It’s just over two weeks until the popular Harrow Whisky Festival returns to the Grim’s Dyke Hotel on Friday 6th & Saturday 7th January. With the festival delayed in previous years due to the global pandemic, excitement and anticipation is high. The featured distillers and bottlers are ready to make this a wonderful event you’ll truly remember. The Festival This … Read More
Incredible cutlery of the Victorian era
We all know that the Victorian era was an age of incredible ingenuity. The industrial revolution was changing the way in which materials were produced. The first photographs were taken. The world got its first taste of ice cream and people were, for the first time, getting on their bikes – although they were called ‘velocipedes’ at first. The Victorian … Read More
10 Tips for hiring the right wedding DJ for you
Planning your perfect wedding can be exciting, but it can also be a little overwhelming. When it comes to the music on your big day, having the right DJ is important. When you’re deciding who to hire to create the soundtrack to your day, keep these top 10 tips in mind. #1: Choose an experienced DJ Being a DJ may … Read More
10 Reasons Why We Love Tulips
Take a look outside your window. Summer is well and truly here! And that means balmy evenings in beer gardens, gathering round the barbecue with friends and giving our gardens the TLC they’ve been sorely missing in the colder, wetter months. And if you’re looking to inject some quintessential summer cheer into your garden, you could do much worse than … Read More
The bed of kings: the four poster bed
The bed has long been used as a symbol of money and power. The better a style and quality of bed, the wealthier its owner was. In Saxon and Norman times, most people slept on the floor around the fire. It was only the wealthy or those with a higher status, that slept off the floor, on beds created from … Read More
10 facts about Alliums
Bees and butterflies love alliums, as do many gardeners. Deer and rabbit, however, tend to shy away from them – and that could be due to the rather pungent aroma they can give off if the stems are broken! Alliums look stunning when planted in borders, beds and pots. However, they look their most spectacular when planted in groups. They’re … Read More
A brief history of Victorian herbalism
Herbalism or botanical medicine is one of the oldest traditions around. The Egyptians used herbs for medicine, as did indigenous healers around the world. In Britain, herbalism can be traced back thousands of years. The British Library has a copy of a ‘leech book’ – thought to date back as far as the 800s CE! Medieval lay healers used herbs, … Read More
Traditional picnics – the Victorian way
Picnics, the ideal opportunity to meet up with friends and family, enjoy an informal yet tasty meal, whilst having fun in the great outdoors. Wealthy landowners loved a good picnic, as it gave them the chance to sit and enjoy the scenery their estates gave them. However, it was the Victorians who brought picnics to the masses. Their popularity was, … Read More
A Brief History of the Victorian Glasshouse
The greenhouse, otherwise known as the Victorian glasshouse, became an iconic feature of british gardens during the Victorian era. As the Victorian’s love of gardening grew, the need to house their fragile, temperature controlled and valuable plants did too. The glasshouse provided a home for these species, whilst also paving the way for plant experimentation and cultivation. A status symbol … Read More
The history of Father’s Day
Father’s Day is an annual celebration that is celebrated in over one hundred countries. This year in the UK, we’ll be celebrating it on Sunday 16th of June. However it wasn’t always a celebrated day. Initially celebrating fatherhood was something only the Copic and Catholic Churches of southern europe celebrated, as part of their St. Joseph’s Day celebrations, but now … Read More