Dry Rot and Daffodils: Life in a National Trust House

Felbrigg Hall #2

by Mary MacKie

A funny and enlightening account of life in a National Trust house.Perfect for fans of SECRET LIFE OF THE NATIONAL TRUST and ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL"The next time we went down to the cellar we found that the ceiling over the stairs had collapsed in a welter of dust, cobwebs and ancient lath and plaster. I had wondered why our stairs were more draughty than usual..."If you thought living in a stately home was all gleaming banisters, visiting aristocracy and priceless antiques, then Dry Rot and Daffodils is a must-read. Throughout her years living at Felbrigg Hall in Norfolk Mary Mackie has encountered dry rot, leaking roofs, visiting children who leave bubble-gum on the antiques - and a complete lack of privacy.Full of anecdotes that are always enlightening, often funny and sometimes almost unbelievable, Dry Rot and Daffodils is a wonderfully entertaining account of what it's really like to live in a National Trust house.

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir

181 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 1, 1995

Reviews

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mackie’s husband Chris was the Administrator at Felbrigg Hall in Norfolk in the 1980s. In this sequel to Cobwebs and Cream Teas, she again gives a roughly chronological tour of life at a National Trust property, this time going from one spring to the next and pausing to discuss safety, renovations, concerts and filming, new initiatives like attic and cellar tours, and the daily fending off of minor disasters. “When you’re responsible for a priceless property and its contents you can never be complacent,” she explains – so if you ever (like me) have cause to complain of the NT’s officiousness, keep that in mind. Compared to the previous volume, this had fewer highlights and seemed to be treading old ground. It carries through to the end of their time at Felbrigg, so it has an air of bittersweet nostalgia about it.

[Helen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the book having visited felbrigg on many occasions since a young child it was interesting l have also read cobwebs and cream teas some years ago

[Clare O'Beara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a memoir set in the 1980s and following a book called Cobwebs And Cream Teas, which detailed the first year in the life of a couple working in a National Trust property in Norfolk. This book covers three years during which the husband was the manager of the house. The couple lived in a flat on the premises in Felbrigg Hall and then of course they had no mobile phones or internet. A few cheeky drawings are scattered through the pages.

Reading this I was continually struck by the level of understaffing, survived by the goodness of volunteers, and the perpetual work, some of it heavy and much of it delicate or specialised. Admin is loaded on top of cleaning, managing supervised tours (including of the cellars and attics) and preparing foods. Special cleaners came in at the end of each year and wallpaper had to be removed with great care as it was 250 years old and would be rehung after renovations. I noted a lady had to photograph every object in the house, taking two days, then would spend months putting every numbered, noted photo on a card in a file. Nowadays I hope a digital camera and computer storage will speed up and improve these jobs.

Areas which interested me particularly were the way the grounds became a little wildlife reserve, though the couple didn't do ground staff work so we don't hear much about the outdoors except for walks and the trees falling in the great storm of 1987. Also the curation and cleaning of the books in the library; and the development of the house tours to suit people with disabilities. A lift was out of the question as it would have been demolishing parts of the house, but the manager even carried a lady up the stairs on one occasion while her relatives carried her wheelchair; on another occasion he persuaded a lady to use a wheelchair which the staff made available, and she was able to see the advantages. A blind guest was allowed to touch objects forbidden to other guests. I noted that every one of the NT house managers were men. On one occasion their wives were invited to a get-together too which astounded the NT area manager.

I thought the tale could have done with more detail here and there, maybe a few recipes from the local area. I'd be interested to know if farming is carried on here by traditional methods or if modern pesticides were used at this time. I would also like a map, showing how to get to the house and its proximity to towns. The manager did seem to be doing things the long way round on a few occasions such as taking a roundabout, through a few garden areas, route while carrying hot food. And if the author, a lady who also writes romance novels, doesn't tell us why the couple ceased to work at the house, we are going to invent our own options.

[John Mcpheat · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book; it was interesting to find out what goes on in a National Trust property. But I felt it was a bit shallow. People were glossed over - I felt I didn't really come to know Chris, the administrator and husband, at all - and the various incidents often weren't covered in enough depth.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked this up after spending a weekend looking around grand old houses and was pleasently suprised, as not only was this book intersting, it was an enjoyable read.

[Ami · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pleasant collection of anecdotes.

[ECL · Rating 3 out of 5]

there is quite a lot of repetition of anecdotes from the first book. I'm certainly not going to bother with the next one!

[Nevaeh Covell]

good

[Penny Ward]

Too dry - gave up reading it

[Mommyhungry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting tidbits of living and working in a National Trust house.