as busy as ever, culminating in a live Baroque concert in the Ballroom on Sunday afternoon, and a play in the evening, both broadcast live on BBC Radio 3.

I will miss spotting these guys getting up to mischief

The day involved the usual rushing around getting everything ready for the big events, but I was also trying to make sure I got a chance to say goodbye to all my lovely colleagues, and try not to get too sad about leaving. The evening play, The Misanthrope, wasn’t starting until 8 so I was going to head off an hour early and come back about 7 to set up for the play, however I was so busy running around helping the BBC people set up I didn’t get off early. The crew were really nice and remarkably laid back about the whole event, and the actors were so down to earth and friendly!

The Misanthrope was originally written by Moliere as a parody of 17th Century French court life, but this version was adapted for radio by Roger McGough, who was there on the night. He looked a little tense in the early evening but had a well deserved smile on his face at the end of the night, so I think he was pleased with how it all went. The actors were from the Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse and English Touring Theatre co-production. The play mocks the two-faced way in which people in French society acted with one another, with the main character Alceste deciding he has had enough. I was a little worried the humour might go over my head, but it was a very amusing story and I would recommend watching it on stage should you have the chance, I know I will be keeping an eye out for it near me!

The BBC van parked outside the castle

Luckily the evening was not as tiring as I was worried it was going to be. Everyone was being so nice they just wanted me to enjoy my last evening and watch the play. I had the seat of honour on the front row next to the Earl! The play was fantastic, the actors were really good and it was very funny. The costumes were fab too, I felt a bit sorry for everyone listening on the radio as they did not get to see the costume or watch the actors at work. I was really worried about sitting at the front as I was right in-front me and I tend to be quite fidgety, and I didn’t want to ruin it for the listeners. Luckily I managed to keep still as I was riveted by the story. It was a brilliant opportunity for Powis to be part of something so high-profile, and it was nice seeing the Ballroom come to life with people and the play. Let’s hope the BBC and the Trust can continue to work together on similar ventures in the future, it was so exciting seeing Powis Castle on the adverts on TV, and just the sort of expose Powis should be getting!

Inside the van, where the magic happens

I felt so lucky to have been part of the whole experience, and it was a nice last day and kept me busy to stop me feeling sad about leaving such lovely people. I have had so many unique and wonderful experiences at Powis it felt right that my last day was yet another amazing event I would never have got to be part of if I had never gone to Powis. I have been so lucky in the wonderful things I have taken part in, and already being at Hardwick I have a very good feeling this trend will continue. There are some very exciting things planned in the coming months at Hardwick Hall!

The stage is set

For more information about the event and BBC Radio 3′s Baroque Spring events follow this link to the official BBC website. There are also some more photos of the play and cast on the Powis Castle Facebook Page.

 

Hardwick Hall here I come!!

So mission accomplished, I have got a full-time paid job with the National Trust, and it is pretty much my dream job too!! I will be working as a Conservation Assistant at Hardwick Hall in Derbyshire for 12 months! I cannot tell you how excited I am to have secured this amazing opportunity, and how much that is thanks to the experiences I have gained here at Powis.

I will be very sad to leave Powis Castle, there have been so many fantastic experiences and I have made good friends with so many wonderful people, all in such a stunning location. Everyone has been so nice throughout my time here, and incredibly sweet and helpful in my last few weeks (there have been near tears on my part on several occasions). There will be so many things I will miss and I know I have been a very lucky lass, and continue to be working at another truly amazing NT property.

Hardwick Halll

The skills I started to learn at Greyfriar’s, and have built upon at Powis helped me secure my dream job, where I shall continue to build on my skills and hopefully have more amazing opportunities. I shall endeavour to keep my blog going while at Hardwick, but I am afraid there will have to be a little hiatus while I get myself set up (and get my internet connected in my new place). Click here for the Hardwick Hall web page.

Anyway; more about what has been happening here at Powis. Last week was manic, we spent the whole week un-covering all the upstairs rooms ready for opening fully again on Friday 1st. Then we had to do all the little odd jobs to get the castle ship-shape; changing light bulbs, putting new batteries in room alarms and giving the whole place another dust. Considering the fact that we had just finished the deep winter clean in those rooms they were really dusty. However they did not seem to get a real rest this year, as we were still going up to the upper floor regularly  and because we fell behind with the chimney sweeping unfortunately some rooms weren’t swept until after they had been winter cleaned. This meant that although the furniture was covered and stayed clean, the fixtures of the rooms got covered in dirt.

Pretty Powis Castle

Once all the prep for opening was done you would have thought we could relax a little, but that was not so. Although the castle is now opening half an hour later than it did last year (12:30) we have a tour going round at 12. The tour take s a slightly different route than our usual visitor route; this means we have to open up for the tour, wait until after the tour and then alter the rooms to how they are presented for regular opening. Add to this our morning light readings, and the regular unexpected happening that always seem to crop up minutes before the doors are opened to the public and we end up running around like mad-people. I am sure that when the teams gets back into the swing of things it will all go much smoother than it has done the last couple of days, we are a bit out of practice.

The tour route is very exciting, it take people into some of the bedrooms that on regular opening they would only be able to view from the door. There is also a handling collection that we are using on the tour, and this is what I have been working the last few weeks. This project really appeals to my love textiles, and I got to go on a shopping trip to the fantastic vintage clothes shop in town. I have been sourcing props and millinery accessories online as well, my advice to anyone undertaking a similar project, Ebay is your friend! We found the same for our winter offer sourcing too.

Some of the fab illustrations

Emma lent me some really special Edwardian magazines she has, with fashion articles and adverts in that I got some fantastic images for inspiration from.

Emma’s hat with the gloves and hankerchief from Mrs A’s

From the fabulous Ashman’s Antiques we bought two pairs of gloves, one netted and one of shammy leather, an ostrich feather fan, a lace hankerchief and an amazing purple (my favourite colour) silk parasol. Mrs A did us a brilliant deal, but we still had a torturous decision to make from all the different items in her vast collection, but I am so pleased with the decision we made. I did end up doing some personal window shopping as well and had to pop back that weekend to buy a silver charm bracelet I had spotted perfect for my bestie; with a book charm (she works in a library), a football (she’s a Baggies supporter) and an elephant (she has the same strange attachment to them that I do to frogs). I do adore that shop!

The parasol in the Lower Tower Bedroom

I have loved working on this project, and will be sad not to be around to work on it some more, and see the hats in there completed state; but I am sure they will look stunning! I have a few other projects to put the final touches too and then this sunday is my last day at Powis. I can guarantee I won’t have much time to be sad as it is also the day of our Baroque Concert hosted by BBC Radio 3, a very exciting last day!

Let there be light!

As we are getting towards the end of our Winter Clean we had to undertake one of the biggest tasks of the Clean, lowering the chandelier on the Grand Staircase! It was one of those moments where everyone was holding their breath! And it was not even the first time this week we were lowing a large, priceless item from the ceiling to the ground at the castle!

The Ballroom Tapestry

Monday morning we had to bring down the large tapestry that hangs above the bookcases in the Ballroom. It is believed the tapestry was commissioned to celebrate the French trading treaty with the East in 1545. We have received some funding for the tapestry to be conserved, so this week we had the conservators come to take a look at the tapestry and do a preliminary condition report. This allows them to see what state the tapestry is in and asses how much work is needed, and therefore how long it will take and how much it may cost to do.

Detail of the Ballroom Tapestry

Taking other tapestries in the property down is fairly simple, but this tapestry is on winches and above a bookcase. This means we can’t just lower it straight down, so when it came down last the team came up with a very innovative idea of turning ladders into slide to get the tapestry over the bookcase. It works really well and the tapestry came down fairly speedily!

Ready to be taken down

The gardeners came to help us, they worked the winches while we guided the tapestry, folding it as it reached the bottom, then lifting it and laying it out flat on dust sheets on the Ballroom floor. It was much bigger than I expected, and looking at it up close you can really see it is in need of some TLC. The craftsmanship of the piece is amazing, there is so much going on in the scene. I am very envious of the team that get to work on such a fab object!

On its way down

The tapestry laid out on the Ballroom floor

Days later we were lowering the chandelier from the ceiling of the Entrance Hall down two floors to the marble floor below. We have lowered the chandelier half that before, to change the light bulbs  but I have never seen it come this far down. It is lowered all the way once a year and there is a wooden from to hang it off while we clean it.

The chandelier coming down

On its frame

This year was a bit different however as we were also changing all the light bulbs for brand new LED light bulbs. Hopefully these bulbs will last for two years, so we wont have the problem off having bulbs constantly being out. The news bulbs are also much better for the environment, and therefore our electric bills too! Good news all round.

Me dusting the chandelier

The new bulbs

Ben putting in the new bulbs

When the light was coming down I was on the ground ready to help get it in position. Them me and Ben dusted it and replaced all the bulbs and it was time to winch it back up. This time, I got to do the winching!! Will took me up onto the roof, which I had been on before, but this time we walked all the way across the rooftop to the other side! Then I lowered myself down into a little hatch in the roof and was in the roof-space. It was only slightly disconcerting, as when I was about to go in Will said, just make sure you step right, not left, if you step left you’ll fall through the ceiling!

Powis Castle Roof

The Hatch

This is where the winch for the chandelier is, so we winched it back up, plugged it and turned it on! It was a good work out, and seemed to take an awfully long time, and I felt very relieved when the chandelier was back in place and secured! The new bulbs look brilliant, really bright, and hopefully we wont have any off them going out any time soon! LED bulbs are something that is being tried out at a few different Trust properties, and with all the advantages over regular bulbs I think it is a great idea to replace regular bulbs with LEDs where possible! Hopefully it is something that will be put in place around the rest of the property over the next few years.

The hole for the chandelier cable

The winch

We are drawing very close to the end of our Winter Clean now, and the property is in full swing getting ready for opening again on the 1st March! I have really enjoyed doing the Winter Clean, and am looking forward to the ting we’ve got going on over the next couple of weeks, including uncovering all the cleaned furniture and putting the rooms back to rights. Change is very much in the air at the moment, but I’ll say more about that in another post!

Looking shiny!