Lord Fairhaven was a chap who liked things to be precise. If the butler brought dinner in at 8pm sharp, it was impossible to his mind to say that dinner would be served at 8pm too as the process would take 3 minutes. For this reason dinner at Anglesey Abbey was always served at 8.03. He was a gentleman who saw that his shoelaces were ironed and that the maid went behind him sweeping away the shape of the footprints he left on the carpet pile. Beyond his quirks [perhaps we would call this attention to detail "obsessive" in today's parlance] he was a man who dreamt big and delivered. The skylight garden was one of his ideas.
The grounds of the property are ones which span all the seasons....no mean feat to achieve I would imagine. As we were there at the crossover many of the gem coloured dahlias were still flowering their little socks off, yet the promise of the forthcoming months could already been seen in the subtle autumnal hues and the architectural skeletons of the plants in the borders. The trees are Himalayan Birches. Even on a gloomy day their beautiful trunks were reflecting the light. It's one of those National Trust places which seems to be able to cater to many tastes successfully.
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Gorgeous garden but can't say I'm keen on the sound of Lord Fairhaven at all! xxx
ReplyDeleteIf we were all the same, life would be boring! What a character :) I pity his staff though. Beautiful garden and trees.
ReplyDeleteI suspect I may not have stayed in his service long, but his staff were quite feisty. His chauffeur refused to drive him anywhere for two weeks when they fell out!
ReplyDeleteArilx