Mum’s next adventure also took her to another interesting old house, but this one was very different from Lilleshall and her reason for visiting there had nothing to do with mining history. Instead it was to do with writing.
In fact, it was going to be a full day of talks by the literary agent, Darley Anderson, not only explaining what a literary agent did, but also talking about the sort of manuscripts he was looking for as he started to expand his business at that time.
Now, although he had publishing connections all over the world, his agency was based in London, but the talks weren’t going to be held there. Instead he was travelling to Braziers Park at Ipsden, near Wallingford in Oxfordshire in the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
That wasn’t too far from London, especially by car, but it was quite a long way from Yorkshire – and seemed even more so as it was going to be in the dead of winter when there was no knowing what the weather would be like.
As a result – and because overnight accommodation was offered on site – Mum decided to stay over the night before and the night after the event and make the journey by public transport, which was quite an adventure in itself.
First she’d to catch a bus to Keighley and then a local train to Leeds. From there she caught a train to Kings Cross and then went on the Tube to Paddington. After that she caught a train via Reading to Didcot, which was the nearest station to Braziers Park, and there she and a few more people who were staying overnight were met by the person who’d organised the event and taken by mini-bus for the last few miles of the journey.
Because it was the middle of January it was pitch-black dark and quite frosty by that time and what Mum remembers most is the number of stars she could see in the sky as there was very little light pollution once they’d left Didcot and its power station behind.
In fact, it was so dark that all she saw of the outside of the house at Braziers Park that night was the little bit around the front door which was revealed by the mini-bus headlights. Then she and the other members of the group were being welcomed in, given a warm drink, then shown to their rooms before the evening meal.
That was served at a huge table in a large, wood-panelled dining-room and, though Mum can’t remember what it was now, she’s a feeling it was largely organic/vegetarian, good and filling, with a glass of dry sherry to start off with, followed by wine.
And, after that, Mum was ready for an early night ahead of a busy day…
By the time Darley Anderson arrived the following morning, around 20 more people had joined those who had stayed overnight, so he was able to give his talks to a roomful of people, all at different stages of their writing careers.
Although his talks were very interesting and Mum learned a lot from them, however, it didn’t take her long to realise that she couldn’t write the sort of stories he was looking for at that time as they were very different from anything she’d ever experienced – and she didn’t really want to, even though they would earn her a lot of money if she could. But, in spite of this, she enjoyed listening to him and talking with the other writers during the breaks and after Darley Anderson left.
By then it was dark again, however, and so she’d still no chance of seeing the outside of Braziers Park until the following morning – and what a surprise she got then! Though she’d realised from what she’d seen of the inside that the house was quite big and quite old, she hadn’t realised just how big and how old. And, although she’d seen from inside that the windows were narrow and pointed, instead of square or oblong, she hadn’t realised just how different it was from what she’d expected.
As you can see from the pictures, it was more like a small medieval castle – or even something from a Hollywood filmset – than an English country house, and she found herself wanting to find out more about it.
But, with trains to catch and miles to travel, there wasn’t enough time to do any research that day. Instead she’d to wait until she got back home to find out more about the history of the house and its owners over the years.
The story she found was fascinating, but it was also quite long and so I’ll have to tell you about it in my next post. Meanwhile, take care, stay safe – and look out for another tale from me soon.
Follow my next blog: 210. MY MUM THE STORY-TELLER – PART NINETY-THREE
14/07/2022
Wilf the bear-faced blogger 