RUTH, MAUREEN & SELMA HAVE A DAY OUT
Now that we have retired we have more time to visit all the places of interest in England that we didn’t have time for whilst we were in full-time employment.
A short while ago we decided to visit Valentines Mansion which is only a 20 minute walk from our house and was recently opened to the public after extensive renovation work.
This Mansion was built in the late 1600s on the edge of Valentines Park. Previously, the Park was just a very small part of thousands of acres of forest which was sometimes frequented by the likes of King Henry VIII and Queen Elizabeth I who both enjoyed hunting animals roaming in the forest.
The Mansion was extended in the 1700s and then during the Victorian Era it was “modernised” (in other words, the servants had running water inside the house instead of having to carry buckets back and forth from an outside pump!).
We had an enjoyable tour of the Mansion and especially liked the enormous kitchen area in the basement. We noticed that some of the baking utensils had not changed in over 150 years - rolling pin, cookie cutters, mixing bowl and bread board to name but a few.
In those days it was a very hard life for servants employed in the Mansion. They would have to get up well before the crack of dawn each day to prepare the coal fires in every room. Cooking was done on a cast iron range over an open fire. The cooking utensils were extremely heavy as they were also manufactured out of cast iron.
As there was no refrigeration (electricity was still in its experimental stage) all perishable food was kept on a stone or slate slab to keep cool. Nearby the Mansion was a farm which daily delivered milk. All dairy products such as cheese, butter and cream were prepared in the kitchen. Even bread was baked in the stone oven in the kitchen. As you can imagine, the kitchen could become unbearably hot in the summer months, so the floor was made from large stone slabs which cooled it down a little.
Laundry was also carried out in the basement where the clothes were first scrubbed on a wash board and then plunged into boiling water and wooden tongs were used to pick up the scalding washing.
Ironing was exhausting work as the irons were made from extremely heavy material and had to be constantly heated over an open fire.
So folks, next time you’re slaving over a microwave oven or washing machine in your air conditioned homes please spare a thought for the unfortunate workers years ago and then count your blessings!!!
The rest of the Mansion was also very interesting and gave an insight into how both the rich and poor lived over 100 years ago. We took a walk outside the Mansion where the gardens had been carefully restored after many years of neglect. We also came across a small octagonal shaped building which is known as a dovecote because, as the name suggests, it was originally used for doves to roost. However, these birds were eventually “evicted” and the dovecote became a place of storage for garden produce.
Here is a short video of our day out and we hope you also enjoy the tour.
Now that we have retired we have more time to visit all the places of interest in England that we didn’t have time for whilst we were in full-time employment.
A short while ago we decided to visit Valentines Mansion which is only a 20 minute walk from our house and was recently opened to the public after extensive renovation work.
This Mansion was built in the late 1600s on the edge of Valentines Park. Previously, the Park was just a very small part of thousands of acres of forest which was sometimes frequented by the likes of King Henry VIII and Queen Elizabeth I who both enjoyed hunting animals roaming in the forest.
The Mansion was extended in the 1700s and then during the Victorian Era it was “modernised” (in other words, the servants had running water inside the house instead of having to carry buckets back and forth from an outside pump!).
We had an enjoyable tour of the Mansion and especially liked the enormous kitchen area in the basement. We noticed that some of the baking utensils had not changed in over 150 years - rolling pin, cookie cutters, mixing bowl and bread board to name but a few.
In those days it was a very hard life for servants employed in the Mansion. They would have to get up well before the crack of dawn each day to prepare the coal fires in every room. Cooking was done on a cast iron range over an open fire. The cooking utensils were extremely heavy as they were also manufactured out of cast iron.
As there was no refrigeration (electricity was still in its experimental stage) all perishable food was kept on a stone or slate slab to keep cool. Nearby the Mansion was a farm which daily delivered milk. All dairy products such as cheese, butter and cream were prepared in the kitchen. Even bread was baked in the stone oven in the kitchen. As you can imagine, the kitchen could become unbearably hot in the summer months, so the floor was made from large stone slabs which cooled it down a little.
Laundry was also carried out in the basement where the clothes were first scrubbed on a wash board and then plunged into boiling water and wooden tongs were used to pick up the scalding washing.
Ironing was exhausting work as the irons were made from extremely heavy material and had to be constantly heated over an open fire.
So folks, next time you’re slaving over a microwave oven or washing machine in your air conditioned homes please spare a thought for the unfortunate workers years ago and then count your blessings!!!
The rest of the Mansion was also very interesting and gave an insight into how both the rich and poor lived over 100 years ago. We took a walk outside the Mansion where the gardens had been carefully restored after many years of neglect. We also came across a small octagonal shaped building which is known as a dovecote because, as the name suggests, it was originally used for doves to roost. However, these birds were eventually “evicted” and the dovecote became a place of storage for garden produce.
Here is a short video of our day out and we hope you also enjoy the tour.
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