Gilbert & Sullivan in Buxton

Gilbert and Sullivan operas are still very popular with Buxton hosting a G&S Festival ever year. This year was the 32nd Festival celebrating the works of the talented dramatist and composer duo, although written in the late 1800s there are many similarities to our 21st century lives.

I studied and saw a couple of their operas as part of my music studies at school but Hubby had not seen any although he knew of their music. Gilbert and Sullivan  wrote comic operas with very funny characters and quirky plot lines all portrayed with songs showcasing amazing vocal ranges.

We booked a two night stay in Buxton at the Premier Inn, one night for the opera and a full day to then explore Buxton. It wasn't a long walk into Buxton, plenty of pub stops on the way with a short but very steep hill to get to the Opera House.

The Opera House is a stunning building, it's decor and layout transports you back in time which was perfect for Gilbert and Sullivan. The building was restored in 1979 with the original features kept, even the fire hoses!

The festival was over 2 weeks on with performances of The Pirates of Penzance, The Mikado, The Gondoliers, Iolanthe and HMS Pinafore which was the performance we booked.

It was superb, it's a very funny story with all characters having a role not just the leads. The songs are very catchy but there are also some operatic solos. We both really enjoyed our evening, so much so we booked to see The Gondoliers the following evening. This was a Bus Pass performance with every performer on stage being over 60, they were superb with amazing voices. 

For this performance we had a box (cheapest seats left) which everyone thinks is the place to sit but actually has quite a limited view unless you lean right forward, it made me wonder if the Royal Box in a theatre is more about seeing the Royals than the Royals seeing the show.

We really enjoyed both shows and the buzz around with the majority of the audiences being avid Gilbert and Sullivan fans who join in all the Festival activities not just the actual operas. We plan to return next year to see The Pirates of Penzance and the Mikado.

Our second day in Buxton was filled with discovering more about this Peak Distict spa town. Our first discovery was a flat route avoiding the hill which led us to the Pavillion Park, perfect place for breakfast. To my delight there was a miniature train although we didn't take a ride.

Buxton is England's highest market town at over 1000 feet above sea level with Georgian and Victorian architecture including The Cresent and St Ann's Well which still provides natural spring water.

The Buxton Baths building is now an arcade full of independent shops with original tiling and bathing features still in place. There's also a small museum with a Victorian bathing area and stained windows. 

As with all our trips away we sampled the local refreshments starting with Buxton spring water but progressing to visiting Buxton Brewery Tap where Hubby enjoyed a pint and I had a most delicious g&t. It was one of the nicest gins I have had in ages while and did buy a bottle of Buxton Distillery Dry Gin to enjoy at home. 

Not local but not far away in Stoke-on-Trent we also enjoyed Titantic Beer who make the superb Plum Porter.

Buxton was a great place for a short break and was a fabulous chance to see two operas, we both had a lovely time and are looking forward to the 33rd Gilbert and Sullivan Festival.

 

Sugar Loaf Vineyard

We're huge fans and supporters of White Castle Wine who have a vineyard just north east of Abergavenny. 

It's named after the local castle which is one of three Monmouthshire fortress originally wooden forts, the other two castles are Grosmobt and Skenfrith. The castles were owned by Edward I in the mid 1200s, now all ruins they are owned by Cadw.

We have visited the vineyard but haven't been to the castle. That scenario was repeated on our last holiday in Wales, we haven't climbed the mountain but we did visit Sugar Loaf Vineyard located north west of Abergavenny.

As well as a wine shop the vineyard has a beautiful cafe with a large balcony terrace overlooking the vines.

It was superb to sit and enjoy the countryside with a cuppa and teacake. I always find it peaceful to be amongst vines and felt very relaxed sitting on the terrace.

Sugar Loaf Vineyard's first vines were planted in 1992, there are now over 5000 vines over 5 acres growing 7 grape varieties. The vineyard offers self guided tours and tastings but because it was one of this year's hot days we decided on just a tasting, one flight to share as Hubby was driving. Something I would certainly recommend especially as it was just £6 for the flight of four wines.

From left to right the wines were: 

Calon Lan 2025 - a crisp white made from Reichensteiner, a grape from the Riesling family. Full of apples flavours there is a similarity to Sauvignon Blanc

Y Fenni 2025 - an aromatic white with floral notes. This wine made from Solaris, Sirrus and Seyval Blanc has flavours of lemon and elderflower.

Sugarloaf Blush 2025 - four grapes make this light rosé, Regent, Rondo, Triomphe d'Alsace and Seyval Blanc. It has a beautiful colour linking superbly to it's summer fruit flavours.

Deri Coch 2025 - made from Regent and Rondo it's one of very few Welsh red wines. A light bodied red with plenty of berry flavours.

We enjoyed all four wines, they would all certainly pair well with the delicious choice of food on the menu. My preference was Calon Lan, a bottle of which is now in our cellar.

The Sugar Loaf Vineyard shop also sells wine gifts and lovely products from The Sugar Loaf Soap Company. It's a great place for a trip out and somewhere we'll visit again although we may need to book a table as it does get busy.

Greys Court

On a recent trip to an overnight stay in Reading we made use of our National Trust membership and visited Greys Court. It isn't somewhere I'd heard of and I still don't fully understand its history but it was a beautiful place.

It was recorded in the 1086 Domesday book as Redrefeld, an area that covers Greys Court and Rotherfield Greys, the nearby village.

There's lots of history linking the area to the Court of kings over many decades but the original fortification and Tower were constructed in the 1300s, part of which are evident today. 

From the early 1400s the house passed through many families and generations starting with the Lovells. Although they repaired much of the property the family estate was seized by King Henry VII and eventually passed to tge Knollys family in the 1500s as Sir Francis Knollys held a senior position in Queen Elizabth I's court.

It was Sir Francis who developed and extended the house, it was passed to his nephew Robert and subsequently damaged in the Civil War as he died with King Charles I.

Through marriage the house then passed to the Stapleton family who made their fortune in the Caribbean owning several sugar plantations which were worked by slaves.

Sir William Stapleton, 4th Baronet, resided at Greys Court but despite his mother giving him money from her Caribbean estates and inheriting money from his father he amounted many debts and did little to upkeep the house.

His son, and later grandson, did work on the house, adding the Dairy, bow windows and internal plaster decorations.

In 1934 the house was bought by Evelyn Fleming who renovated much of the house. Her children, one of her sons was Ian Femming who wrote the James Bond novels, did not like the house and so it was sold to the Brunner family and the house became a family home. 

The house and estate were given to the National Trust in 1969 but the family lived there until their deaths, Felix in 1982 and Elizabeth in 2003.  

All the rooms had familiar furniture and decor, reminding us both of our grandparents and things they had. There was nothing overly old or special inside the house but it was very interesting to look around.

The gardens were lovely, many different areas that each had a focus. The estate is over 75 hectares with two marked walks but a too hot day for us to go walking. 

Just outside the house overlooking the beautiful lawn was a very striking tree with cocoa coloured branches and bright leaves. I have never seen this tree before and have discovered it is a hybrid strawberry tree (Arbutus andrachnoides). It is known for its peeling bark and strawberry-like fruit although we didn't see any fruit.

The gardens were beautiful if showing signs of the heatwave, I imagine they have suffered more as the high temperatures have continued. One garden lead to another, each with a different feature plant. The gardens have developed over the life of the estate with some dating back to the Lovells.

Greys Court was a lovely place to visit and a great stop over if traveling south. It has a good cafe, National Trust shop and a good picnic area by the car park. We had a lovely time exploring the house and walking through the beautiful gardens.

Homemade wine

If you are a regular reader of my blog, thank you, you'll have seen I've started making wine again. If you missed my previous posts here's the links: 

Homemade Apple Wine 

Homemade Plum Wine

After months of settling in the demijohns I decided yesterday to bottle my wine. I have already filled bottles from one the apple demijohn which have been very much enjoyed by the apple donator!

I was a little concerned about the plum wine as there was a yeasty under taste so I added some finings... this is not something I usually do as my wine is just fruit and sugar. I added finings to one demijohn of plum and one of apple. 

I don't think it has done anything to the apple but the plum does seem smoother although the demijohn of plum without the finings is less yeasty after having longer in the demijohn. 

It's very satisfying making wine - turning these 

into beautiful clear and delicious wine 

Now I'm making Rhubarb wine, kindly donated by the apple grower hopefully this will be as successful. I haven't made apple or plum wine before but in the late 1980s when we first moved into our house and before our children were born I made some Rhubarb wine which was superb. 

It's settling well and no longer bubbling so today I will rack (syphon) it into clean demijohns and leave it to settle more. I will not be adding finings to this wine.

I'd really like to try making pea pod wine, something my Grandad made and it's his book I use. It's very old and falling apart but the recipes are great, I'd also like to try beetroot wine but I need a dark glass demijohn for that as the light can change it's colour. I might also try making dandelion wine again but it needs a lot of flowers and it's a bit smelly to make as they need boiling. 

If any of my local friends have spare fruit of veg I'd love to try making them into wine or donate them to Pressed for Good, a local social enterprise using unwanted fruit and vegetables to make cider with profits going to good causes.

One thing I need to do is get some good labels. I have searched online but as yet haven't found quite what I'm looking for. I might buy some larger labels and have a go at designing my own, printing might be the tricky bit getting the sizes right ... there's a challenge!