Hill Top, Beatrix Potter’s home

While we were in the Lake District last month we visited Hill Top, Beatrix Potter’s home. We tried to visit it about ten years ago but didn’t realise that it doesn’t open on Fridays for some reason – and guess who visited it on a Friday! It was very busy as you can see from the photo below. Beatrix gifted the house to the National Trust, along with a lot of land when she died.

aHill Top, Beatrix Potter, Lake District

As soon as you get through that doorway you are in the room in the photos below. These china plates were painted by Beatrix’s father, you can see where she got her talent from.

Hill Top first room, Cumbria, Beatrix Potter

This fireplace/range is on the opposite wall from the photo above. As you can see the ceiling has wallpaper on it too. The door to the right of the range is what we in Scotland call a press, a built in cupboard.

Hill Top, Beatrix Potter, Lake District, Cumbria, National Trust

Another cupboard below.

Hill Top, Beatrix Potter, Cumbria, Lake District, National Trust

The next room opens off the first room and strangely it has a door knocker on it, as if it was a front door.

cupboard Door, Hill Top, Cumbria, National Trust, Beatrix Potter, Lake District

Beatrix loved collecting pretty things, she certainly enjoyed what was the first home of her own as her parents objected to her having a life of her own. When her books became so popular she was well able to buy this house outright, at last she could do what she wanted. You can even look at what she had inside her little desk.

Corner cupboard, Hill Top, Beatrix Potter, Cumbria, Lake District, National Trust

 

Fireplace Hill Top, Beatrix Potter, Cumbria, Lake District, National Trust

Then we went back into the first rooom again to go up the stairs. I must say that from the photos you don’t get the impression of how dim the light is in this room, in fact the photo that I took of the dresser to the right of the clock didn’t come out at all, annoyingly. Beatrix used some of her own furniture in her illustrations.

grandfather clock, Hill Top, Beatrix Potter, Cumbria, Lake District, National Trust

I’ll do another blogpost about the rooms upstairs.

Dark Fire by C.J. Sansom

Dark Fire by C.J. Sansom was published in 2003 and it’s the second book in the author’s Shardlake series.

The year is 1540 and with Henry VIII in a mood because his marriage with Anne of Cleves had been a disaster as far as he is concerned. As Cromwell brokered the marriage he’s in a difficult and dangerous position, and Shardlake finds himself working for Cromwell.

As Cromwell has so many enemies within the court he’s desperate to get into Henry’s good books. He has heard that someone has found some Greek Fire and is desperate to track it down and then have it analysed so that it can be replicated. The formula has been long lost. With such a horrific weapon in his arsenal the king will be euphoric and Cromwell will feel a lot safer.

Possessing Greek Fire/Dark Fire would have been the equivalent of being a nuclear power in Tudor times.

At the same time Shardlake has to work to get evidence of a young girl’s innocence of a murder. She has already been sentenced to be pressed to death for the murder of her cousin, and Shardlake is sure she is not gulity.

This was a great read, Shardlake is such a likeable character, I can’t wait to get my hands on the third book in this series – Sovereign –  I’m really enjoying this historical crime fiction series.

Tower of Glass by Robert Silverberg # The 1970 Club

Tower of Glass Book CoverI had read all of my own published in 1970 books, so I dived into the garage to delve into the overflow bookcases and came up with one of Jack’s books, an SF book – Tower of Glass by Robert Silverberg, it was published in the US in 1970. It’s a good long while since I read any science fiction.

Simeon Krug is fabulously wealthy. He has created a community of androids, three different grades, Alphas, Betas and Gammas, they are made in vats starting with a sort of chemical soup and then they are given a training to learn how to become almost human, to understand their needs, the Alphas being the closest to being human. They look similar to humans, apart from their skin being red. The androids exist to do the dirty work and make life easier for humans.

Simeon Krug, their creator has moved on to a new project and he has become obsessed, he has designed a massive tower of glass and he hopes that as it reaches far into space he’ll be able to communicate with other galaxies, one in particular which is sending signals which can’t be deciphered.   .

Unknown to Krug the androids have set up chapels where they can worship Krug their creator, but he does know about the AEP which is a political group founded by disgruntled androids who are determined to gain equal rights with the humans. They want it to be made illegal for them to be sold and for anyone harming them to be held responsible legally.

So there are parallels with slavery, and social inequalities, but also the dangers of creating what could be superior beings which could take over society if they felt that way inclined.

Fifty-four years ago Robert Silverberg was imagining an AI takeover, except nowadays no androids are required, just computers.

This was a surprisingly good read, although I don’t really know why I was surprised as Silverberg was one of the best SF authors of his time. I have read a few of his previous books, but decades ago.

 

 

 

The Classics Club Spin # 39

It’s time for The Classics Club Spin. The spin number will be chosen on Sunday 20th of October, and whichever number pops up is the book which will have to be read by the 18th of December 2024.

For the first time last month I had an epic fail as I was so busy I forgot all about the spin and just ploughed on reading books that I felt like reading, when we weren’t travelling around. Anyway, I did get down to reading Kenilworth – eventually –  but didn’t enjoy it much.

My list is much the same as the last time, there are just a couple of changes. I’ve deleted the other book by Sir Walter Scott (Anne of Geierstein) and Maugham’s Cakes and Ale which I got half-way through and discovered that my ancient edition of the book had been wrongly bound and I had two first halves, but no second half!

I’m not that fussed about which number turns up, I just hope that I remember to get down to reading it this time!

1. Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare

2. Beyond the Black Stump by Nevil Shute

3. The Island Pharisees by John Galsworthy

4. The Well of Loneliness by Radclyffe Hall

5. The Water Babies by Charles Kingsley

6. The Sixth Day by Primo Levi

7. The Moon and Sixpence by W. Somerest Maugham

8. Up at the Villa by W. Somerest Maugham

9. The Painted Veil by W. Somerest Maugham

10. The Razor’s Edge by W. Somerest Maugham

11. Othello by William Shakespeare

12 Virgin Soil by Ivan Turgenev

13. The Trumpet Major by Thomas Hardy

14. Moments of Reprieve by Primo Levi

15. Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy

16. The Mirror Maker by Primo Levi

17. Marjory Fleming by Oriel Malet

18. Hungry Hill by Daphne du Maurier

19. The MacDermotts of Ballycloran by Anthony Trollope

20. Is He Popenjoy? by Anthony Trollope

Charles Rennie Mackintosh, The Hunterian, Glasgow

I’m just finishing off my Charles Rennie Mackintosh Humnterian posts with some random photos that I took. Below is very typical of his designs, a stained glass stylised rose.

Charles Rennie Mackintosh design, The Hunterian, Glasgow

The Hunterian even has what was the hallway of Charles and Margaret’s home in Glasgow, rebuilt but with the original furnishings.

C.R. Mackintosh, The Hunterian, hall, Glasgow

The metal plaque below was designed by Margaret I think, she had a penchant for what some people described as ‘spooky’ figures.

C.R. Mackintosh, The Hunterian, Glasgowmetal cartouche

I love the door below with its inset stylised glass hearts.

C.R. Mackintosh, The Hunterian, Glasgowdoor detail

The cheval mirror below is in what was their bedroom, I made sure that my reflection wasn’t in the photo but in retrospect it might have made more sense than the reflection of a door which you can see. I love the design and all the wee drawers but I know that if I had it I would have to search in several of them before I found whatever I was looking for!

C.R. Mackintosh, The Hunterian, Glasgow, cheval mirror

Anyway, if you’re a fan of C.R. Mackintosh then you will really enjoy a visit to The Hunterian in Glasgow.

 

Astercote by Penelope Lively – The 1970 Club

Astercote by Penelope Lively was first published in 1970.  It was aimed at young teenagers – probably, but is good for any age.

Sister and brother Mair and Peter Jenkins are living in Charlton Underwood, a Cotswolds village. They’ve moved there recently as their father has taken up a teaching post, so it’s all new to them. When their dog runs off into the woods they chase after him, although they’ve been told not to go into the woods.

That’s when they discover that the woodland had once been a village. The children discover that the Black Death had overcome Astercote and the area has been completely taken over by nature, but you can still see some of the cottage ruins. It’s all slightly spooky,  or maybe just atmospheric. Events take a strange turn when some of the locals get ill and are convinced that the Black Death has returned.

This one wasn’t quite what I expected, for some reason I had assumed that it was going to be historical fiction, but I enjoyed it.

The 1970 Club – previous reads

I’ll be joining in with The 1970 Club which begins on Monday, it is hosted by  Stuck in a Book and Kaggsy’s Bookish Ramblings. I’ve read and reviewed just a few books from 1970 in the past, but I don’t have many unread in the house, so it looks like I’ll be diving into Jack’s many SF books from that year, there are quite a few to choose from.

My previous 1970 reads are:

The Twelth Day of July by Joan Lingard

Tamlane by Anne Rundle

The Witch’s Brat by Rosemary Sutcliff

The Driver’s Seat by Muriel Spark

The Homicidal Colonel by Robert Player

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown

I know that I reviewed 84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hannf but it seems to have disappeared from my blog.

 

So that’s just six books from 1970, I should be able to add a couple to that over the week, possibly by Roger Zelazny and Philip K. Dick.

The Rival Monster by Compton Mackenzie

Book Cover

The Rival Monster by Compton Mackenzie was published in 1952. This very prolific  author is better known for writing Whisky Galore and The Monarch of the Glen. This book features a lot of the characters from the Whisky Galore books, with the same daft humour.

In a previous book (which I haven’t read yet) a flying saucer had apparently been seen attacking the Loch Ness monster and it is feared that it had either killed the monster or scared Nessie off, to take up home in another loch.

But there have been lots of sights of another monster and it definitely isn’t Nessie as it has huge teeth and comes onto the land. The tabloid newspapers are agog and one of them is putting up a prize of £250 for anyone who gets a photo of the monster. A young English palaeontologist makes his way to the island of Todday, hoping that finding the ‘monster’ will boost his academic career.

The twins Muriel and Elsie Waggett have almost given up hope of ever getting a life of their own off the island, and their mother just dreams of moving back to London, close to her sister.

This is a really light-hearted romp with a lot of the humour revolving around Mr Waggett, the pompous incomer who had been head of the Home Guard during the war. He’s even worse than Mr Mainwaring of Dad’s Army fame.

The Hunterian, Glasgow – Charles Rennie Mackintosh – his dark furniture

chair ,sideboard, C.R. Mackintosh, The Hunterian, Glasgow

We’re back at The Hunterian in Glasgow again, with the photos I took of Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s dark furniture.

C.R. Mackintosh, The Hunterian, Glasgowchair,cupboard

It’s easier to see the slightly Japanese influence in these designs I think.

Desk, C.R. Mackintosh, The Hunterian, Glasgow

 

C.R. Mackintosh, chair, The Hunterian, Glasgow

I’m not sure whether I prefer his white or black furniture, but I think that the white for bedrooms is prettier – and it won’t show up the dust as much!

Dining room ,C.R. Mackintosh, Glasgow

 

Dining room , The Hunterian, C.R. Mackintosh, Glasgow

Anyway, if you happen to be in Glasgow and you admire Charles Rennie Mackintosh you should definitely make time to visit The Hunterian, which also has a lot of art on show, but that’s another blogpost I think.

furniture, C.R. Mackintosh, The Hunterian, Glasgow

The Hunterian, Glasgow, Charles Rennie Mackintosh

Back in August we visited The Hunterian in Glasgow, it’s the oldest public museum in Scotland. We hadn’t been there for quite a few years. They have a lot of original Mackintosh furniture on show, it was saved from a building that  the couple had lived in and he had redesigned, but after their death the building was due to be demolished, luckily the contents were saved and stored until a new home was found for them.

Mackintosh house, Hunterian, Glasgowbed

The Hunterian is the perfect location. I took lots of photos but as his furniture tended to be either black or white I’m splitting the photos up.

Hunterian, Mackintosh bedroom cupboard

As you can see today it’s the white interiors. They’re so light and airy.

Hunterian C.R. Mackintosh, bedroom fireplace

Hunterian, C.R. Mackintosh, bedside table

The above were all in the bedroom. Below are from the living room.

Hunterian, Glasgow, Mackintosh,chair, Cupboard again

Hunterian, Mackintosh, Glasgow

Glasgow, Hunterian, Mackintosh, chairs + Table

Hunterian, Mackintosh, cupboard

If I’m recalling correctly the wall art above the fireplace below is just a copy of a work done by Margaret Macdonald. I think the originals deteriorated a lot over the years.

Hunterian, Glasgow, Fireplace bookcases<Mackintosh, Margaret Macdonald frieze

If you happen to be visiting Glasgow the Hunterian is a great place to see C.R. Mackintosh’s designs and if you have the time you might want to see his wonderful House for an Art Lover  which was not built in his lifetime, but ony fairly recently to his plans. It’s situated in Bellahouston Park in Glasgow.