Graham Stansfield Memorial Bench, 25th April 2010

A healthy congregation at Great Witley saw the church playing host to the usual Holy Communion service together with the christening of three young adults from the parish. After the services, the curate, The Reverend Robin Walter, gave his blessing to a new bench dedicated to the memory of the late Graham Stansfield. His widow Nancy and members of her family are pictured here after the short ceremony. Graham was an active member of the local parishioners who is best remembered as a keen historian and researcher on matters concerning Witley Court. Sadly, I never met Graham, as I came on to the scene shortly afer his tragic death.

Another busy turn stewarding at Great Witley

I arrived at Witley Church for a stewarding turn today; I was early (about 20 minutes to eleven. No sooner had I walked through the door and set up the sales stand when a coach party arrived and I found myself giving an impromptu talk to around thirty tourists who had descended on the church without any forewarning. A quick bit of improvisation thus ensued, but the said party were very grateful for my efforts in the end. It was nice to see their appreciation of the building which was reflected in a healthy sale of items from the sales stand and some much appreciated donations in the "milk churn". The only thing missing was the organ being played. The coach driver also knew a fair bit about the church as he often brings parties here because he knows that his fellow travellers always have a good visit. It was also good to see that visitor numbers have recovered dramatically in recent weeks after the dearth of folk during the winter period. Easter weekend was particularly busy - long may it continue.

"Worcestershire Life" magazine, March 2010

The March 2010 edition of "Worcestershire Life" magazine contains an article concerning the fountains and statuary at Witley Court. It can be found on pages 66 - 71 inclusive. A free download is available from the magazine website. Witley has also featured many times in a number of back issues.

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 !