A visit to Dyrham Park and house.

Last week was busy at work and by the time I got home I was tired so very little sewing, embroidery, knitting or other craft activities happened. I did do a little work on the embroidered tablecloth and I also created a couple of 'flowers' for the Grandmothers garden quilt. I re-read the instructions for the goldwork seahorse ready to start stitching and then put it away again as I started yawning and had to head to bed.

On Tuesday I had a cardiology appointment. When I saw the cardiologist last December he said I either had heart failure or heart arrythmia and he also ordered various tests. My appointment was to find out the results. The MRI of my heart showed it is fit and healthy and no blocked or partially blocked vessels. The other tests showed my heart was now performing really well.

On Friday John and I set out for our weekend away in Somerset. We had decided to visit Dyrham Park before going to our hotel. Dyrham Park is a National Trust Property a little outside Bath. The drive down the motorway was good but it did keep on raining. However the rain stopped as we neared our destination. We walked down the hill from the car park and this was our view of the house.

If you want ot find out information about the house and park please click Here  As we walked down to the house I took a couple of photos. I liked this dead tree and if you look carefully you will be able to make out a deer a little to the right of the bottom of the trubk.

This dry stone wall had been recently repaired.

and this cute wooden rabbit.

We had decided to visit Dyrham Park because it currently has the Journey's exhibition of Asafo flags. The National Trust has teamed up with Karun Thakar, a renown collector and has three parts to the exhibition in three different National Trust properties. We had already visited Osterley House and seen the wedding shawls. At Dyrham Park it was Asafo flags which are vibrant hand appliqued textiles created by the Fante people of coastal Ghana. Originally these flags served as regimental war flags for local military companies.  The flags are folk-art pieces that bring together Akan proverbs, historic allegories, and European heraldic traditions.

It was fun tracking the flags down. There was also time to look at rooms in the house. I was fascinated by this wall paper in one of the rooms. In fact it is leather with gold patterns covering the walls. It made the room rather dark and while the concept of leather wall paper is interesting I think sticking with fabric or paper may have been a better option.

In another room there were two tapestries which were made in Mortlake,London.

I liked the Japanese tea table.

This huge flag was hanging in the stairwell.

Near the staircase there was a door into a hallway and this scene met our eyes. In fact it is a painting and it tells the story of love or lack of love.

Beyond the stairs in the picture you can see a man wearing a hat and across from him a women. He is the suitor wanting to marry the women but she has a different suitor in mind. You can't see it in the photo but through the window on the right you can see a man's face. He is the ladies preferred suitor. You can also see a cat with an arched back and this is used to show the women as very upset or angry. The caged bird is also ready to fly away as the door is open and again this is said to depict the woman. The volenteer in this room was very excited to tell us the story of the painting..

Here are some more of the flags.

This small double bed was on view in a room with beautiful Flemish tapestries.

Here is some information about the tapestries.

A few more flags. I didn't take photos of all of them.

We also visited the kitchens and the diary.

The diary had decorative tiles.

This view of the house was from the other side and this is the side where the famiy rooms were.

The tour of the house was interesting but not the most exciting stately home I've visited. We visited the shop but didn't buy anything and then we had an uphill walk to take us back to the car park.

We made it back to the car before the rain started and we headed to our hotel.

On Saturday we visited the American Museum in Bath. I'll tell you about that visit tomorrow.

Take care

Lyndsey