I'm coming to the end of my second week here at Basildon Park, and it already feels like I've been here forever. Normally, that would be a bad thing. However, this is a purely good feeling. I feel like I've always been here and I never want to leave.
This week, I finally managed to finish polishing Lady Iliffe's silver dinner service. When I placed the last few pieces back on the table I felt pretty good about myself. Seeing the table all laid out looks amazing. Especially with the now newly polished silver. As the Dining Room was used in the 2013 Christmas Special of Downton Abbey, the table is laid out as if the characters of the show are just about to sit down to dinner there, with place cards for all of them.
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| The newly polished silver. At the end of the table, you can see a blue dress, which was worn by Shirley Maclaine, who plays Martha Levinson in the 2013 Christmas special of Downton Abbey. |
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| A closer look at the silver dinner service; this particular seat has been 'reserved' for the Countess of Grantham. The more observant of you will notice that the knives are facing the wrong way around. This is because Lady Iliffe, when moving to her new apartment on site in her later years, took the silver dinner service with her. In its place, this silver plated version, which is an exact copy of the original, was made. As she resented the idea of people considering her cheap, or being able to see what the hallmark might have been if it were real silver, she insisted that the knives point outwards, hiding the stamp which would show that the cutlery was *only* silver plated. |
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| A close up of one of the dresses as worn by Shirley Maclaine, Martha Levinson, in the 2013 Christmas special of Downton Abbey. |
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| None other than the lady herself, wearing the dress above. |
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On Sunday morning, Helen and I were at work at 9:00am as we are supposed to be. However, for some reason, we were still waiting to be given our orders for the day as management were running late; by 9:30am we decided to just go ahead and start opening the house ready for the day ahead and come back to the office later to see what needed to be done for the rest of the day. We went from room to room, unlocking them, tidying up and hoovering ready for the day ahead. At about 10:00am, we had a shout from Neil, one of our superiors, to come downstairs as Tim, another one of our superiors, wanted to have a word with us. I looked at Helen, and Helen looked at me, and it was evident that neither of us could think what we might have done wrong for us to be called downstairs in the middle of our work for Tim to 'have a word' with us.
It turned out that as we had arrived ahead of the other staff that morning, and went about our business, that we had accidentally set off the houses alarm system. This was due to the fact that there was no body there to deactivate it before we entered the building. We both assumed that as there were already other members of staff about the house, that it was safe to go ahead and open up. As Tim ended up putting it, "You both nearly had half the police force in Reading out to Basildon House this morning". Oops...
As it happened, we both weren't in the wrong. As we were walking home that evening after the days work, we both realised that it simply couldn't have been us. Mainly because there were other staff already in the building, and also because Tim mentioned briefly that the alarms were triggered at a certain time after 8:00am. Both Helen and I were still in bed at that point! So, no harm was done, whoever it was that it might have actually been in the end!
As one might expect working in a stately home as old and as grand as Basildon, there are plenty of stories from the staff about their experiences with the 'supernatural'. I, myself, have already had one that made me jump. Tuesday morning was a particularly grey and miserable day. That morning, I was in Lady Iliffe's bedroom hoovering and polishing ready for the days guests. As I walked across the floor, I heard what sounded like I had stood on a dogs tail. It was an eerie yelping noise that was so distinct. The rational side of me ended up putting it down to a creaky floorboard.
The next morning, I was hoovering again. This time, I decided that as I opened each room and carried out my tasks that I greet the room by saying "Good morning!" and then hum and whistle my way through, so as to pierce the dead silence that you get whilst being the only person on the entire top floor of the house. After finishing the Green Chintz bedroom, I turned off the hoover, turned around, and saw Helen standing there in the corner of the room scaring the bloody hell out of me! We both have an agreement now that if we enter a room that we know the other is in, we will make a large amount of noise by whistling, coughing, or something similar, to warn that other that we are approaching. Hopefully that will avoid similar things happening in the future!
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| I took this photo of myself outside work that morning, deliberately taking it in black and white to capture the mood of the day and to exaggerate how spooky the house can be, even in daylight. |
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| Lady Illife's bedroom. It's a very cosy room, and more homely than the state rooms downstairs. But it can still be quite spooky when you are the only person on the floor in the morning and the evening. I think it has something to do with the high ceilings, maybe? |
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| The Green Chintz bedroom, where Helen scared the life out of me! Notice the 1950's teas maid on the bedside table. The house is a really interesting clash of 18th Century furnishings mixed with 1950's mod-cons. This is due to the fact that the Iliffe's lived here from the 50's until the day they both died; Lady Iliffe surviving her Husband having passed away at the age of 90 in 2007. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As Jess and I both had the day off on Wednesday, we decided to take a day trip in to Reading. I knew it was close to here, but I was still surprised that it was only just a 10 minute train journey, with the return ticket costing £3.80. I can definitely get used to public transport at that price. The only downside, though, is that the bus service is far from perfect. Both Jess and I were the only people on the bus to the station, and the last bus on a weekday is at 4:20pm. We are looking in to getting a bike. We are also planning a trip to Windsor Castle and to London to see a West End show.
I have had time off since Wednesday and am going back to work on Easter Sunday (God help me!). Apparently, Easter Sunday and Bank Holiday Monday are some of their busiest days of the year. Mothering Sunday had over 800 guests through the house in one day. I can't imagine how bad it might be on Sunday. And, I am the only intern in on that day! I will let you know how it goes.
Until then,
Best wishes,
Craig
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