Period Features

Alstonefield Manor Set In The Beautiful Peak District National Park

Alstonefield Manor is located in the picturesque village of Alstonefield, at the southern end of the spectacular and beautiful Peak District National Park. The Manor dates back to the 16th Century and has fine Georgian features and Regency additions. With an acre of walled gardens and lawns the property provides a secluded setting in the centre of village life. Alstonefield Manor is located in the picturesque village of Alstonefield, at the southern end of the spectacular and beautiful Peak District National Park. The Manor dates back to the 16th Century and has fine Georgian features and Regency additions. With an acre of walled gardens and lawns the property provides a secluded setting in the centre of village life. www.alstonefieldmanor.com

Listed in the 50 Best British Bed & Breakfast, The Independent 2007

Featured in Food & Travel magazine,
January 2008

The Kitchen Garden

The Kitchen Garden is a specialist shop for henkeepers and gardeners. Francine Raymond, author of poultry best seller 'Keeping a Few Hens in Your Garden', offers a mail order service for Kitchen Garden products.

www.kitchen-garden-hens.co.uk

She also offers courses and much more...................

C O U N T I N G   Y O U R   C H I C K E N S

WITH FRANCINE RAYMOND & HUGH BURTON

Spend a day with us here at the Kitchen Garden, near Bury St Edmunds and learn all there is to know about keeping hens: with hands-on advice, practical tips and a fabulous slide show. Meet our famous flock of Orpingtons and see them in action, plus on-site hints on how to garden despite your hens. Sit round the kitchen table to discover tempting recipes and for all those delicious eggs. Includes a visit from breeder Hugh Burton and his award-winning Silkie hen. All topped off with a home-grown lunch, a glass of wine and an afternoon chat with a question and answer session with assembled experts. Take home a goody bag full of useful information, after sharing an enjoyable day with a small group of like-minded henkeepers
 
Course dates

Wednesday September 10th
Starting 10am till 3.00pm
Cost £75.00 including lunch - maximum 12 people

Traditional Fabrics by Vanessa Arbuthnott

There are seven collections: Cockerel, Wildflower, Seaside, Garden, Woodland, Sky and for 2008 Earth. In gentle colours: duck egg, stone, raspberry, cornflower, straw and lettuce. 

The fabrics are perfect for loose covers for chairs and sofas, upholstery, curtains and blinds, bed heads, valances, cushions and tablecloths. The collections compliment each other by sharing colours and include useful co-ordinates such as checks, stripes, spots, and floral prints. 

The fabrics are produced in the UK and are printed on Linen Union and 100% cotton and some designs are available on oilcloth, wallpaper and floor rugs. 

www.vanessaarbuthnott.co.uk

Village Fetes

Summer just isn't summer without the obligatory fete or two whether school, church or village. If you'd like to find out the dates of fetes in your area you could try this 'fete finder' from Innocent Drinks the makers of juices and smoothies. They also host their very own take on an 'Innocent village fete' on Saturday 2 and Sunday 3 August in Regent's Park, London. www.innocentvillagefete.com

Summer Holiday

Have you ever wondered how much more you would enjoy your summer holiday if it didn't cost quite so much? A comfortable, or even luxurious, but inexpensive holiday is possible if you consider making the most of one of your most valuable assets: your home. With home exchange you can swap your home for another family's, anywhere in the world, free of charge. The aficionados of the home swap system say that not only is this much cheaper than staying in hotels or renting an apartment or villa but it is also a great way to immerse yourself in the real life and culture of a place by living in someone else's home and really experiencing life 'in their shoes'. www.homelink.org has over 50 years experience in this market and has 13,000 listed members in 51 countries. Home swaps will not suit every family but they clearly provide a great holiday experience for some travellers.

The subject of holidays always reminds you of the horror of 'what to pack?' If you are someone who solves this dilemma by packing your entire summer wardrobe, and shoes for every possible occasion, you might like to try the life changing experience of www.travelite.org This site shows you how to take all you need for a two week holiday in a carry on bag. What's more, it really works! The most useful section is the breakdown of clothes that you need to take (helpfully illustrated) to cover a fourteen day break and how you would mix and match your wardrobe over the holiday. This website is a rare find and if you want travel lighter this summer do take the time to check it out.

Holiday packing reminds me of the difficulty of find the 'perfect holiday shoes'. If you suffer from aches and back pain or shoes that make your feet tired and sore the shoes at www.lovethoseshoes.co.uk which feature shoes that are kind to your feet and back might appeal to you. The Earth Shoes range invented by Helen Kelso, and known as 'Kelso negative heel technology', copies how man naturally walks through sand creating correct posture and leading many of its fans to rave about how it eliminates back pain. Earth Shoes have plenty of celebrity followers too suggesting that flat shoes are not just for the 'terminally sensible!'

Energy Saving Trust

Green, as the media is increasingly telling us, is the new black and going green is all the rage. The Energy Saving Trust's website offers a free home energy check to tell you how you can save energy - and money - in your home. It also offers lots of tips on energy saving. Energy saving light bulbs are more expensive than ordinary ones but just one energy efficient light bulb can save you over £60 over the life of the bulb as they last up to ten times longer than ordinary light bulbs. They now come in a wide range of styles to complement any period of home. Find out more at the Energy Saving Trust website.

Salvo Fair 2008

The Salvo Fair 2008 is an outdoor exhibition of architectural salvage, garden antiques and reclaimed building materials. Everything is for sale. The Fair takes place on Saturday 28 - Sunday 29 June at Knebworth, Hertfordshire. Entry to Knebwroth, including the Salvo Fair, car parks, and all Knebworth's facilities is £7.50 per person, £26 for a family ticket for 4 people. Children under 4 are free. Admission includes entry to the deer park, a dinosaur trail, formal Tudor gardens, tea rooms and 'Fort Knebworth' - a big adventure playground for children and miniature railway. Knebworth House can also be toured for an additional charge of £2 a ticket. Advanced ticket sales telephone will be available by calling 08700 115 007. For more information visit the Salvo Fair website at www.salvofair.com

Wallpaper Revival

Wallpaper is undergoing something of a revival after many years in the 'unfashionable' wilderness. If you are interested in the history of wallpaper, want to find out more about particular wallpaper or want to decorate your house in an appropriate period style you might well find a link to what you are looking for from the website of the The Wallpaper History Society. The site also features a wonderfully quirky video 'Wallpaper that moves - Three Hundred Years of Wallpaper History in Three Minutes' which is well worth a look.

Founded in 1986, the Wallpaper History Society was established to promote an awareness and understanding of historic and contemporary wall coverings.

The study of wall coverings was traditionally seen as rather esoteric, of interest only to specialist researchers and enthusiasts. But in the mid-1980s, articles on period decoration began to feature regularly in journals and magazines and it became clear that a much larger audience had developed an interest in the subject. Even so, information about, for example, the manufacture, design and location of historic and contemporary patterns could still be hard to obtain. The Wallpaper History Society was founded to help answer questions of this kind by developing both a network of sources and ways in which information could be made accessible. Read more www.wallpaperhistorysociety.org.uk

Stone's Polish & Furniture Cream

Stone's pure beeswax furniture cream has been made in Devon, England since 1760. It was invented by Dr. Stone, an Exeter pharmacist during the period of great English furniture design and manufacture. Stone's is still a small family managed company.

Stone's is used by restorers, collectors and householders on both antiques and fine modern furniture in England and abroad. The furniture of many of England's stately homes and great houses open to the public is cared for by Stone's. The polish is sold in all the Devon National Trust houses and shops who are pleased to support a true local West Country heritage product.

The difference between Stone's and other polishes lies in its total purity and its ease of application. The Stone's traditional formula includes no silicones or artificial additives, it contains only the finest beeswax, white spirit, pure soap and essential oils, which are combined with water into an emulsion to produce the distinctive soft cream. This combination ensures that Stone's has both cleaning and polishing properties while imparting a fresh scent that is reminiscent of the days of great houses and furniture regularly cared for by household staff.

Application is very easy. Apply the cream to a cloth, spread it very thinly and buff it immediately before it dries. This will give a hard layer of wax which will not smear and will take further applications if required. Thicker waxes cannot be spread so thinly and are difficult to polish often leaving a soft layer of wax which will smear and collect dirt.

Visit their website www.stonesfurniturecream.co.uk  for more information and stockists.

Win A £25 Voucher!

Win A £25 Voucher!

This month we are giving away a £25 Voucher to spend on any of our lovely products, redeemable in store or online. Just answer one simple question and after the closing date of 31st July 2008, we will pick the winner at random from all the entries received.

To enter please take a look at our Rim & Mortice Knobs which can be found in our Period Hardware section then just answer the following question: What type of head wear does our Georgian Brass Rim Knob resemble? Email the answer to us at competition@periodfeatures.net. Good luck!

The lucky winner of our April/May competition, receiving a £25.00 voucher, was Rusty Ahearne. Many thanks to all of you who entered.