This morning we visited Winterbourne House and garden, and this afternoon we headed into Birmingham. First Winterbourne.

It’s an Arts and Crafts house built in the early 20th Century for the Nettlefolds family, who made their money in the screw business, and went on to become the “N” of GKN. The uneven roofline was deliberate, to echo old houses with sagging roofs. Inside it is very light and airy, and had all sorts of modern conveniences like a dumb waiter and gas fires, but it still took a staff of ten or so to look after a family of six.

The house is now owned by the University of Birmingham, and was used for a time as student accommodation, very little of the original furniture remains, but they have redecorated and furnished in the period style. Here’s the nursery.

These days the rooms have motion sensors as you enter, and will start playing recordings of diary extracts or letters of the people who lived there when you go in. The nursery played Teddy Bears Picnic over and over again. Anyone who thinks this song is a charming piece of juvenilia should read Alasdair Gray’s essay on The Great Bear Cult of the 1930s, still a taboo subject in the United Kingdom.

This is what caught Paula’s eye, though. A display of Nettlefolds’ products.

You have to love all those fastenings. Here’s some more screw artwork.

The gardens were far more interesting than the house, though. Laid out with great care by the original owners, they are maintained as a botanical and research garden by the University, as well as maintaining the original designs. Parts are formal…

parts are wild and woodlandy.

There is a Japanese bridge…

and the obligatory Gorey urn.

There are greenhouses for special collections. Here are some juvenile triffids, not yet large enough to destroy civilization, but almost ready for a part in a made-for-cable SF movie.

Here is the star of the obscene cactus house.

Well, bugger! We went out to dinner in the middle of writing this post, and the boat was broken into. They took a kindle, a nine year old camera, a backpack Paula’s sister made for her, and a handful of computer cables and chargers that will be a nuisance to replace. It could have been a lot worse. Luckily the thief missed my phone, my computer, Paula’s ipad, our cash, and our passports. We’ve filed a police report, and there was a CCTV pointed at the bow of the boat where they got in, so if it was working the police may actually be able to do something.