Like everyone else (except those unfortunately caught up in the Volcanic Ash disaster) I have been enjoying the late spring sunshine -- but down in the West Country, lucky me.
I wanted to see ‘Greenway’, the Agatha Christie summer holiday home overlooking the River Dart in Devon and when a week-end break became available by coach from Nailsea, a planned visit to Blanche at that time became an excursion for both of us.
We set off by coach early morning and arrived for coffee in Dartmouth, with some time to look around, enjoy the spectacular scenery and have lunch before boarding the Agatha Christie ‘Christie Flyer’ ferry boat to the quay for Greenway House on the river.
The tour information included a footnote which indicated a walk of approximately 800 yards, steep in places, to reach the house from the quay. Stout footwear recommended. They were not kidding !
Everyone was in high spirits, the weather was lovely and there were plenty of benches to ease weary legs on the way.
Because car parking at the house is so restricted the ferry approach allows many more people to visit and there are timed entrances for both car and ferry visitors to assure easy passage through the house itself. All organised like clockwork.
Greenway was bought by Agatha Christie in 1938 (for £6,000) as a holiday home for the whole family but was requisitioned by the War Department and, in 1942, became a base for the Coastguards of the U.S.Navy. Lt. Marshall Lee, an artist of some repute back home, was a member of the ship’s company and left the legacy of a hand-painted frieze recording episodes of the War around the top of the Library wall.
We were told he has re-visited and at 93 is still active.
The house was given to the Trust in 2000 by Agatha Christie’s daughter and grandson, in the hope that the house and garden would continue to be appreciated and the house was opened to the public for the first time last year after some £5m restoration. There is no room for a detailed account of the visit but I can thoroughly recommend Greenway on every aspect and I shall look forward to my next visit to see more of the house and garden.
I do enjoy collecting the brochures on properties to be able to fully appreciate the visit, but this time there were none available, completely sold out and being re-printed, hopefully a pre-paid order will be despatched during May.
After an overnight stay in a Hotel on the English Riviera we travelled next morning to Killerton House in Devon, not an estate known to all the members of our coach party and I was not alone in being amazed at the story of the Trust’s acquisition of the property in 1944.
Killerton was the home of the Aclands, an important Devon family, for 350 years, but when Richard Acland, Liberal M.P. for North Devon, suddenly became the 15th Baronet on the early death of his father, he did not wish to continue the commitment of ownership.
He had founded the Common Wealth Party and in 1942 declared he would sell the estate to raise money for the party. His wife disagreed saying ‘Estates are not just property – they are communities of people’ and eventually a solution was agreed, a small acreage was sold to fund the Party – and the rest was given to the National Trust.
A guide told us it was the largest ever gift to the Trust and doubled its holding at that time.
In the early years of the war, like Greenway, the house was taken over by the government, this time to accommodate children evacuated from Hastings.
Most of the furniture was put into store and was lost in the Exeter blitz, only valuables like the silver was put into vaults and survived, but members of the family have described lost furniture and similar items have been sought to furnish it as it was
Both properties were a delight, having been truly family homes – but this year there is a change to the ‘hands off’ atmosphere of the Trust and visitors are encouraged to read (some) books and papers, sit on (some) of the furniture - and even play the piano!
This last suggestion caused lovely music to be heard most of the time we were in both houses, to the enjoyment of all the visitors.
I was in my element looking through Agatha Christie’s notebooks and odd pieces of paper that were the framework from which her books were written, some looked like rather odd shopping lists, but if you knew the story that eventually came from them, they made sense.
She was once asked by a reporter for a photograph ‘where she worked’, and replied ‘here’, then explained she had no formal system, she thought on her feet and wrote wherever she was.
This exciting holiday also included a day visit to Hestercombe Gardens at Taunton, advertised as ‘Paradise Restored’. It did not disappoint and, as the leaves were finally appearing on the trees and shrubs and the late spring flowers were still in full bloom, a saunter along over a mile of woodland, cascades and pools and interesting buildings brought us finally to a delightful spot to rest and lunch before a look around the formal gardens
I have not mentioned the very successful Air Ambulance Coffee morning held at Marston Green Library last month because Editor Pete Millington was there and he has covered the occasion. Very many thanks Pete.
Strikes and Volcanic Ash behaving themselves, I have a visit planned next month to the States.
I’ll keep in touch…………………..
Beryl Kellie
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