Following on from my previous post on Waddesdon, there is more to see and think about. You can buy Rothschild wines at Waddesdon Manor. At a wine dinner I met a Rothchild wine brand ambassador. Not a real Rothschild. But I once met one, or two. A Rothschild and his second wife.
Years ago I was on a travel writers' press trip to the New Forest area. I declined to go horse riding, and asked to do something such as visiting a garden. I was sent to Exbury Gardens and invited to lunch with the then owner of the house, Mr Edmund Rothschild. I had expected to be one of at least a dozen guests. I was astonished, to find myself the sole guest of honour, the highlight of my year.
When I was offered a pre-dinner drink, I hoped for a Rothschild wine. I did not like to say so. I was disappointed not to try it. So when I visited Waddesdon Manor in September 2026, two decades later, I was, at last, able to try Rothschild wines, and in a Rothschild Property
One of the things I remember Mr Edward Rothschild saying was the common phrase, which I have since heard many times from other people: 'Why let the truth get in the way of a good story!' This is attributed, in the positive assertion, Never let the truth get in the way of a good story, to American author Mark Twain. But most quotations 'attributed to' people were never recorded as being said by them during their lifetime, only years later, because the saying fitted their style of humour. I discovered that disconcerting fact when researching my book, Who Said What When?
But I always think, you might embellish a story to make it more dramatic, but why bother making up stories when the truth is so dramatic? Everything connected with the Rothschilds is dramatic.
My favourite historic picture is of Lionel Walter Rothschild, the second Baron, in the 1894, driving his tame zebras like horses pulling a carriage down London street to Buckingham Palace. He did it to prove you could tame zebras, like horses.
But what can you do in the area today? His animal collection at Tring is still there. A taxidermy collection.
Tip For A Trip To Waddesdon Manor
1 Outside the house, do look into the Conservation Display.
What looks like a video of a bird on a rooftop pulling at leaves is actually live streaming. The conservationist organization has set up nesting boxes all over nearby Aylesbury and this is one of them equipped with a camera.
2 Make sure you see the wine shop AND adjoining Gift Shop.
The gift shop is through an arch on the right of the cashier area inside the wine shop. I nearly missed it. The shelves are a treasure trove of books and novelties, jewellery, all sorts of amusing things. For example, a password book which is disguised as an instruction manual.
P S
Afterthoughts on Dormice
Today, the morning after my visit to Waddesdon, where I was delighted to learn about Dormice, as mentioned in my previous post, I did a search on the internet, which sent me to Wikipedia. I learned that the Romans bred dormice. I had wondered how you found and caught dormice.
Dormice are nocturnal. They live in trees, like squirrels, which have similarly long tails.
Are dormice small or large? Mice are the size of a small hand, aren't they?
My husband and I disagree on everything, including the size of dormice. I think they are small. He thinks they are huge. Up to seven inches long. With or without the tail? You look it up, in inches or centimeters, and decide if you think dormice are tiny, or huge.
Dormice As Food
The Romans ate dormice both savoury, and sweet. Dormice were served sweet, coated in honey and poppyseeds. Dormice are not on the menu at Waddesdon Manor, but apparently you can eat dormice in Croatia and Slovenia. Grilled, barbecued or in bread. That almost put me off my vegetarian breakfast.
Dormouse sleep six or seven months, whilst the weather is cold, usually November until March. Doesn't anybody protect the dear little dormice? Yes and no. There is a do not eat season protecting them when they are breeding.
The dormice eating season is highlighted by an August festival on an island. This is just the gift for the man who has everything, the tourist who has tried everything. I have tried lots of rare food, most of which were like tasteless chicken. Maybe you have already eaten kangaroo in Australia. And crocodile in America. And wichity grub soup in Australia (ground up, bland and thick like potato soup - fortunately not as I had feared, not leaping about alive like little worms with fantasies of being a big Lock Ness monster).
Dormouse are now on my list. I won't call it a wish list, just a not yet tried list.
I owe all these entertaining thoughts and discoveries to my trip to Waddesdon Manor. Of course the Rothschilds have always been known for their contribution to animal conservation, preservation, and research.
The Tring museum has taxidermy. Taxidermy is static models of stuffed dead animals. You often see alonside either another skeleton, or a photo of one, beside the realistic model of a bird or animal in a real or reproduction of the plants in the rural setting where it lived.
The Rothschild lady, Miriam, specialised in fleas, following her father's interest. I imagine that much of her social time was spent with people who shared her inteerests or knew about them. Nut I can also envisage the conversation with a polite stranger, who enquires as to her job, or hobby, getting the answer, 'I collect fleas.'
Useful Websites
Waddesdon & Rothschilds
Deconstructing the Rothschild Conspiracy
Natural History Museum at Tring, Hertfordshire
Dormice
Dormouse Festival
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