In 1962, our old estate works department lorry was replaced with this Morris, which then ran for about 18 years before retiring to a shed in the Castle grounds. It was used to convey men and materials about the place on a wide range of repair and maintenance jobs.

We considered selling it, but it was not worth much and each year it acquired more sentimental value for me and George, my brother, as it reminded us of our childhood and our occasional attempts, fortunately unsuccessful for the most part, to get a boost for our bicycling by hanging onto the back. Eventually, about 15 years ago, our then estate mechanic and skilled restorer, Leo Weager agreed to put it back in working order, which he duly did, and now it is a good runner.

Despite scrolling down a number of entries for Morris lorry on the Internet and finding many older and more distinguished models, I have not been able to find an example of ours. Preservationists may have been put off by the now daunting cost of running a 3 litre six cylinder, petrol-engined vehicle, many of which were last seen on the public roads in the hands of new-age travellers, usually unlicensed.

We use the Morris in the summer as a support vehicle for our steam roller, traction engine and steam wagon and for occasional jobs for the Works Department when they are short of transport. In this photo, the Morris has just brought extension ladders up to the Castle where they will be used to replace light bulbs on the Porte Cochère. It is good to see it back at work, and our visitors enjoy seeing it parked in the Courtyard between jobs.     JH-B �

Eastnor Park

As we prepare for the Big Chill which is taking place in the Park and on surrounding land between 7th & 9th August, a friend has sent me a quotation from the letter of Henry James to Charles Eliot Norton, written at the time James was staying in Malvern in March 1870 trying to recover his health after an extended visit to Italy.

He wrote: “I walked away across the country to the ancient town of Ledbury, an hour of the way across the deer-cropped slopes & thro’ the dappled avenues of Eastnor Park…,a vast & glorious domain & as immensely idle & charming & uncared for as anything in Italy”.

It is nice to have had a mention, if perhaps not entirely a flattering one. Although much of the Park remains deliberately as wild and uncared for as we and Natural England would like it to be, some of the area covered by the distinguished author would not match his description, as the image shows. It is tidily mown and awaiting thousands of visitors. However, readers can follow the changes in the Park over the next ten days and beyond on the Big Chill blog spot: http://bigchilldiary.blogspot.com/2009/07/looking-good.html written by veteran journalist, Simon Gandolfi. I hope the after images look as good as the before images.

JH-B
30th July 2009

Lucy, my wife, and I have just returned from Charleston, South Carolina, where I was asked to give the keynote address at the Charleston Art & Antiques Forum an event sponsored also by the Royal Oak Foundation, the organisation in North America which supports the work of the National Trust in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

It was a well-attended event and a great opportunity for me to share our experiences at Eastnor with an interested audience, some of whom had already visited us with tours led by the Forum Moderator, Tom Savage, Director of Museum Affairs, Winterthur Museum and Country Estate.

Charleston is a magical place, which has been sensitively and extensively restored in recent years. The built heritage is rich with architecture from the 18th and early to mid 19th centuries, and several historic houses are open to visitors. There is an active and effective preservation organisation, the Historic Charleston Foundation, which works hard to protect the city’s heritage.

Many English and continental European craftsmen worked in Charleston, but many families also travelled to the old world on the Grand Tour where they were also able to buy works of art, silver and furniture for their collections. We saw beautiful examples from these collections and were also able to visit former plantation estates at Drayton Hall and Middleton Place, which were interesting to compare with our historic properties in the UK. The gardens and trees at Middleton were particularly beautiful, although an alligator basking on one of the lawns would have been a serious Health & Safety issue in the UK!

My audience seemed to be interested in the story I told of the restoration of the house and the things we do now to keep it going, and it was nice to have one or two questions at the end. We were made very welcome indeed and hope to have the chance to repay that hospitality at some future date at Eastnor.  J H-B