Well displayed wealth at Welbeck

Recently I went to visit the newly opened Portland Collection at the Welbeck Estate.

I have been meaning to go to Welbeck for quite a while, the house has close ties to Clumber and Hardwick including things like having a portrait of Arbella that I would love to get to see (It is a copy of the one hanging at Hardwick but apparently the face is quite different). The house is not open very often but the Harley Gallery and Portland Collection are open most days.

The house was sold to Charles Cavendish, Bess of Hardwick's son and through this line later came to be the seat of the Duke's of Newcastle before coming into the hands of the Duke's of Portland.

The Harley Gallery contains exhibition spaces predominantly used to display modern art which I'm afraid usually holds little interest for me.

The Portland Collection, however, is a display of the treasures collected by the Duke's of Newcastle and Portland and it is fantastic. The collection has only just been made public, housed in a renovated building just along from the main Harley Gallery, and it is free to visit. 

What is on display is just a small sample of what the Duke's collected (the collection totalling 5000 pieces all together) and it is truly magnificent. The paintings are stunning, there are some incredibly important historical artefacts and amazing silverware.

Follow this link to have a look at some of the pieces in the collection.

Some of my favourite pieces included a lovely little portrait of Elizabeth I, a very ornate strong box dating from 1690 and a really beautiful diamond tiara from 1902 (that was once accidentally sat on by the Duke!).

Everything in the exhibition space was displayed very well, shining and sparkling and all looking very well cared for. The rooms were dark but the objects were well lit, and each piece had a good description to accompany it. They have also digitised some of their book and displayed them on touch screens in the same way I saw at the British Library a couple of years ago.

The silver was magnificent, and it has been displayed to really show it at it's best. I particularly liked a candlestick that is part of a much larger dinner service.

It was commissioned by the Duchess of Portland and features insects and plants. The full 178 piece service took over ten years to make, but I bet it was worth the wait to see it gleaming on the dinner table.

The Portland Collection also boasts several items belonging to Charles I, including the pearl earring that he wore to his execution, which is currently on display in the exhibition.

The pieces will be rotated every three years to give the public opportunity to see different items from the collection. I'm already looking forward to heading back and seeing more of this magnificent collection! 

I think it is really wonderful that these treasures can now be seen by the public, and in a way that is still clearly focused on caring for the objects. If you are ever in the area and have an hour or so spare I recommend you go and surround your self with a little, well displayed, luxury!

Chapel Complete!

After many weeks of hard work doing the Deep Clean the Chapel of Saint Mary the Virgin is once again open to the public and back to normal!

The Deep Clean means the team of staff and volunteers clean from as high as we can reach, using long poles to vacuum the walls, working all the way down, finishing with scrubbing the Chapel floors.

The candlesticks that stand on top of the Rood Screen are  objects that can only be cleaned once a year. They are out of the way, so do not suffer from any corrosion due to people touching them, but they do get dusty and are affected by the humidity.

So we brought them down from the Rood Screen, to dust them off with a pony hair paint brush and then remove any corrosion. We do this with a metal cleaner in very minute quantities, gently applying it with wads of cotton. You can see the difference this makes in this picture; the one on the left has been cleaned and the one on the right is still to do.

After we have removed the corrosion we put a protective layer of wax on the candlesticks. This will stop any moisture in the air from reacting with the metal and potentially corroding the candlesticks. Finally they are buffed until the shine with a very soft duster, before being replaced on the Rood Screen.

The same wax we use on metals can also be used on other objects, such as the marble floor that leads up to the altar in the Chancel. The floor is cleaned and then a fine layer of wax is added and buffed up. This increases the floors shine, as well as protecting it from dirt, grit and the effects of people walking across it.

Cleaning the intricate wooden carvings with a hogs hair paint brush was a great opportunity to really study the beautiful details and admire the craftsmanship. Delicate cleaning like this allows us to get into all the nooks of the beautiful carvings, making sure we are doing a really through job of removing cobwebs, dust and debris. 

One of the last jobs to be done during the Deep Clean is to scrub the floor, a huge job and a very good upper arm workout. We use water with a very small amount of mild detergent in, and proper scrubbing brushes. It gives you a taste of the life of a parlour maid and makes me quite glad that I am not one! You can see how much scrubbing we did by how worn down the brush was once the floor was done.

Finally now all the items have been returned to their proper positions the Chapel is looking wonderful and ready to receive visitors again! Now onto the next big project!

Have you thought about volunteering?

During this Deep Clean, in a new place while learning the ins and outs of a new job, I have been so grateful for the help of my conservation volunteers.

Small in number but mighty in effect, my volunteers have put in hours of their time, worked really hard and been very patient with me as I have been learning the ropes. Without them I would be no where near ready to open up at the end of next week!

I started my journey with the National Trust by volunteering, and still volunteer today. In an industry where funding is a real struggle, and the situation is only getting worse, volunteers are invaluable. But they are much more than that too.

Volunteers provide a wealth of knowledge from all walks of life, and give us the capacity to do vital work and keep our properties running. They are passionate and dedicated. They are motivating and can provide ideas for wonderful challenges that staff can rise to. They are also such good fun to work with and often become friends along the way.

But enough about what volunteering gives us, what can volunteering give you?

I was in my second year of university when I started volunteering at The Greyfriars House & Gardens. Volunteering here gave me an escape from the drama of housemates and the headache of coursework. It also gave me lots of inspiration for what to base projects on, and the access to do some really through, unique research for those projects. It allowed me to meet people I would have never met usually, and most importantly it showed me what I wanted to do with my life.

After university I took up a voluntary position at Powis Castle for a year. The Trust run two similar schemes, Internships and Full Time Volunteering. There are subtle differences such as the length of time in which you volunteer, whether you live on site, and how many days a week you do, but these schemes aim at providing experience for those looking to work in the Heritage Industry. Since 2011 over 200 people have done a National Trust Internship.

My time at Powis not only meant I got to live in the most amazing location, have some truly unique experiences and get to care for a stunning collection of objects. It also gave me a huge base of conservation knowledge, and as a full time volunteer I had to time and flexibility to learn how other departments worked too, something which gives me a much better understanding of how a property works as a team.

Sometimes I cannot believe the amazing things I have done through volunteering, brilliant, once-in-a-lifetime experiences and so much fun! Finally all this volunteering gave me the tools I needed to get my dream job at Hardwick Hall!

Most employers offer between three and five paid days a year to do voluntary work, and since the Community Life Survey 2014-2015 found that 69% of people asked volunteer at least annually, could be well used. The impact this has on charitable organisations is immense.

The National Trust is increasingly looking at different ways for people to volunteer, making it more flexible and targeting different audiences. You can now volunteer as a family, as a company, every week, once a month or just a few days a year. You can try your hand at several different voluntary roles, or experience life at several properties. The opportunities really are endless and I'm sure your local property would love to have you. So go forth, volunteer and have fun!

Find out more by following this link: http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/volunteer
(bonus points if you spot the pic of me!)

Garden of Fire!

I stared my new job as Chapel & Collections Officer at Clumber Park on the first of December, just in time for all the festive fun! And just as I started Clumber was hosting a very different types of garden event, the Garden of Fire!

The Walled Kitchen Gardens were temporarily transformed into an enchanted, illuminated garden that felt like you had stepped straight into a fairy tale.

Working with Fuse Fireworks the events team at Clumber Park undertook something daring and different, and being lucky enough to have the opportunity to see the event I think it really paid off!

The Walled Kitchen Gardens, with their gorgeous red brick walls and the largest Glass House in the care of the Trust, are beautiful in their own right. However on this evening they were transformed into another world.

Candles hung in glass jars from trees and on posts, as well as from in plant pots on purpose built metal structures, creating fantastic fiery visions for visitors wandering round the garden.

The first section of the experience felt like walking amongst the stars. The whole experience just made me feel so relaxed and dreamily happy.

There also braziers burning bright, and one are where as you walked past bursts of fire were sent leaping into the sky.

I think my favorite structure was the sphere, although the pretty heart was a close second.

Accompanying visitors round the garden was a soundtrack of beautiful, ethereal music. This really made the experience, bringing it to another level and totally transporting you to this beautiful, other-worldly Garden of Fire.

If you ever get the opportunity to visit something similar do, it was such a unique, lovely experience!

People who inspire me

I have been inspired, by the people who inspire me, to write a post about people who inspire.

Maybe it's just the time of year, new year, new resolutions etc, or the things that are happening in my world at the moment, but I am feeling very inspired, and very resolved; to live better, to do better, to be better.

I haven't made a proper new years resolution for years. I always used to make the same one 'stop biting my nails' but then when I was at university I did, hurrah! And now I can never quite find such a succinct wish for myself for the year.

So this year I am looking to the people who inspire me. I am not just going to keep looking at these people and thinking 'wow, that's brilliant, I wish I could . . .' I am going to do! Or at least give it my best try.

So here is a list of some of the people who inspire me and how.

Angela Clayton.

This woman amazes me, she has crazy sewing talent like no one I know and it fills me with envy. Angela makes a variety of sewn projects, from historically inspired pieces to just beautiful dresses inspired by characters or flora and fauna or just by fabric she finds. 

Every time she creates a new project I am stunned and want to sew something amazing too, so that's what I am going to do. I have written myself a list of projects, some medieval and some not, and I am going to do some sewing!

Follow Angela by her blog or on Youtube.


Sprinkle of Glitter.

Louise is a Youtuber, mum and business woman who I have watched achieve so many great things over the few years I have been subscribed to her channel. Yet rather than feeling alien to me she is still a completely relatable person. When she talks about her worries and crises of confidence I find myself feeling reassured that I am not the only person to think that way, and drawing strength from that.

I watch Louise's blogs and often find myself thinking 'she looks great' and I know she has struggled with her self confidence. That inspires me to make more of an effort to dress they way I actually want to, and not chicken out of wearing something  because I might feel overdressed or a bit silly. She also has fantastic taste and I have found myself taking lots of inspiration from her when dressing my new flat too.

Check out Louise's Youtube channels for her fab tastes, and lots of laughter too!

National Trust Challenge.

Now this is a blog I have been following for a while and they came up with a great idea of listing every built/manned property the National Trust owns and setting out to visit every one, all 257!

I thought I had visited quite a lot until they listed them, and now I know I've got my work cut out! I love visiting National Trust properties so this is a nice goal to set myself, but I don't expect to complete it any time soon! 48 down 209 to go!

Join the challenge here.

Thor Heyerdahl.

I talked about Thor quite a bit in my blog post about Oslo. Not only was Thor intelligent, brave and adventurous, he was sure of himself. So sure that when people told him his theory was going to get him killed he stuck to his beliefs and proved his doubters wrong. He also really cared about the world around him, and when he saw what damage was being done to the oceans he tried to change it.

There are a lot of lessons you could learn from Thor, and not just how to be so cool! I hope to be able to have the confidence in myself he had, especially facing the challenges of the new responsibilities I have in my job. I am also going to go on the adventures I want to, not just dream about them. I have already penciled in the big one for a couple of years time!

Read more about Thor here.

Charlotte.

I have been friends with Charlotte since I was eleven years old, and we have done so much growing up since then. Charlotte has always been a big influence in my life in terms of my religion. It was something that we had in common in high school that most of our other friends didn't understand, and it still bonds us today.

Charlotte has been through more than one person should have to in the last few years, but through it all she still puts others first. She has been amazingly strong, not wallowing in pity as I worry I would in her situation. Despite everything that has happened it has made her more determined to help others, so that's what I am going to do to.

I have started giving regular donations to charities I feel really deserve help, like Cancer Research UK, and I am planning on doing something big charitable events throughout the year, like the Pretty Muddy 5K at Clumber Park in July.

My mum.

My mother is amazing. Not just because she is right about everything (a trait I hope magically appears with motherhood because I'm looking forward to that). Not just because she put up with me as a teenager and we both survived. Not just because she has been through so much and is still the most positive person I know (annoyingly so sometimes). Not just because she always helps me out when I need it, and has the solution to situations that just freak me out completely. Not just because she has supported me and my brother through the most difficult points in our lives.

But because despite all the amazing people in my life, and despite me having moved out six years ago, she is still the first person I want to talk to when I have had a good day/bad day, or something wonderful/awful has happened or I need advice and comfort. She always makes things better when I need her too, and doesn't seem to know how amazing that is and how lost I would be without her.

So my mum has inspired me to try and be amazing for the people in my life, especially for her, because she really deserves it.

You can follow her blog here.

Closed for Cleaning

I have now official been working at Clumber for two months and currently am mostly focusing on getting the Deep Clean of the Chapel finished.

After all the excitement of Christmas and then my trip to Oslo I had a quiet, oh, three days to settle into everyday life at Clumber before the Chapel of St Mary the Virgin was officially closed for the Deep Clean. 

We are now a third of the way through, which having just worked that out makes me feel quite good. It is quite strange leading a deep clean in a new place so soon after starting, but I am really enjoying the experience.

The Chapel is such a beautiful building and I loving getting to see it from all these different angles.

We started the deep clean by packing away all the smaller items in the Chapel so that we can start by cleaning from the top of the building (well as high as we can reach) down.

The smaller bits are wrapped up and stored safely and will be cleaned before they are put back out.

Next we started at the very top of the building, in the Bell Tower, and began working our way down through the tower to the ground. The stairs up to the Bell Tower look like the could belong in a castle, with little windows dotted about as you climb up. 

The stairs spiral one way, breaking for a little corridor with a window overlooking the Nave, and the spiraling the other way up to first part of the Bell Tower.

Then up a ladder through a hole in the floor to where the bell is housed. Here there are windows with no glass in them, so a favorite place birds. This means it is very messy, and since there is no power up there has to be cleaned by hand.

There are some fantastic views across the estate from this point in the Chapel.

After that I did the Organ Loft, which was a tight squeeze for one person and a back pack hoover. This is another area of the Chapel accessed via spiral staircase, a very narrow wooden one this time. The organ surround is beautifully decorated, painted in greens and gold, and you get a fantastic view of the stained glass window on the East side of the Chapel.

A lot of the work in the Nave is done from the top of a scaffold tower, but in the Chancel it has to be done from ladders fitted in around the choir stalls. This is a little awkward but we do the best we can.

The Chancel is full of beautiful carved pieces, Angels, Saints and decoration on the choir stalls. It is one of those areas that is a real pleasure to clean because you get the opportunity to take time and appreciate the beautiful detail of all the figures, and the amazing craftsmanship that has gone into them.

Going up on the scaffold tower in the Nave is fantastic. There are stone walkways either side of the Nave that can only be accessed off the scaffold so I have enjoyed going up on these and looking out over the rest of the Chapel.

Up here are hidden a few little characters, the seven deadly sins. However I think they all look rather cute considering they are the things which can lead to eternal damnation. Just look at this little fella!

Standing on top of the scaffold tower you are still no where near the ceiling of the Chapel. To clean as high as we can we use an industrial vac and three long poles with a brush attachment on the end. It is certainly a workout for your arms!

Once we have hoovered the arches and walls of the Chapel, we work our way down and get to the elaborate ironwork lantern braces hanging in the Nave from the middle level of the tower. These are cleaned with a hogs hair paint brush, dusting them into a hoover.

The rest of the lantern is reached from a ladders, using a softer pony hair paint brush for the brass section, so as not to scratch the gleaming surface.

Spiders seem to love this Chapel and since we are cleaning places only reached once a year it has been very rewarding to get rid of the layers of dust and huge cobwebs hanging everywhere.

I want to say a huge thank you to all the volunteers that have come in to help so far, and thank you to Sleem for documenting the process so thoroughly, and then letting me steal his pictures for my blog!

While we have still got a lot of work to do before we open again on 13th March I am really enjoying myself. As long as I don't get too distracted by all the beauty and hidden details in the Chapel we should have no problem getting ready to re-open.