Thursday 22 October 2009

BE PREPARED

Yesterday, in dire need of inspiration - I went to visit Waddesdon Manor. This is a luscious (and completely over-the-top) country pile, built for zany Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild in 1874.

First sight of it left me swooning. There were turrets galore. Latticed shrubbery. Spurting fountains, avaries - and enough sweeping views to keep Halloween witches jealously guarding their broomsticks.
The problem?
My camera ran out of battery after the very first photo.

Which was this:



So if you want to see more of Waddesdon's wealth of historical and idiosyncratic detail (the "Batchelors' Quarters" with billiard room, cosy smoking room plus sparkly 13th century vase is particularly fine) - visit http://www.waddesdon.org.uk/
Or you could tell me about a place which inspires YOU.....

Meanwhile, I must now go and phone a divorce lawyer on behalf of my latest heroine....

3 comments:

  1. Dear Sharon. The place that has inspired me most is Pincher Hall in Arbroath. I wonder if any of your readers have ever been there? Sincerely.

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  2. Remarkably I do believe I once stumbled upon the very place Arthur mentions. Driving high on the hills above Arbroath, on the way to toss my caber, I had the misfortune to run out of petrol. Deeply frustrated - grasping the jerry can in one heavy hand rather than my lucky Scottish pole in both - I hiked for 28 hard miles across the heather clad slopes. Then suddenly, like the vision of an oasis for a parched Sheikh, I beheld the Hall and its most helpful occupants. The steps afford a truly inspiring view ...

    http://hobbyhorsetoys.files.wordpress.com/2007/02/steps.JPG

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  3. Dear Sharon,

    the place you describe must be gorgeous and it would be such a pleasure to visit.

    About me, the place which will always inspire me is the banks of the river Arno in Florence, seen from the Ponte Vecchio (Old Bridge).
    I was in Florence for a week several years ago and that place was a revelation, especially at sunset, with its magical atmosphere and imperceptible chromatic nuances.
    Almost a place never altered by time and outside the world, because of its ancient features in a modern world.

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