Since 2009 I have been working and volunteering within country houses across the North of England and the Midlands. I have worked for large charitable organisations and private country estates so I thought I would give you a little overview of where I worked and what the places were like. I will post one of these a week giving you a bit of information about my time at each place.
Belvoir Castle in Rutland
I volunteered here in 2009 between finishing my English degree and beginning my Masters degree. I shadowed the House Manager and helped her out with lots of different tasks. Belvoir Castle is gothic in style and it is one of my favourite architectural buildings. It definitely feels like a castle and it is a rabbit warren of small and large passages, corridors, stairways and rooms.
I went up into the towers once to fetch some mannequins for an exhibition and the rooms we went into were unrenovated, dusty and full of old furniture - it was like that scene from The Secret Garden where Mary explores the house and says "The house was dead - as though a spell had been cast upon it".
Some scenes for The Young Victoria were filmed at Belvoir Castle and I was lucky enough to be able to help the House Manager prepare an exhibition of Emily Blunt's costumes which were going on display at the Castle - she must be so tiny because her dresses were tiny!
One of my favourite events spent at the Castle was the Belvoir by Candlelight event where the whole castle is lit by hundreds, probably thousands actually, of candles and the public are invited in for an evening of Christmas carols, mulled wine, minced pies and performances by local schools and musicians. I helped out at this event and it was truly magical!
Incredibly I was also invited to the Dukes 60th Birthday garden party in June 2009 - all of the volunteers of the Castle were invited to the event and it was a lovely day with food and wine. I took my mum and we had great fun in the gardens pretending to be statues and admiring the flowers.
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