Two Houses, Packwood House, Christmas 2023

I am very fortunate to live within a few miles of two outstanding National Trust properties.  Packwood House and Baddesley Clinton are within walking distance of each other and during the summer I visit them on my bike.  Both houses have different charms.  Baddesley is a moated house in a picturesque setting.  The gardens are well laid out and are fantastic to see in the summer months when they are in full bloom.  Packwood house is charming and whilst it does not have a moat, there are other unique features.  Packwood has the amazing topiary called the Sermon on the Mount and a walled kitchen garden where one can follow the changes in the vegetation during the year.  There is little to choose between the two houses. 

Two Houses, Baddesley Clinton, December, 2023
The moat around Baddesley Clinton.

This Christmas both houses have upped their game and have really gone to town with their decorations.  You would almost think that there is a competition between the two properties on who could put on the better display.  Looking on the web, I realise that the majority of the National Trust properties enjoy putting up their decorations. This story of Christmas between these two houses is reenacted up and down the country.

Visiting Packwood each December is a delight and this year the house looked very Christmassy inside.  Each room of the house has a Christmas tree.  The larger Christmas trees are naturally in the bigger rooms.  The Entrance Hall Christmas tree is decorated with handmade decorations and has a commanding presence.  The three adjacent rooms each with their own Christmas tree are set up for welcoming guests to dinner in the 1920s.  The place settings and the arrangement of the food on the table is carefully choreographed.  

Two Houses, Baddesley Clinton, December, 2023
The tree in the Entrance Hall at Packwood.
Two Houses, Baddesley Clinton, December, 2023
The room is set for a 1920’s Christmas dinner.
Two Houses, Baddesley Clinton, December, 2023
One of the many Christmas trees at Packwood.

When photographing National Trust properties, I always look for the small things and those details that you miss whilst looking around the room.  I am naturally drawn to the bigger view and as I entered each room, your eyes quickly alight on the brightly lit Christmas trees.  The polished wooden floors reflect the light from the trees.  For inside photography, I use my iPhone15 as the sensor quickly picks up the colours in the low light.  I did try and use a long exposure setting with my compact camera but there were too many people moving around in a small space. Plus the volunteers do become worried when you bring out the tripod even though it is a small travel one.  

Packwood has one room off the Long Gallery, that is set up with a minature town scene with skaters on white icelike flooring.  As the picture shows the lighting effect in the darkened room produces a magical effect.  

The Long Gallery has two more Christmas trees and the final room has a long narrow decorated table that leads to another impressive tree.  I counted 8 trees in all (I could be wrong).  Along the way there was a story being told as the place was set up for a Christmas masquerade ball.  

I did enjoy visiting the house, however, the place I loved the most was the kitchen garden.   Here the old tree near to the entrance was decorated with all types of decorations.  The afternoon light shimmered on the shiny lanterns.  Many of the decorations like those in the house were hand made.  There was continuation of the skating theme on the potting shelves.

My Verdict on Packwood.  The house is amazing with the Christmas trees that enhanced the beauty of the old building.  The best part of my visit was viewing the outside tree in the Kitchen Garden.

Baddesley Clinton is fully prepared for Christmas.  As you pass through the shop into the courtyard you, a Christmas tree awaits you.  Before entering the house, I walked along the garden paths and loved the large, big red ribbons and the decorations of the summer house with the story of the Holly and the Ivy.  

Two Houses, Baddesley Clinton, December, 2023
Lovely red ribbons.

The larger sloping greenhouse on the garden wall had orange slices hung up as decorations and there were pomanders (oranges with cloves) adorning the ceiling.  Recipes for making mulled wine and smoking Bishops were available.  I love the name of Smoking Bishop for an alcoholic drink.  The walled garden and the vegetable growing areas were being prepared for winter by the gardeners and my time slot for the house entrance was due.  

Two Houses, Baddesley Clinton, December, 2023
Decorated Greenhouse.
Two Houses, Baddesley Clinton, December, 2023
Entering the garden and house.

The walk through the house was a Christmas tour de force.  The kitchen was getting ready for a grand feast.  There was a Christmas card display to browse over before entering the grand Christmas tree by an open fire in the Great Hall.  The downstairs rooms were a delight to visit with preparations for dinner and carols being many of the activities being featured.  

Two Houses, Baddesley Clinton, December, 2023
Christmas time by the fireplace.

Upstairs the first two rooms were all ready for Christmas presents to be delivered.  Lady Chatterton’s Bedroom on the corner room overlooking the orchid was beautifully laid out and included a decorated tree.  The next room was the Great Parlour and there was a spectacular frieze of children skating.  This had the wow factor.  There were two Christmas trees, children skating on the ice and little owls watching the proceedings.  The final room had a frieze of a family singing carols.  In the room, the exhibit I found most interesting was of the glass ornament that had a model of the house in a large jar.

Two Houses, Baddesley Clinton, December, 2023
This display had the Wow factor.

After such an exciting visit to the house, I retired to the cafe and had a Turkey Bap with trimmings.  This was a Christmas dinner at a reasonable price.  Another highlight of my visit to the property.

Two Houses, Baddesley Clinton, December, 2023
My delicious Turkey Bap in the Stables restaurant.

My Verdict on Baddesley Clinton.  Great food, some wonderful ideas put into practice with the decoration of the rooms and a garden ready for Christmas.

So two houses, giving two versions of Christmas, lots of trees, decorations, and food.  Which of the two properties is better prepared for Christmas?  I would recommend visiting and if you read this at a later date, my answer is that they both have captured the Christmas Spirit in a brilliant manner. 

Thanks must go the National Trust employees and the volunteers whose industry at Christmas and throughout the year make these properties such fun places to visit. If you enjoyed this blog then I do have other entries of my visits to National Trust properties around the area. Click on this link to find all my visits.

I visited Packwood House at Christmas in 2021 and if you want to see what they did back then, the blog is below.

Footprints advising where to stand on the escalator

The restrictions will be lifted on the 19th July but we are not coming to the end of the pandemic.  We are entering a new age of living with the virus.  The discussion about mask wearing continues, the sun is shining and society needs to open up.  Is this a good time? Vaccinations are high and therefore the government is confident (if this is the right word) that the restrictions can be lifted.  For my photography journey. I wanted to catch life during the final days of the restrictions.  I was in Solihull to collect my glasses in Touchwood. I was armed only with my iPhone. The following black and white pictures give a brief insight into the mask wearing and restrictions that will soon be a thing of the past.  Let’s just hope so!

Mask wearing in Touchwood
An elderly couple wearing masks in Touchwood
sharing a kiss - no masks
Just outside Touchwood a younger couple share a kiss – no masks
Masks on or off
Masks on or off?
Social distancing
Keep apart but the writing is starting to fade
Touchwood
Segregated corridors in Touchwood
social distancing
Only one urinal in use
Social distancing
When you are buying your cards and gifts
Flower stall
Still selling flowers
Covid19 shop
The most popular shop in town is the Covid one
Solihull and Covid19
Have we done our part, have we done the right thing?

Read more
BBC news about the easing of the Lockdown
My stories about the Lockdown when I visited Solihull Town Centre in January 2021


The pool in Brueton Park Woods

When the snow first fell the skies were overcast and whilst there was a some beautiful snow scenes, I longed for a blue sky to provide some colour. The next day the sun shone and there were no clouds in the sky. I planned my walk to take me over fields to Widney Road allowing me to approach Brueton park and the nature reserve from the west.

Lea Wood in the snow
Lea Wood in the snow

My first stop was Lea Wood nature reserve which I had not visited before on my travels. The wood used to be a tree nursery and the trees now fully grown are aligned in lines. This creates many leading lines along the paths in the wood. There were several walkers in the wood so I was able to compose some eye-catching pictures with leading lines towards the silhouettes of people . The low level of the sun also produced lovely light that I was able to shoot towards the sun with the trees as a backdrop. I hung around for some time fascinated by the trees and the patterns caused by the light.

Sunlight in the woods
Sunlight in the woods
Sunlight on the tree branches
Sunlight on the tree branches
A leaning tree
A leaning tree
Snow on the trees
Snow on the trees
Trees on the way to Breuton Park
Trees on the way to Breuton Park

Finally I moved onto Brueton Park proper. It was very muddy despite the frozen ground. When I got to the river Blythe, I made the decision to go into the old Wood on the west bank to the River Blythe. The place was deserted and following the muddy path, I threaded my way deep into the wood. I arrived at the north end of the water pool which interestingly is unnamed on the map. The sun was shining brightly but the thick canopy of the trees diffused the rays. The path led around to the south side and here I was able to get close to the water’s edge. With the light low, bright and just right a beautiful scene opened up. I was so pleased with the pictures of the water and the framing from the trees. It was a richly rewarding photo walk with many different variations of the snow lying on the ground reflecting the sun. It was a much different day than yesterday and very productive.

The river Blythe
The river Blythe
Path around the pool
Path around the pool
The pool in Brueton Park Woods
The pool in Brueton Park Woods

Photo tip. Don’t be hasty in taking your pictures and try and slow down. I was very excited at first especially in Lea Wood. Then with time I started to enjoy myself in the woods and came away with many different pictures. I had my iPhone, large Canon camera with lenses plus my Fujifilm x100v. Yes it was a bit over the top in terms of photographic equipment but I was glad that I had all of them with me.

More pictures of local parks can be found on my blog
The photographic delights of Umberslade Park
Coombe Abbey Country Park during the Golden Hour
Watching the sun go down by Bracebridge pool, Sutton Park

More information
Brueton Park and its sister, Malvern is on the Solihull Council Website
Malvern and Brueton Parks
or check out Trip Advisor