Friday 26th March 2010: A special day for a special couple

Today was a special day for Bob & Sheila Hughes as it was exactly 50 years to the day that they were married in this very church - 26th March 1960. Family & friends came along on the following Sunday for a visit and a small ceremony to mark the event was held in the church tea room. The event was also recorded with photographs in the church which were taken near the Foley monument, the spot where the register was signed on their wedding day. Congratulations are extended to Bob and Sheila from the church stewards, and may they both have many more anniversaries in the years to come.

14 March 2010, Visits to Witley Court & Madresfield Court

As it was a very nice early spring day, I decided to pay a visit to Witley Court in the morning, followed by Madrefield in the afternoon. Witley's visit was to take a few more photographs, mainly of the very nearly completed east parterre garden, which has been painstakingly restored to it's original condition by E.H. to the nineteenth century designs of W.A.Nesfield. The web pages will contain images of this impressive feature and also a new section on a "then & now" theme. Many thanks to Spencer Trickett and his staff for a warm welcome at the visitor centre. In the afternoon I drove over to Madresfield Court for the annual "Daffodil Sunday" which sees the gardens open to the public, though sadly not the house itself. The said flowers were in seriously short supply this year as a result of the severity of the recent winter. Not to be disappointed however as there was still plenty to see with a decent covering of crocuses and snowdrops to brighten up the surroundings. One needs to make as much of one's visit as possible on these occasions as even the grounds are only open twice annually and today was, I believe, the only time for this year. The five pounds entrance fee was certainly excellent value for money and I am glad I arrived early as the place was soon thronged with many hundreds of visitors. One small gripe - the ice-cream van could have been parked a little more discreetly as it tended to spoil the views somewhat in the position it was sitting.

Friday 12th March 2010 - Stewarding at Great Witley Church

This afternoon was my booked turn to be church steward, so I turned up at 2.00 p.m. after having paid a quick visit to the English Heritage visitor centre to say hello to the staff. Chief steward Roger Perkins had been the morning steward (accompanied by his faithful black labrador)and he told me that there had been only about a dozen visitors so far - not many, but not too bad either for the time of year. It was more or less the same for me in the afternoon, but I did manage a few decent sales of items from the trolley. Most visitors were suitably impressed by the new display boards, one gentleman in particular being very interested in the picture of the 1902 golf tournament; he said he will keep in touch and send me some details of those who took part. Robin Walter popped his head round the door just as I was beginning to pack things away.

Visit to Llandrindod Wells 10th March 2010

Today I took a leisurely drive into Mid-Wales to the spa town of Llandrindod Wells for the purpose of a visit to see my very good friend and research collaborator Ruth Butler. Ruth moved here from Kidderminster a few months ago now and is busy settling in and making her new residence more to her liking with a programme of redecoration and furnishing. Aside from this activity she also manages to find the time to begin sorting out her vast archive of Witley Court related material which she has amassed over the years. To my mind this repository alone is enough to make Ruth one of the foremost authorities on Witley Court and it's inhabitants, let alone her incisive knowledge, and I feel it is a great honour and a pleasure to have been fortunate to be working alongside her. Keep it going Ruth !

Monday 8th March 2010 - County Records Office, Worcester

I paid a visit today to the County Records Office, County Hall branch at Spetchley in order to look at some documents relating to Witley Court. There is a vast archive of material stored here that is available to the public to view, and a visit to this establishment can be recommended to those who may wish to extend their knowledge further than that which is given in guide books and similar publications. Such items as maps, diagrams, plans, sketches, photographs, deeds, wills, general correspondence etc. provide a fascinating insight into all that went on at Witley in times gone by. I have added a couple of items to the bibliography section of the main web site, as I discovered another couple of books on the shelves of which I never knew even existed. I also spent an hour attempting to decipher an extract of the will of the "old" Earl of Dudley, John William Ward, whose vast fortune left in trust to his kinsman was used to purchase Witley Court from the Foley's in about 1837.

Madresfield Court "Daffodil Sunday" 14th March

I see that advertisements have been put in place in the Malvern locality for next Sunday (14th March) as being the annual date of "Daffodil Sunday". On this occasion the grounds are open to visitors (though sadly not the house itself) and there is usually an impressive display of early spring flora, though with the winter just passing over now I'm not sure as to where all the said flowers are going to appear from this year, unless of course the soil happens to contain some magic ingredient or two; we will just have to wait and see. It should be well worth a visit anyway and I will certainly be attending.

Miscellaneous Documents

I have recently acquired copies of some interesting documents concerning Witley Court and the "Dudley" family. These are as follows:
"The Earl of Dudley, Mr Lumley, And Her Majesty's Theatre: A Narrative Of Facts (1863)" by Benjamin Lumley. Bosworth & Harrison,re-printed by Kessinger Publishing ISBN 1120757258.
Mr. Lumley was an early proprietor/manager of Her Majesty's Theatre in London's west end who became associated with Lord Ward in the 1850's in an effort to provide a more sound financial footing on which to run the premises. This narrative outlines the "facts" from Lumley's point of view with regards to Ward's alleged pecuniary role in the venture which soon began to become financially problematical . Also included are some letters of correspondence between the various parties (written by Ward from Witley Court) which serve to illustrate the strained relations which resulted and the eventual collapse of Lumley's empire.

List of Articles ............ Worcestershire Archaeological Society 1923/24 - 2008 including index, compiled by Rod Sproat. Rod has put together a list of transaction articles of the W.A.S. of which he is a serving official. Witley Court itself is featured in one of these reports dating from 1996 (see bibliography section of main website).

The late Graham Stansfield's widow, Nancy, has kindly provided me with a specification from a firm of chartered architects which dates from late 1998. This document specifies the standards of materials and workmanship to be adhered to with regards to restoration work to be undertaken on the parish church and the link block adjacent to the court.
Of more general interest is a tape recording of reminiscences in an interview with the present 4th Earl of Dudley, which I propose to transcribe at some point in the near future, time permitting. This interview took place on the 25th October 1995 at the Earl's London residence.

Finally, on page 66, Hidden Gems, of the latest edition of the English Heritage house magazine "Heritage Today", there is a full page article devoted to none other than Spencer Trickett, site supervisor at Witley Court heritage centre. He seems to get in everywhere !

Poseidon Fountain Restoration Society - 4th March 2010

The P.F.R.S. still meets quarterly at the Hundred House, Great Witley, in order to informally discuss matters of relevance to Witley Court and the church etc. This evening was not the best attended meeting but most of the "usual suspects" were there, including Rod Sproat, Ruth Butler, Nancy Stansfield, Mark Brown, Pat & Pete Hull and others whose names escape me at present, and of course myself. Some interesting topics of conversation were aired. Next meeting will be the A.G.M. on Thursday 3rd June and will take place at the English Heritage visitor centre at Witley Court. (to be confirmed).