In any day I spend a lot of time looking for people or perhaps they spend quite a lot of time looking for me. I go up one staircase and John Gundill our Castle Manger down another. He then asks who has seen me, and is told I have gone to see Pat the decorator on the top floor. He heads on up, (which is a fair climb), and is then told by Pat and her team I have gone downstairs.
John goes back downstairs during that time I gather he is looking for me and so I go to his office. He is not here and so I head down the Stone Stairs whilst John returns to his office up the Red Stairs.
I then give up because Jo our lovely groom is looking for me and offering me a cappuccino. I then go outside to see Paul the Gardener to decide where to plant an oak tree a girlfriend, Smiles, has given me as a present. It is bare root so I need to decide straightaway.
John heads outside to be told I am in the gardens and then says “which gardens? there is a 1000 acres of Parkland give me a clue.” Apparently they all point in different directions. John is not impressed.
I have a very good walk around the Wood of Good will with Paul the Gardener. We find an excellent planting spot as a back drop for all the autumn colours. The gardeners have achieved a lot of work in the last few weeks and the beech hedges to frame the Rose Arbour are also planted. It is going to look wonderful in a few years. We look at the plans for spring and what we next need to do.
Returning from the gardens, and still in Wellington boots I decided to look into the building works in our Castle kitchens. We have renewed the extractor fans and ovens. I had also wanted to climb up a ladder to see if the cupboards above the current stoves had been used for smoking meats and fish in the past. I have been writing about previous marvellous weekends and menus, and therefore wanted to investigate the cupboards. I really enjoy the details. In fact Paul the chef and I both went up the ladders to inspect them.
Leaving the kitchen, by lucky chance, I bumped into John so we went off together for the umpteenth Downton recce.
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Please tell me have two way radio, !!!!
even contractors are issued with one,
Two way radios cackle noisily when Downton are trying to film, so we try not to add to their filming challenges!!!
Perhaps a smart phone or pagers could save you a few steps. 🙂
We reckon we do our 10,000 steps each day…
So were the cupboards used for smoking? I’l love to see some photos of the kitchen!!
I think they might have been used for smoking. There used to be a huge range where are ovens are now, and before the range there was clearly a large fireplace. The space above, in the louvered cupboard, has hooks so I suddenly realised maybe that was what it was for. The bottom of the doors are about 9 or 10 feet up and then you can stand up in the “cupboard” . The kitchen space itself is amazing with an enormous domed ceiling. off the kitchen is a patisserie room and so on. It is fascinating.
Please please post pictures of your kitchen. Stand up in the cabinets, I just can’t even imagine.
Thank you for such a good description. I can’t imagine a space that large in a kitchen. I’d love to see pictures of the kitchen, too.
Your blog is always so interesting. Being so huge, I can certainly see how finding someone in the castle could present problems. Being huge and ancient, is it ever a bit scary to go into unused sections of it? Can it sometimes feel a bit scary at night?
Thanks for your blog, as it provides a glimpse into complications involved in running the castle!
I think John Gundill is your Castle MANAGER, not MANGER. Very interesting reading your blog – looking forward to the new series of ‘Downton’ starting in Australia.
No wonder you look so wonderful! At least it keeps you in good shape, so much to explore and while you make it sound enjoyable, I’m sure there are times when it is not. Thanks for letting us all “peek behind the curtain”. Always look forward to your posts.
“Upstairs, Downstairs!”
You definitely don’t need to go to a gym and work out. They say walking is the best exercise and stair climbing !.
Dianne
How amusing. Might I suggest leaving post-it notes for eachother at various points in the castle, or perhaps trailing a ball of wool behind you, so others can follow !! Sounds like fun though.
I do like the idea of post it notes except that some fellow pranksters here would surely leave a false trail.. amidst much laughter of course!
I thoroughly enjoy reading your “inside information” about Highclere. I can’t wait to see your home myself….I have reservations for September – including tea in the coach house. Will Carson be there to serve? We will be traveling over 3000 miles to get there.
Greetings Lady Carnarvon… I can help but think that if you had found John right away, you would have missed out on some productive adventures!!! Marilyn Peck
Very few stairs here in Arizona in most homes and miss the drama it can add to a room. Looking forward to seeing some of Highclere’s gorgeous staircases in August. Love your posts Thanks!
Ha!! It’s like a grown up version of hide n seek. I imagine a person could hide for quite a
time in Downton!
We used to call each other on our cell phones so we didn’t have to scream or seek, which was our other alternative:)
Phones don’t have much signal here!
You certainly get your exercise! I guess a trail of breadcrumbs is out of the question too. 😉
The kitchens sound so fascinating! I had never heard of smoking cupboards actually being a part of the fireplace/range area. The ones I know about that were part of the Southern plantations around where I live were separate sheds/buildings. Of course, a good part of the year they used summer kitchens which were basically roofed camp kitchens to keep from perishing of heat stroke during the long, hot, humid summertime weather in long-ago South Carolina.
Dear Lady Carnavon
All my family enjoy your beautifull Castle, and we think that maybe will be necessary that Uk Prime Minister, look to give any protection Laws to keep that kind of wonderfull Castle.
I must tell you that we have strong relatives link to Queen of England Catherine of Aragon as you know wife to King Henry VIII.
All the Best
Rodrigo
How interesting and clever! Another popular item in old houses were warming cupboards for linen and towels along side fireplaces. Our 1900 house in New Jersey has one…I’m sure the castle must have quite a few?
It has some great linen cupboards – they are more like rooms, lovely and warm too, so good places to have meetings at this time of year. We always seem to have meetings in odd places, you suddenly come across 5 or 6 people who have bumped into each other, and are collected together in a corner, or in a shed and more people appear and lots of things are sorted out that way.
How interesting and clever! Another popular item in old houses were warming cupboards for linen and towels along side fireplaces. Our 1900 house in New Jersey has one…I’m sure the castle must have quite a few? Is the kitchen on the tour? I have tickets for July, really looking forward to it.
I can only imagin how exciting it is to find cupboards for smoking the meats.back in the day here they would build little smoke houses for smoking hams and such I share in your excitement in your find our meats are better when they’re smoked……y’all enjoy!
Life is never boring for you! I can only imagine what planning/maintenance goes into your gardens! Do you have a lot of roses?
It sounds like tiresome fun! You should get a pedometer to see how many steps you take in a day! What a beautiful setting to get lost in!!
Really find all the goings on at the Castle to be fascinating. Enjoy your adventures,thank you for sharing.
Made me gigle Lady C, i know exactly what it’s like!
Say hi to john for me!
I enjoy your blog so much, it help one keep in perspective the magnitude it takes to run a huge home. Rumors are all a flutter that Downton Abbey will end after Season 6, I hope it is only a rumor. I love the show and and it brings so much pleasure to so many.
I look forward to reading each of your entries. I grew up in a house on 3 levels and there was always something left on the stairs to be carried up or down. My parents died at 92 and 93 after living in that house almost 50 years.
I do believe the stairs kept them going. My Mother had great looking legs at 90! You live in a castle that could sub for a gym! I, too, hope Downton Abbey goes on after Season 6.
Sounds like a great way to get your exercise! It seems odd to hear you talking of planting things, when we have half a foot of snow on the ground and wind chills below zero! I look forward to seeing some pictures of Highclere in the spring. Can’t wait for your next book, always get an autographed copy from the Highclere gift shop. I find your books a real pleasure to read.
As always thanks for sharing!
Mary Beth
It was cold here today. I went round the park this afternoon with my son and the air smelt amazing, fresh and clear. It was a beautiful February day we both kept stopping to look. We were, however, glad to come in and warm up – and have a cup of tea!
I am really enjoying my research as ever and the more I do the more I find. I am deep into cook books and Escoffier!
Your home sounds like a wonderful place for a boy to grow up. I was wondering if your son has sleep overs and parties there? How much fun would that be to have the run of the place?
Children turn a house into a home. They are wonderful.
Poor John, I hope he had a Cappuccino for all the seeking he did. I love that you share your “adventures” with uys
Running Highclere surely is a full time job. I have a question. Where did J. Fellows come up with “Grantham” or is that some type of old family name?
I think I have been in this kitchen is that the one up Stairs where we all had tea one afternoon 🙂
with very yummy chocolate Bisquicks showing you some history finds
🙂 I know we went in from the courtyard & up some Stone Stairs..
Paul
Lady Carnarvon, I love reading your blogs. Really interesting. You have a beautiful home. I hope downtown abbey will be on our screens for some time to come. It is my favourite tv show. I really also hope to visit Highclere at some point in the future. I think it’s great that you open parts of your fabulous place for paying visitors to come and see.
Sounds like you need a GPS system, assuming that the signal would work inside. But, alas, where would the fun be in that?
Precisely – it is part of being here….
What shocks me quite a bit is that Lady Carnarvon would respond to posts on her blog!
Is it really Lady Carnarvon or somebody hired to post on her behalf?
If it is indeed her, this is quite amazing.
Anyways, I had a bit of “upstairs/downstairs” myself yesterday around Highclere castle though on a slightly larger scale.
I knew it was going to be closed probably for filming or such but I still cycled 30 miles from Farnham just for the fun of it in hopes that I would at least be able to take a photo of the castle from a distance.
Little did I know how nearly impossible that would be.
However, being very determined, I started cycling around the estate on open roads hoping I could catch a glimpse of it from some other angle.
I cycled up to Carnarvon Arms, no luck.
Cycled down to go to Highclere Stud, no luck either.
But then, I saw a sign for Beacon Hill, and I thought to myself: “Well, if it’s a hill, it might give me a view of Highclere Castle from above!”
And so, I cluelessly started climbing the Beacon Hill iron age hill fort next to Highclere Castle for what seemed like an eternity of walking up an almost vertical hill.
It was all worth it when I finally got to the top about half an hour later, I was rewarded with a stunning view of Highclere Castle from above.
Who would have though that there would be an iron age hill fort right next to it?
I also discovered something else that was very interesting.
On the south side there seems to be a beautiful massive gate that unfortunately does not feature in the Downton Abbey series at all.
I do wonder why they didn’t use it because it is absolutely beautiful.
I kind of envied those lucky sheep strolling about, they can walk straight up to the gate at any time and take a selfie! 😀
Your Ladyship, I am a house keeper here in the US in upstate NY. I am fascinated at how the all of the staff work together seamlessly, keeping in line with tradition. It must be quite an honor to be such a wonderful part of living history. I admire you and your post. May your Ladyship be blessed.
How exciting to have found your website. I found it on the Susan Branch blog. I adore Downton and am amazed at how the rich and privileged lived in the early 1900’s. By todays standards, it seems like life would be very boring…just standing or sitting around being dressed and served. They would have no skills to provide them survival in the event of a disaster. But oh, so interesting! I could be persuaded to try it for awhile! ha ha As I just discovered your blog, I shall continue the exploration of same. Much appreciation for the time you take to furnish us with “adventures at Highclere Castle!
I loved reading all the comments. I can just see the whole day unfolding.I am coming to England from Australia with friends in May and can’t wait to visit your beautiful castle. I am a great fan of Downton Abbey so very excited
Dear Lady Carnarvon, It is extraordinarily gracious of you to have permitted us strangers such complete access to to Highclere Castle through the Downton Abbey series. How generous of you to open your home for us! It is such a pleasure to see your home and to watch the drama unfold. Thank you so very much! Sincerely yours, Ronald Gibson Oberlin, Ohio USA 44074
I have both of your books. I’ve read and enjoyed thom so much. The history of the castle is fascinating. A wonderful glimpse into history. Only this morning, have I stumbled upon your blog. What a treat. Thank you so much.
I read your blog named “Upstairs Downstairs – Lady Carnarvon” like every week. Your story-telling style is awesome, keep doing what you’re doing!