Visiting National Trust Properties.

  

Knightshayes Court, Devon. 

For those of you who have never heard of the National Trust, it is a  country-wide Organization, which looks after the upkeep of wonderful country houses and their magnificent gardens. I have been a member for a great number of years, as the annual subscriptions help to keep these properties in a good state. They also look after miles of coastline around the British Isles. 

 

Killerton House in Devon

The ladies from the local Art Society were going on their annual outing to Coleton Fishacre, one of the many National Trust properties in Devon.  Thirty ladies of varying shapes and sizes congregated in the local coach park waiting for the bus to arrive.  It was already fifteen minutes late, and a rumble of discontent spread along the line. Thank goodness it wasn't raining!  The temperature, even at 9 am was in the mid sixties, and the sun was shining down.

Suddenly the coach could be seen chugging up the steep hill, and the mood of the assembled throng immediately changed, as they started to chatter excitedly. Once everyone was safely on board, the driver headed off to their destination. Soon, he turned off the main road, onto the winding lanes of the Devon countryside. They drove through the pretty town of Dartmouth, travelling across the River Dart on an ancient little ferry, continuing along the narrow lanes to the little hamlet of Kingswear. 

 

The pretty little town of Dartmouth in South Devon.  

Suddenly the sea mist lifted and there was the house in all its glory.   Coleton Fishacre was built between the years of 1923-6 for Rupert D'Oyle Carte, whose father, Richard, had been the impressario behind the operettas of Gilbert & Sullivan.  Rupert had developed the business empire he had inherited, which included the very posh and upmarket Savoy and Claridges Hotels in London. 

 

Coleton Fishacre

Rupert D'Oyly Carte, and his wife, Dorothy, actually found the site for their new house from the sea, whilst sailing their yacht between the quaint small towns of Dartmouth and Brixham. The interior of the house really does invoke the modernity of the Jazz Age, and it would be just perfect for a weekend in the country. 

 

Interior shot, courtesy of The National Trust. 

All the ladies agreed that the house was absolutely perfect. The Architect who designed the property, Oswald Milne, was an assistant to the famous Sir Edwin Lutyens.  A particularly appealing feature of the property is that you have quite stunning views of the garden from every room in the house. Although the house does speak of elegance from a by-gone age, the ladies agreed that they could all imagine themselves living there and, on a beautiful Summer's evening, wafting out onto the terrace with a drink in hand. 

 

The garden itself is quite magical as, like several in the South West of England, it descends from open views around the house, down through increasingly jungle-like vegetation, until you get spectacular views of the sea beyond. 

 

The gazebo look-out  at Coleton. You can just see the steps leading down to the sea. 

 

How about this for a view ?!

I hope this has given you a little insight into the beautiful houses and gardens owned by The National Trust.  So then, another blog post hits the road. As I look out the window whilst writing this, I see that the rain is pouring down.  We have had three weeks of rain ☔️ now, with the odd spot of sunshine in between the very heavy showers.  Usually, October can be a very pleasant month, and I look forward to going out for walks, but I haven’t really been able to do much of that so far this month. Anyway, I hope you all have a lovely weekend, and if the sun is shining where you are, please send it over here to heavenly Devon!

 

 

 

Visit to a National Trust Property







Dear Blog,  For those of you who live in other countries and perhaps have never heard of The National Trust, it is an organization that  buys and preserves old buildings here, and then opens them to the public.  The public pay an annual subscription to belong to the N.T. and can then visit as many of the properties, all over the country, as they want to.

Coleton Fishacre in South Devon

The ladies from the local Art Society were going on their annual outing.  Thirty ladies of varying shapes and sizes congregated in the local coach park, waiting for the bus to arrive.  It was already ten minutes late and a rumble of discontent began to filter along the line.  Thankfully, the temperature, even at 9 a.m., was in the mid-sixties and the sun shone down.  Just imagine the moaning that would be going on amongst the ladies if it had been raining.

Suddenly the coach could be seen chugging up the steep hill, and the mood of the assembled throng immediately changed, as the ladies began to chatter in excitement.  You would have thought that they had never been on an outing before!

The driver alighted from the coach, doffing his cap in a gentlemanly way, before apologizing for his lateness.  He was a swarthy looking man with dark skin, black eyes and thick unruly eyebrows.  He looked as if he would be more at home in the vineyards of Tuscany, rather than this quaint little English village.

Once everyone was all aboard the coach, Raymond, the driver, proceeded with caution along the A38, heading for their destination.  Eventually he turned off the main road onto the winding lanes of the Devon countryside.  They drove through the pretty town of Dartmouth, travelling across the River Dart by an ancient little car ferry before passing through typical narrow, winding Devon country lanes to the little hamlet of Kingswear.

Suddenly the sea mist lifted, and there was the house in all its glory.  Coleton Fishacre was built between the years of 1923 - 6 for Rupert D'Oyly Carte, whose father Richard had been the impressario behind the operettas of Gilbert and Sullivan.  Rupert had developed the business empire he inherited, which included the very posh and upmarket Savoy and Claridges Hotels in London. 

Rupert D'Oyly Carte and his wife, Lady Dorothy, actually found the site for their new house from the sea, whilst sailing their yacht between Brixham and Dartmouth, two very pretty coastal villages in Devon.  The interior of the house really does evoke the modernity of the Jazz Age, and it would be just perfect  for a weekend in the country.

All the ladies agreed that the house was absolutely perfect.  The Architect who designed the property, Osward Milne, was an assistant to the famous Sir Edwin Lutyens.  The house is, in fact, thought to be one of the most successful smaller country houses to be built in the 1920's.  Another wonderful feature of the house is that you have quite stunning views of the garden from every single room in the house.  Although the house does speak of elegance from a by-gone age, the ladies agreed that they could all imagine themselves living there and, on a lovely summer's evening, wafting out onto the beautiful terrace with a gin and tonic in hand.

The garden itself is quite magical.  Like several in the South West of England, it descends from open views around the house, down  through increasingly jungle-like vegetation, until you get spectacular views of the sea beyond.

We are very lucky in the area that I live, in that we have lots of lovely National Trust properties to visit.  They do close from October to March to carry out renovation and cleaning work, but the gardens are open all year round.