Dinner & Dormice Displayed at Waddesdon Manor

 

Waddesdon, the grand mansion. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

Waddesdon Manor is owned by the National Trust and is one of their most visited properties, an hour from London in Buckinghamshire. 

We went to Waddesdon Manor for black tie dinner with matching vintage Rothschild wines, a rare opportunity, at vast expense, as my husband is a wine specialist who organizes wine events. We went there early to tour the wine cellars, and tour the grounds, which were both included in the price.

In the Conservation Hub I was delighted to learn about dormice. I had already known that the Romans used to eat dormice, considered a delicacy. The word dormice comes from the French word, dormir, meaning to sleep. The squirrel like animals are nocturnal and sleep 6 months of the year, so you don't see them much. 

You don't see them today, neither the Romans nor the dormice on menus. I was amazed to learn that dormice are still around, alive, in England, found at Waddesdon.

We discovered this at the nature display inside the cabin named Conservation Hub..

My husband Trevor visiting Waddesdon Manor, outside the Conservation Hub. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

The display showing a dormouse on the wall inside the Conservation Hub at Waddesdon Manor and grounds.

• A bit of a bushy tail of a dormouse found at Waddesdon. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

We spoke to the expert who is in the Conservation Hub at some weekends and school holidays. He has a vast knowledge and can show you the skulls of all kinds of animals such as badgers and birds. You can also see what looks like aquariums full of plants which are the heated homes for brightly coloured insects. 

One of many pleasant surprises we found on our afternoon there.

Waddesdon has an exhibition called Standing With Giants,  D-day .   On from 21 Oct - 29 Nov 2026.

For pumpkin season they will have real pumpkins grown in their gardens and a treasure hunt for children for a small cost.

You can learn about the history of the building on the two large panel boards with pictures on the ground level of the renovations scaffolding. 

Enjoy delicious home made lemon cake, as we did, at tea time, in the out door cafe in front of the shop.

The wine shop sells dog toys.

 Empty presentation hamper boxes for Xmas gifts you buy from about five pounds. 

Shelves of wine with information and offers of discounts, deliveries.  

Among the wines are rose wines, low and no alcohol wines, decanters and decanter cleaning brushes and a wine journal to record your wine experiences.

Decanter and decanter brush in the wine shop at Waddeson. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

Make sure you see the adjoining Gift Shop through an arch on the right of the cashier area inside the wine shop. 

For more on dormice, see the next post. 

More details from

Waddesdon.org.uk

https://waddesdon.org.uk/eat-shop-stay/

https://www.nhm.ac.uk/visit/tring

https://www.wildlifeonline.me.uk/animals/species/edible-dormouse#

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Wedding Cake Pavilion in Waddesdon, the Rothschild Stately Home in England

 The latest wonder at Waddesdon is the wedding cake style pavilion. The Rothschild family have made the property over to the National Trust, but are still heavily involved. 

They have commissioned this extrardinary building. Nothing else in the world like it. Weird. Wonderful. Romantic. Unique.

You can book a tour through the Waddesdon website.

It was designed by Portuguese designer Joana Vasconcelos.

In summer the grounds are worth visitng.

Angela Lansbury, at Waddesdon in summer.

The 3 storey wedding cake pavilion is 12 metres high and stands near the dairy built by Ferdinand de Rothschild. 

The name Rothschild means red shield.

The Prtugues surname Vasconcelos is from a town in Spain. The name is also found in Brazil.

Useful Websites

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-12413391/Inside-incredible-12-metre-high-Wedding-Cake-pavilion-Buckinghamshire-decorated-frosted-mermaids-icing-like-tiles-buttercream-stairs.html

https://www.designboom.com/art/joana-vasconcelos-ceramic-wedding-cake-pavilion-waddesdon-manor-02-24-2023/

Wikipedia Waddesdon

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waddesdon_Manor

Waddesdon Website

https://waddesdon.org.uk/your-visit/grounds/wedding-cake-at-waddesdon/

Guided Tour

https://www.getyourguide.com/-

The Deisgner Joana Vasconcelos

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joana_Vasconcelos

A modern sukkah for the Jewish autmn harvest festival of Sukkot

Dinner table in Sukkah with Palwin wine. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

Palwin wine

The Palwin wine is kosher. It has a long history. The name Palwin comes from Palestinian Wine. 

Notice the label features grapes. 

The bread is challah. A white or yellow soft bread. Served on a platter or a bread board on a silver or decorated tray. It is covered with a cloth embroidered with suitable symbols.

Sukkah, 2021. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

The sukkah is decorated with fruit and depictions of fruit. Gardens in London, England have apples and grapes. (In fact the UK has more than 300 commercial wineries and vineyards. The famous Rothschild banking family established kosher wineries in France and Israel. You can see Rothchild cellars and the exhibition of wine labels at Waddesdon Manor.)

My family was a bit worried about the cold when invited to share an evening Sukkot meal in a sukkah. But there was a small electric heater plugged in to a socket in the kitchen, with the lead through the open kitchen window. 

The guests helped clear up. You do not want to leave crumbs on the table or floor to attract insects and rats. (This summer rats chewed wiring in our car engine which cost a lot to repair.) Fruit suspended in the air is okay. 

What is the difference between a sukkah and Sukkot? A sukkah is the temporary building. Sukkot is the festival.

Useful Websites

https://sukkahmart.co.uk/pages/about-sukkot

https://sukkahmart.co.uk/products/safari-sukkah

https://amenvamen.com/sukkah-kit-reviews

Sukkah kit

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/264476751808?chn=ps&norove

Chocolate In My Pocket for travel, Choctails on my Christmas list

Problem
What if you are in economy class and the airline doesn't give you a chocolate dessert?

Answers
Sometimes you can ask for chocolate as a snack after the meal.
You could bring a chocolate from home.

My husband was sitting on a Singapore Airlines plane, upstairs in Business Class, which he had to do to get enough airmails to maintain his frequent flyer status. I was down in Economy, benefitting from a free flight obtained with his Airmails. After the meal he came downstairs to see me. He surreptitiously handed me something wrapped in a white napkin. I unwrapped it. He had brought a chocolate from home!

I am quite happy with 'ordinary' chocolates. We had a friend in Singapore who liked chocolates as a gift, but she was not happy with ordinary chocolates. We were always desperately looking for a new chocolate shop to get something special for her.

I went for lunch with the Rothschilds, once. I was wondering what to take them. Since they had a shop on their estate, I presumed they had free access to all ordinary chocolates.

Now I know what to do for a gift for somebody like that. Pick a speciality chocolate. Note a list of chocolate suppliers so when it comes to Christmas or a birthday or special occasion you can find something special.

In Singapore chocolates are very expensive. If you go to a chocolate shop just before travelling, it's handy to have two or three packages of speciality chocolates to give when you get an unexpected invitation to dinner at a house or an expat club.

Some of the speciality chocolates contain cream so they will not let forever. Check the shelf life. One year I wanted to take chocolates and a white iced Christmas cake to Singapore for Xmas day, hoping to keep in in the freezer. Unfortunately, after I got home I looked at the label and found that the product said that it would expire before Dec 25th! We ate it earlier in London instead.

I discovered an email from a chocolate company I have not yet tried. I have added them to my list. I think I might have tried the chocolates and liked them at one of the chocolate shows in London. They run a chocolate club called Five O'Clock and you spend £15 a month and get unusual chocolates including ones just coming into production.

https://www.choctails.org.uk/chocolates/seasonal-specials/


Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.