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Published: March 23rd 2015
Ch Ch CH Changes . I found myself singing or at least humming to the song Changes by David Bowie and realised that changes are very much a part of motorhoming life. You soon learn to live with them, accept them for what they are and park them and move on .
Over the last few weeks Suzy has reached a time in her life when the MOT (the Ministry of Transport road test for vehicles) had become due. She was three years old and needed her check up. But first taxed her . This is the first year we did not receive through the post the small round tax disc to place in the windscreen. The disc that will never quite come out of the perforations without ripping. The different colour denoting the year tax has been paid for. Sadly now all computerised we no longer need to stick the disc in the window. We will miss it as we have grown to love it . Insurance needed paying and this was done relatively painlessly. So to MOT, van service and habitation check. Over the three years we have had Suzy we have found ourselves in Fiat garages on
cold and wet days in Welsh seaside towns and in busy Chesterfield trying to find ways to spend four hours whilst the work has been completed . The habitation check cannot be done at the same place so we go through the same rigmarole. We have taken her to Abergele and to Derby and each time found ourselves wandering aimlessly around the cold and miserable towns on a February morning. We have walked round graveyards and round the camp shop to pass the time away. We have drunk endless cups of tea and coffee and ate endless bacon sandwiches and read magazines from front to back and from back to front .
But this time it was a bit different . We chose not to use the Fiat dealer . Suzy was out of warranty anyway and we found a local motorhome dealership newly opened just five miles from home. Not only did they offer servicing at a cheap introductory offer, they could do the MOT and the habitation check and we could leave her there, be back home for breakfast and they would ring us when she was ready. Which they did and to be honest would I
go anywhere else now ? No , brilliant service, nice staff and we didnt have to sit around waiting . What more could you wish for ? So that was the first Ch Ch Changes.
The second change of plan .Plan A go to Spain and Portugal in April /May and Italy in September/October . Ch Ch Ch changes ................................Perhaps Italy would be better weather in the earlier part of the season, the nights would be lighter for passagiating in the towns, the gardens we had pencilled in to visit would be much more colourful and interesting . Spain on the other hand might be better later when we had no gardens to see and we dont get out so much at night due to the darkness and lack of anywhere decent to eat at the right time. Am I bothered? No that suits me just fine and we may just throw a quick excursion into Istria if we have time. All left to do now is find the campsites, the aires and sostas and work out what we are going to see and do . Only 23 days left to do it .
Today was one of
those days when we wanted to do something . We had an appointment with my hairdresser who hopefully would chop off enough for it to feel less like straw and more like human hair . The plan also included getting it cut just soon enough for our holiday but not too soon that it would grow too long whilst away . A major logistic exercise . Having sat in the chair, discussed holidays , Portugal and the Canadian Rockies, drank a cup of coffee I left the hairdressers tidied up and ready to do something interesting .
We decided to visit Erddig a wonderful house in Wrexham. A house that I had visited on my own many times over the years and we have visited together . Being members of the National Trust who own the house meant that it cost us nothing to visit. Our arrival was up the long and winding road with mature oak and beech trees in the neat and tidy parkland. The parking in the walled orchard . The estate is a wonderful example of faded grandeur and where Sutton Scarsdale was stripped of its treasures luckily Erddig escaped by the scruff of its
Erddig
The immaculate but simple gardens neck .
Before we entered the property we wandered through the old workshops which you rarely see in grander houses . A veritable treasure of old carpentry tools, nothing discarded , all finding a use . Recycling through necessity taken to a fine art. The fire crackling in the corner, the smell earthy and warm. We did miss the carriages but they are there somewhere and we have seen them before . An old mortar mill in a corner, a machine for cutting wood all lovingly kept and still mainly in working order .
Our second point of interest today was to address the rumbling tums . Important as you cannot take anything in when the stomach is making noises like a volcano erupting . The Stables Restaurant was full even on this cold damp March day. We ordered Boeuf Bourguignon , a rich stew with meat that melt in the mouth with soft and creamy mashed potato, carrots and broccoli. All cooked to perfection and washed down with a hot and steaming cup of tea. Delicious as always . You can always trust a National Trust cafe/restaurant. And quite good value at £7.95 for the
main course served in a big pasta dish and £.1.70 for the tea each.
After rumbing tums were satisfied we walked around the garden. Not full of the lovely summer bedding but the daffodils were out and the garden simple but stunningly effective.
The house was built between the years of 1684 and 1687 by Joshua Eddisbury the high sheriff of Denbighshire . It was enlarged by John Mellor who added the two wings in 1720 . He died without marrying and without any issue and the house passed over to the Yorke family who owned it until the last Yorke died and it came into the hands of the National Trust .
Over the years sadly the house deteriorated subsiding by 5 feet at one end due to being built over a coal mine and its tunnels. A lopsided building lower at one end than the other . The trust managed to get compensation from the National Coal Board and used this to shore up the house and protect the structure and to make this the best house in North Wales . No lets be honest, the best house in the whole of Wales ..............no that
Erddig
Dark and gloomy but utterly fascinating is not right...... It is the best and most interesting house in the whole of the British Isles. Shabby but wonderful .
Inside it is gloomy and dark due to the fact the Yorkes could not afford to put electricity in to the house. The fabrics and the furniture are old and shabby but completely charming . Chinese wallpaper on the walls never replaced due to lack of money. And what a joy for us . Had they bothered to replace it the Green wallpaper would have been lost forever . The room enclosed in glass to protect the valuable wallpaper . An eclectic collection of interesting things collected over the years and never thrown away. Make do and mend seem to be the order of the day in the Yorke household .
Knowledgeable guides in every room able to fill in facts about the family and the house. Simon Yorke used to ride round Wrexham on a penny farthing - what a man and he played the musical saw. The music room contained the saw and various musical instruments. The family liked their music and were good to their servants for whom they provided excellent rooms at
Erddig
Another dark and gloomy but utterly fascinating room the top of the house with views over the garden and comfortable serviceable furniture . They even encouraged their servants to join them for musical soirees and events in the main house . Not quite what you expect from the landed gentry . They drew and photographed the servants, they wrote poetry about them. Highly unusual but something that endears Erddig to you. Downstairs a huge kitchen full of the usual copper pots and pans shining and gleaming . The rooms used by the butlers full of everything needed to make life easy for the family. I thought of Downton Abbey as I walked through each room . The housekeepers rooms with the old Singer sewing Machine the same as one we had in our house in the 1950's and an old ironing board with flat irons. A nod to modernity an Aga Cooker.
A lovely lived in and much loved home . Thank heavens that Simon Yorke saw the advantage of giving it to the nation and stated that nothing should be thrown away. This has left a unique property with a wonderful charm .
It doesn't matter how many times you go to Erddig you can
always see something different . That may be the seasons changing in the gardens or equally something different in the house . Chatsworth the favourite nations house versus Erddig I know which comes out on top and it's not Chatsworth.
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Home and Away
Bob Carlsen
I like your c-c-c-changes!!!
Does that mean our paths might indeed cross in Istria? This is my itinerary in that area: 20 April: Depart Split via Krka National Park to Rakovica. 21 April: Depart Rakovica via Plitvici Lakes, arriving mid to late afternoon in Opatija where we spend the night. 22 April: Depart Opatija and overnight at Rovijna. 23 April: Depart Rovijna for two overnights at Lake Bled. It would be great to have dinner together some evening. Let me know if this is possible and we can set a more specific time and place.