Why

I had cause this week to consider my ‘Why’. Have you ever done that? Thought about just why you were doing what you are doing or what is driving you to get where you are going?

As a writer I often think about what motivates me to do the things I do. As a room guide at Packwood it’s also my job to interpret the house and its contents, much of this is made easier when you have a better understanding of the motivations of Baron Ash.

Packwood is the realisation in bricks, stained glass and tapestry of one man’s dream. As the house concisely reminds us he had a very clear vision about what he wanted and where this idea of his was going. It is a house of ambition, of a new era and a new time in our social history. When you, our treasured visitors ask me about the sometimes seemingly random aspects of the house (the tiny chairs or the dolls in glass cabinets) I find that giving you a sense of the man rather than the object itself makes far more sense. There is a need for a 'conceptualised view' after all you are visiting one mans home.

However I find it hard to believe that everything in this place arrived at the ‘concept stage’. I don’t believe Baron Ash sat down with his architect and imagined this space exactly as we see it today. He allowed the process and his own taste and eye for the curious and the beautiful to shape the house that we share with you today. He took what was there, what was available (to buy/conserve/restore) and what he wanted and went to work.

Because Isn't that the fun part? To have a project you feel passionately about and to work with an expert who can help craft your ideas into a reality, to have a clear plan for parts of the journey and then to allow the process to open up new ideas for you.

I promised that this post would be a thank you to the visitors I met this Sunday and it is. I had a difficult week this week and rocking up for volunteering on Sunday I was feeling a little bit like I was getting back on a horse that the day before had slung me off and into the dirt. That said there was no way I was going to let a little knock in self esteem come between me and being somewhere I loved, talking with you guys.

As always you made my day. As much as I love sharing stories with you about the rooms or our 'royal visitor' I learn so much from hearing your stories too! On Sunday I met a man who’d entirely restored his 14^th Century home; we talked floorboards! Another couple work with the team in Bath Pump Rooms & Assembly Rooms and we discussed visitor engagement vs conservation and the challenges and opportunities facing our heritage sites. I also met with a number of families with fantastically inquisitive kids all asking the age old question “Why ARE the beds so small?” **if you want to know (the real answer) come ask a room guide! I’ll give you a clue we weren't all THAT much smaller in ‘ye olden days!’**

Before I knew it the day was over and I was driving home, massive smile on my face, counting down the days to Sunday again. I seem to have spent the last 30 years working out where I fit in the world…and now I'm trying to do it all over again within an organisation! I'm working on marrying what I love, with what I do best while making the most out of both.

None of you knew how much waving to me in the car park or saying ‘You are not the average room stalker’ (a compliment I was assured!? – based on my enthusiasm for Packwood) made a difference to me that day. It is a truism that what you put in, you really do get back. It really bought it home to me that it's my engagement with you visitors that allows me to be part of the bigger picture in National Trust terms. Shared values about enjoying, sharing and protecting these special places 'Forever For Everyone'. 

So I'm going to follow in the footsteps of my ‘boss’ (Baron Ash) and have a dream and be passionate, work hard and see where it takes me. In a house so rich with ambition and the fulfilment of dreams I am perfectly placed don’t you think? Maybe you too have a kernel of desire for change in your life, perhaps you are starting out on a new journey and you’re not entirely sure about where it’s taking you or what things will look like when you get there.

Perhaps a visit to Packwood House is just what you need…

Wolfgang Breny

So charging onwards with our next post (see what I did there?!) ah the heritage jokes are always the best!

Last Sunday (Easter Sunday) was another fabulous and busy day at Packwood. I got to spend some more time in my favourite space helping some more children to become expert weavers and talking to visitors about this amazing display. I felt much more confident for having spent some time with the lovely ladies of The Weavers Guild the week before so could be assured I was giving all the correct information without having to look it up first! I also spent time in the Ireton bedroom and a new room to me, the dining room. 

Although the weather wasn't as glorious as we've had on some of the other days over Easter there were still plenty of people braving the elements to do the Cadbury's Easter egg trail and enjoy the gardens (between the showers!)

I promised you in my last post that I would share with you the details of my little personal research project. One of the first rooms I was 'introduced to' (by the lovely Len) as a room guide was Queen Margaret's bedroom. The windows in this room, like many at Packwood have some incredible stained glass. My favourite piece is a heraldic piece of a knight charging into battle. The colours are so rich and vivid even though it's dated 1598 and the painting work shows an exceptional standard of detail. 

As Packwood was 'put together' as we see it today by G.B. Ash many of the elements (including the windows) are not original to the building. Many of the items we have here can only be traced back as far as the sale where Ash purchased them. It's an exciting prospect as an amateur historian to add to the knowledge of this special place as 'all is not already known'.

This is the piece I wanted to find out more about.

And here's what I know so far:

The painter it is reasonable to assume is Wolfgang Breny (Bräni) a Swiss painter from a glass painting family in Rapperswil.

Active: 1586-1612

20 pieces are attributed to him that we know of with same WB monogram I found 2 others in a Swiss research document (see below) & another one is possibly at Nostell Priory but I am waiting to hear back from them.

Please excuse the phone 'screen shots' but these were taken from a document that did not allow the photo's to be taken off and this was the best way to show you.

The Knight - I have to attribute much of this research to my Father in Law Peter Greenhill my secret weapon in all heraldic matters!

German Gothic knight, whose war cry was Kriegen Oder Biegen which interprets as Catch or Bend. Bend in this context meaning 'Give Way'.

If you don't catch them with your lance you will yield (bend/give way) to theirs (their will)
***Modern version would be it's my way or the high way?!***

The shield being carried is Or (Gold) a Stag trippant Proper (in its natural colours). The crest being a demi stag as of the shield (ie proper) Mantled Or (ie the banderol is coloured Gold or Yellow.).

The shield shown on the rear trapper is Azure a rose bush Vert flowered Or & Argent (gold and white). The crest for these Arms being shown on the front trapper as a pair of Buffalo's horns Or (gold) mantled Azure doubled Or.
The plumes on the horses head are purely decorative and typical of the Gothic period.


The nearest identified Coat is of Arnold de Cervolle, Archpriest of Velines who fought at Poitiers wearing the Arms of the 10 year old Duke of Alencon and who was saved from certain death by the Black Prince. Cervolle's Arms were Or a stag trippant Azure. ***but we are still looking for one related to Swiss or German arms*** Pete has got the 'Big' books out so I await further information!

How was it done?

Method:

In the 16th century a range of glass stains were introduced, most of them coloured by ground glass particles. They were a form of enamel. Painting on glass with these stains was initially used for small heraldic designs and other details. By the 17th century a style of stained glass had evolved that was no longer dependent upon the skilful cutting of coloured glass into sections. Scenes were painted onto glass panels of square format, like tiles. The colours were then annealed to the glass before the pieces were assembled.

A method used for embellishment and gilding is the decoration of one side of each of two pieces of thin glass which are then placed back to back within the lead came. This allows for the use of techniques such as Angel gilding and Eglomise to produce an effect visible from both sides but not exposing the decorated surface to the atmosphere or mechanical damage. Which explains how the colours are so vibrant.

References: 

Method: Wiki, Peter Greenhill

Arms/ Colours/ Motto: Peter Greenhill

Wolfgang Breny: 

http://www.eliechtensteinensia.li/JBHV/1974/74/Die_Wappenscheiben_des_Grafen_Karl_Ludwig_von_Sulz_und_der_Graefin_Barbara_von_Sulz.pdf

http://www.answers.com/topic/master-wb-2

My Research Project

Hello and welcome Positively Packwood People and apologies this blog is so late in coming. But

it is for a very good cause, every free minute of computer time for me this week has been spent on my latest research mission; more on that later.

So what's been going on this week at Packwood? Well I volunteered again last Sunday (almost a full week ago!) and was in rooms alone for the first time! Managed ok I think and had some lovely conversations with visitors. Even met another Greenhill 'Hello Chris!'.

We welcomed some more new volunteers to the Sunday team too which is super exciting *waves* I'm very much looking forward to working with such lovely ladies again this weekend.

It was great to see these little guys around the house too

I thought I'd enjoyed making them but I enjoyed the squeals of excitement as children found them even more. They along with their knitted and crocheted friends are all over the house for Easter and I have to say Packwood staff & volunteers are a frightfully talented crafty bunch! 

The Mission 

This beautiful piece of painted/stained glass is found in The Queen Margaret bedroom. It's my favourite piece in the whole house and I wanted to know a little more about it. It's a piece I often point out to visitors if they are looking out of the window and it's dated and monogrammed so I thought there was a chance the painter was 'known'.

Yes well there's a difference between known and easy to find as I soon discovered!

Being a piece of gothic style depicting a heraldic image I also took the opportunity to get my father in law involved (use your resources and all that!) Pete is an expert in heraldry, has a couple of books out on the subject and with Gilly my mother in law makes pewter figures from the battle of Agincourt. You can find more of their work here www.greenhillminitures.com.

I also wanted to know more about the painting techniques that mean to this day the colours remain so bright and well preserved.

Who painted it? Where is it from? Are there other works from the same artist? How was it produced?

Those were the questions I wanted answers to and my next blog will feature what I found...

This weekend is the big Easter weekend with Cadbury Easter egg trails and spring having most definitely sprung at Packwood! The energy of new beginnings that seems synonymous with spring is part of the very essence of Packwood and I can't think of anywhere better to be for Easter weekend.

Look forward to seeing you there!

National Trust Cake - An Institution

Phew where has the week gone? We’re at Wednesday  Thursday already and I haven’t blogged about Sunday’s volunteering at Packwood. Eeek bad blogger!

Thought I’d mix things up a little (see what I did there – baking pun!) by making today’s post a recipe blog of the two types of cakes I baked to share with my fellow volunteers on Sunday. They went down pretty well if I do say so myself (proud face) – even if I did issue them with a disclaimer regarding my soggy bottom! Needless to say National Trust Volunteers are a forgiving breed so long as the taste is good!

Banana & Choc Chunk Muffins

If I were on GBBO these would be my signature bake but they really are best on the day of bake and up to 2 days later. If they don’t all get eaten (or you don’t want to eat them all yourself!) they freeze really well.

Ingredients:

100g (4oz) butter (soft if possible)

2 Eggs

175g (6oz) caster sugar

225g (8oz) self raising flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

3 tablespoons milk (I used Soya)

2 ripe bananas

Bar of Dark Choc (I used Aldi/Lidl basic 30p dark chocolate bar 200g)

Method (Makes 12) 

1. Preheat oven to gas mark 5
2. Without opening packet bash chocolate with rolling pin to  break into chunks – set aside
3. Put 12 muffin cases into muffin tray
4. Mash 2 bananas with a fork until ‘sloppy’
5. Add milk & eggs to bananas & mix with fork
6. Now in a mixing bowl combine butter, sugar, flour, baking powder and all wet ingredients – I mixed with a hand mixer
7.  Mix until combined but don’t over mix
8. Stir in chocolate pieces until evenly distributed in mix – don’t over stir
9. Divide equally into 12 muffin cases
10. Bake in the middle of preheated oven until muffins are risen, golden brown on top and are coming away slightly from the edges of the paper cases.

Lemon Drizzle Cupcakes

These were a bit of an experiment. They were lush but definitely need some more technical perfecting! The sponge was gorgeously light and moist, had a flat top (perfect as a cupcake) and tasted really lemony but an over generous hand with the lemon curd meant the weight made it sink to the bottom of such a light sponge…hence the soggy bottom. I'm sure you will do better!

Ingredients:

175g Self Raising Flour

½ Tsp Baking powder

175g Butter (soft)

175g Caster Sugar

2 Eggs

1 lemon skin grated

Lemon curd (Less than 1tsp per cake)

For the topping:

Juice of one lemon

2-3 Tbsp caster sugar

Method: Makes 12

1. Preheat oven to gas Mark 5
2. Put 12 muffin cases into muffin tray
3.  Grate 1 lemon & set aside rind (don't throw away lemon we use it later!)
4. Cream butter and sugar until the mix turns pale
5. Sieve flour & baking powder and add eggs to butter/sugar mix
6.  Mix until combined and mixture is smooth
7.  Fold in grated lemon rind – don’t over stir 
8.  Fill 12 muffin cases 2/3 full
9.  Spoon in A LITTLE lemon curd (less than 1 tsp) to the centre of each case
10. Cover with last 1/3 of mixture
11.  Bake in the centre of a preheated oven until golden brown and coming away from the edges of the cases (toothpick poked into the centre comes out clean)

Topping

1.       While the cakes are baking make the ‘topping’ this is much more of a drizzle

2.       Add the juice of 1 lemon to 2-3 tablespoons of sugar and stir

When the cakes are done and cooling on a wire rack drizzle a spoonful of the topping over each cake while still warm. You can poke holes in the cakes to get the drizzle to penetrate further but I didn't and they were still super lemony and yummy.

If you make these, please do post in the comments section and let me know how you got on.

Happy baking!

Banana & Choc Muffins

Lemon drizzle cupcakes

Beyond the Velvet Rope - My 1st Day as a Room Guide

Well hello and happy Tuesday to you all, I trust you all had a marvellous weekend and enjoyed bringing in BST and Mothers day with some gorgeous weather! I can’t seem to find the words to convey just how excited and proud I was this particular Sunday; as for me along with it being a jolly special day for all it was my first day as a Room Guide at Packwood!

As you will be aware this blog was started as a way to share that experience with you and to give you a ‘volunteers eye view’ of this special property (hint for you there is almost always cake in view…it really is how you imagine it to be) marvellous! I will tell you ‘my’ story of the house but as for the house’s many stories, well that will require a visit!

As you may have seen I had been doing a little swotting up in readiness (didn't even touch the sides!) I even had my husband testing me on Friday night - he’s a tough marker incidentally and if I got a date wrong would exclaim “Come on you should know this!” Harsh.  Fortunately the other volunteers were more understanding about learning as I went along!

When I arrived I met with Jane and we ‘opened up the house’. To see the property in such an intimate way and to go round ‘waking her up’ was such a wonderful experience. I say this and yet she clearly hasn't warmed to me yet (some of the blinds need an expert hand – which I certainly do not have as yet!) Opening curtains and winding clocks Jane moved around with a loving fluidity and a keen eye for detail, I was reminded gently I should leave things looking as Baron Ash would have wanted them (in other words neat and tidy!) Basically once I think it’s tidy enough, do it again!

Volunteers are grouped in ‘Days’ each with a Day Leader who hosts a morning briefing and allocates volunteers to their various posts throughout the day. Break times (or as I like to call them cake times) are also given and cover provided.

I started in Queen Margaret’s Bedroom (named for the bed after Baron Ash acquired it at auction) along with the wall coverings known as ‘poor mans tapestries’; these are painted canvas but to my mind (and eye) easily as beautiful. Each room has a folder containing information about the room and each of the pieces within. I can tell you these folders were referred to by me as ‘The Oracle’ and were consulted on a regular basis! I also learned a great deal from the other volunteer room guides. They are a fantastic bunch of seriously knowledgeable people!

After the first cake break I went up into the Fetherston room. This room, previously Baron Ash’s bedroom currently holds a display from the weavers guild Stratford Upon Avon Guild of Weavers, Spinners & Dyers This room has an interesting display of textiles, natural dyes and weaving looms with a loom ‘in progress’ as they complete a section of a replica of one of the tapestries at Packwood. There are some smaller looms for people to get involved and have a go at weaving themselves. I must confess I was in my element in this room! As a keen crafter just being around textiles and raw wool makes me happy (no honestly!?) I lost an hour up there getting children (and ‘grown-ups’) all excited about weaving. One father was so amazed at his particularly hectic little boy sitting quietly for so long with such intense concentration he promised to make him a loom when they got home! I am assured the boy will make an expert weaver!

My final room was the downstairs drawing room. Another interesting room it houses Queen Mary’s teacup amongst other beautiful objects. I chatted to a lot of visitors in this room, it was lovely to see people really interested and inspired by the mixture of elements to the house and wanting to know more about the man who bought it all together.

As expected whilst the place is a dream and the other volunteers a delight it really was the interactions with you, the visitors that made my day. It was so lovely seeing little children’s faces light up when they spotted their hunted for Dalmatian (there are several hidden throughout the house for children to spot!) or having a laugh with a Scottish family out for mothers day – Mum I hope he did buy you that cake after he was so rude about you incidentally! Hearing peoples stories about why Packwood is special to them made me feel quite at home even if I was ‘consulting the oracle’ a little often. Sometimes listening is more important than sharing a thousand facts.

Baron Ash I hope I did you justice for my first day. I was as always sad to leave and eager to return and in the meantime I shall enjoy my ‘further reading’!

And here's a few photo's from that beautiful sunny day...have we tempted you yet?

Confession time...appropriate for a house with Catholic history

Hello lovelies and welcome (or hopefully welcome back) to Positively Packwood. I hope this Thursday finds you all terribly well!

I promised I would come back with my story about how I came to be here, and ‘here’ it is and it also comes with a slight confession; ooooh intrigue! Now like all good stories from the psychologists couch this story begins in my childhood. Sundays were ‘family days’ and that meant my younger brother and I would be taken out by my dad in the morning so my mum could cook Sunday dinner whilst listening to The Archers; and presumably get some alone time to remember what her house and life were like before two small children turned up who never got tired of asking questions, making mess and needing to be entertained.

Sunday afternoons were about going out together as a family, the ‘big walk’ was mums favourite and often involved driving out to a local beauty spot like Kinver Edge and my brother and I would race around building dens, collecting sticks (often far more disgusting objects) and climbing trees. We would often go to a National Trust property and what I now understand to be serenity and happiness would bewitch my mother. As a keen gardener and antiques dealer these places held a special kind of magic to her and she would share her knowledge with us for as long as we could keep our attention.

I suppose my love for these places started there. My mum had taught us to place a value on these places and to see what she saw.

Fast forward many years later and at 30 I am looking for something important to do with my life. There’s a back story, isn’t there always? What struck me as particularly inspiring on my first induction day was the variety of people who were volunteering at Packwood. The common theme amongst us all was ‘common values’ often developed as the result of a significant life event. I spoke to a cancer survivor and a woman forced to take early retirement from the job she loved (as a Macmillan nurse helping people to die) after breaking her neck whilst head teachers, artists and students were also in the mix.

All of us drawn to service; service to The National Trust, to Packwood and to the visitors, because we recognised the value of the work being done and the importance of the work still to do. We wanted to be a part of that.

The National Trust was started by 3 volunteers. 3 Victorian philanthropists had the presence of mind during a ‘forward looking’ and industrial age to want to preserve this nation’s great history and special places; undoubtedly not a popular viewpoint at the time. Heritage a dirty word they started the National Trust and volunteers are still central to the work the NT does today.

My confession is that when I applied to volunteer way back in November I had actually never been to Packwood! I visited for the first time on a cold and dark early January day with a friend who said “I don’t think there’s much on here but we can always go to Baddesley Clinton after; they’ve got priest holes!” (Yes, that’s the kind of friends I have?!) Upstairs was closed for conservation work and I never even looked at the Yew garden. We had a little nose around, drank tea from flasks and caught up on each others news.

But the energy of the place stayed with me and when I returned for my interview I realised what an idiot I’d been in not realising all that Packwood is on that first visit. Packwood is quiet and understated. It’s not the oldest or the richest in history of all the NT properties. It is a hodge podge of different times and even buildings and the ‘purist’ amongst you will be horrified to realise that much is not ‘original’ to the building. It has brief links to royalty but no great ‘love scandal’ or ‘traitors plot’ to hang itself on. It cannot be ‘set’ for the ‘living history’ feel due to the Trust’s respect for the agreement made with Graham Baron Ash to present it as it was left by him.

Packwood is a dream. True it is perfectly ‘dreamy’ place, but more so it is a place where one man's ambition and ‘dream’ came to fruition. It encapsulates the ‘new mood’ of 20s England. ‘New money’ from hard working industrialists with glamour and style have their country seat without names or titles. It is the beginning of a new age where ambition, hard work and drive(money) can alter your status, for the first time it is possible to change your social standing in a way that had not been before. It was an important cultural shift and a significant time.

Packwood is both very of it’s time and completely timeless. It makes complete and no sense all at once. It speaks of ambition and dominance and ‘ownership’ of things that would have previously been out of reach but with a gentle, thoughtful and conservationist hand. It both protects and challenges heritage and style.

Packwood’s blend of roaring 20’s glamour, en suite bathrooms and sprung dance floor seem initially at odds with the Tudor wood panelling and intricate tapestries. But then we humans often have contradicting elements to our character. We are all a unique blend of where we have been and where we are going, a product of our pasts and our dreams for the future.

Packwood's Spirit of Place

Good morning readers and firstly I need to Thank Everyone and give you big hugs and slices of metaphorical cake for being so excited and interested in this little blog so early in its inception. People have been so kind in sharing their favourite memories of Packwood and I can see it has captured many hearts before mine (such a charmer!) It’s also been lovely to speak to other Volunteers via the @VolunteerJessie twitter. The sense of community within the National Trust across all the various roles is something that makes it such a special company to be involved with; you really get the sense of everyone pursuing the same goal in their own way.

So I know I said I’d be back to share my story about becoming a volunteer and I promise I’ll get to that but I wanted to share with you first Packwood’s ‘Spirit of Place’. When someone else has got the words ‘just, so right’ in their description it seems criminal not to use them. It also goes some way to explaining what drew me to Packwood in the first place. I feel my story and its story share a lot of the same principles. Besides you will hear plenty of my own unique take on describing this ethereal place.

Packwood has a quality that makes it seem locked in time. This makes it atmospheric and dreamy. From that first thrilling glimpse of the dark, silent multitude of he Yew Garden, Packwood has a quality that draws you in and holds you – in a sort of suspended animation.

Packwood offers small-scale escapism, and a window into the mind of a wealthy perfectionist and idealist who remodelled the house with an eye for glamour, quality and perhaps surprisingly – conservation. Packwood is endearing and yet a little unreal –with its film-like combination of sepia (the faded browns and greens of the interior), and juxtaposition of formal (Yew garden, highly polished furniture) and informal (love-in-a-mist tumbling over clipped lawn, cascades of fragrant climbers, a sprung floor for dancing).

But Packwood is not locked in time. Owned and developed over the centuries by aspirational people – gentleman farmers, Black Country industrialists – akin to other properties in the area. It has a spirit of renewal and regeneration, brought about with great care and attention to detail. This can be seen in the creative and visionary approach to looking after the gardens today, as well as the remodelling of the house by Baron Ash in the 1930’s. All of this is done with the aim of providing comfort and delight for guests.

When a 1930s visitor wrote about Packwood, she noted its ability to influence mood and resonate with aspirations and values. Today people who work, volunteer and visit Packwood also speak mainly of its sense of calm and change of pace. In other words, Packwood remains ‘a house to dream of and a garden to dream in’.