Wednesday 22 August 2012

A Regency House Party - Part One

At the end of June I attended the 10th Anniversary of the Hampshire Regency Dancers. To celebrate they decided to hold a regency house party in a manor house in Somerset. It was a wonderful weekend, and I just wish it had been longer.

For photos I am going to start with a few of the house and then move onto events. So here they are:

Of course I couldn't publish a post that didn't have any photos of pretty ceilings in it!!:) This was the the drawing room/bar ceiling.

The dining room

The very impressive fireplace in the main hall


Part of the garden

Jackie and Emily in the dining room at supper on the Friday evening.

Everyone having supper 

After supper we had an informal dance. 

There was a maypole on the front lawn of the manor. I have always wanted to try maypole dancing, so a few of us decided to escape the heat of the ballroom and attempt a dance. :) It was such fun. We weren't very good at it and the ribbons became rather twisted, but we were in fits of laughter. :) I would love to try it again. Sadly I didn't get any photos as I was too busy dancing.

After the dancing, Regency and maypole, two ladies acted out a regency comedy performance. It was hilarious. :)


The following day we had a dance practice in the morning and then had the afternoon free. 

A few of us decided to take the opportunity to visit a local National Trust House - Dunster Castle. And of course we went in Regency clothing. :) Here everyone is walking up the steep drive to the castle entrance.

Claire - I love the back of her spencer.

The front of the castle. It was too big for me to fit the entire castle in one photo. I couldn't get farther enough away for it to fit.

Next: a few photos of the castle's interior

The inner hall.

The grand staircase

The dining room. 

Beautiful dining room ceiling.

I love the gown. :)

Another view of the grand staircase. It reminds me of the one at Sudbury Hall (the interior of Pemberley in P&P 95) I think it was carved by the same person.

Another painting of a lady wearing a gorgeous gown



All of us girls in one of the bedrooms. I have no idea what Emily is looking at. :)

The detail on the bed cover was gorgeous, sadly you can't really see it in this photo.

A rather blurry photo of the one bath in the house. It was enormous and so deep!

Another bedroom

Looking at Belgian tapestries

Helen and her beautiful bonnet. :)

Admiring another bedroom

The billiard room - part of the late 19th century renovation of the castle. We were actually allowed to have a go at playing! I say have a go, as we were pretty terrible at playing. The room steward looked rather nervous as we were attempting to play. He was worried that we were going to rip the green baize. Luckily we didn't harm the table in any way, and we had a lot of fun.

I love how there were seats in the giant fireplace. It must have been so cosy on cold winter nights in Victorian Somerset. The fireplace is so big as it was originally the kitchen before the victorian renovations were done.

A stack of old suitcases in the gunroom.

Gorgeous Adam fireplace 

A gorgeous desk (I think it is regency) that was in the owners office (owner during the late 19th century).

A rather blurry photo of the library - and the back of Emily.

The drawing room. Unfortunately we couldn't really walk into the room, we were only allowed to view it from either doorway.

Walking through the gardens. I love this photo. If you ignore the modern manhole cover and drainpipe, it looks like a glimpse into the Regency era. :)

And last but not least the stables, which were obviously very grand at one time. :)

Next: The anniversary ball and Regency kite flying.


Monday 13 August 2012

1812 Weekend in Italy - Part 4

And finally the Ball...
After all the walking we did during the day, dancing was not at the top of my wish list (soaking in a bubble bath and then watching a film in bed was), however I wasn't going to miss a ball in an Italian Palazzo just because me feet and legs ached a bit. Thankfully the ball was held in the palazzo where we were staying so we didn't have to traipse across the city again.

Admiring everyone's beautiful gowns before the beginning of the ball.

Margarita and Donald opening the ball.

Everyone watching them dancing. So many gorgeous gowns *dreamy sigh*.

We had an interval where a lady sang - amazing singer. She even drew passersby the palazzo as an audience. They stood and sat in the street outside listening to her singing!

A friend, Eliane, and I. We both look a bit stunned! 

The food. It looked amazing, just like a regency feast. 


The following day, which was a sunday, we went on a coach to the countryside to see a few beautiful gardens and houses.

I love this photo - modern coach but regency bonnets. :)

One of the french men was rather hot in his uniform so borrowed a ladies parasol for a bit of shade - he stuck it down the back of his coat!

The only photo of me wearing my new spencer - it was so hot. Claire persuaded me to wear it for a couple of seconds for a photoshoot.

Walking into the first garden

A pretty little folly









Me in front of the house. Sadly we couldn't go inside the house as it isn't open to the public. The house and grounds are owned by the government and though the gardens are kept in pristine condition, the house has been left to rot and decay - so sad.

The next house we visited was still in private ownership

The view of the house from the gate



We had a picnic in the garden. Aurora and Jeanette chatting, with the beautiful house in the background.

Claire in her gorgeous spencer.

Jeanette, Aurora and I.

The terrace at the back of the house. The house was very impressive inside but sadly we were only allowed to see the ground floor, and photos weren't permitted.

Me looking at the walled garden

Aurora and I. As you can see we  took advantage of the beautiful surroundings for a bit of a photoshoot. :) Though the light was fading by then and the photos were a bit dark.



Aurora and Jeanette.

Jeanette and I. I have no idea what I am doing in this photo.

Towards the end of the picnic this adorable dog showed up. :) He belonged to the owners of the house.

I just loved Avril's open robe.

The next day I flew home. The weekend went so quickly, but I had a fabulous time, met some wonderful people, and saw so many beautiful buildings and gorgeous regency clothing. :)