Wednesday, 1 October 2014

Ancestral homes

Marion:  We arrived at Ashcroft House, Gloucestershire after being picked up at the train station by Ben Harford whose family has owned the manor since 1944 when Ben was 2.  The Cornwalls owned the house from 1825 to 1895. My great grandfather, Clement Cornwall, was born and raised in the house as were his 11 siblings. He left with his younger brother Henry to seek his fortune in Canada in 1862. Thanks to cousin Arlene I had the contact information for the Harfords and was able to get in touch. Ben invited us to visit for a couple of days and it turns out he feels very much like a distant Cornwall cousin and is very interested in the who, why and when of Clement's and Henry's descendants in Canada.  We learned a lot about the history of the house and what changes had been made before and after the times of the Cornwall family. Ben and his wife have 350 acres and a number of other houses on the estate that are rented out, some to the same people since his parents time. They do not farm anymore so the land is rented out except for a couple of fields for Ben's prize alpacas.

 
Ben and his alpacas.
    
Wendy really wanted to keep this little girl but she would not fit in her backpack!!
Ashcroft, my great-grandfather's home until 1862 when he left for Canada.
Above: the front of house
Below: the back of house with entrance

The kitchen - an add on and remade as a kitchen in Ben's parents' time.

The first afternoon Ben took us for a long walk around the estate.  It has beautiful views over the countryside.  

And interesting little buildings:  this one probably originally used as dairy or cheese making building.

The building above used as a dovecote.  A big thing in those days.

He took us for a full tour of the inside of the house and we compared the changes in the rooms and furnishings using pictures from the Cornwall photo albums from 1878.  There are 4 toilets In the house installed in the middle 1800's and the most interesting one was the mahogany bench toilet with surrounding art galley.  Unfortunately the flusher - hanging from the overhead tank was very temperamental and refused to be flushed by either Wendy or I.  Both Ben and Georgina managed with the first pull but we never did achieve success with the actual flushing motion!


Nothing like having Queen Victoria watching over you in the loo!

Ben and Georgina Harford in front of their Aga stove (did I mention I want one in blue!)

We left them yesterday and carried on by train, underground and another train to Hemingford-Grey which is not far from Cambridge.  Another visit with old friends, this time with Wendy's school friend Judy.  They were together at boarding school in Toronto in the 1950's.

We're off to explore this village and Cambridge today, and then off north to Scotland.

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