It is a very long time since we last 'belonged' to the National Trust, in fact so long ago I might still have been wearing those Felicity Kendall 'Good Life' dungarees. A lot of new places have opened in the interim and we now have three hundred or more to choose from, which perfectly suits our renewed interest in it all coupled with our ability to travel a little further afield and not have to worry about dragging children along. Bookhound seeks out the stuffed fish and I look for textiles, and we both adore a wander around those houses that are an eclectic array of people's collections that speak volumes about their lives, so expect plenty of blog posts to come.
I like the new and much more relaxed ethos of the National Trust towards visitors too, warm, friendly and welcoming and 'Yes, please do take photographs.' This all in marked contrast to the days when we would 'drag' three (well-behaved) children around and feel we were being followed by the 'Don't Touch' police and the sight of a camera would mean an instant swoop. Our children would have loved the junior treasure trails and observation games that all the properties seem to have now, and we love the seating areas half way round that encourage you to stop and peruse picture albums. It's a chance to step off the tour and sit and imagine yourself living in a house like this too, hear the voices and see the people who did maybe, and we usually take full advantage.
We settled on a visit to Overbecks at Salcombe to celebrate my diamond jubilee and christen our membership cards (though the free binoculars hadn't arrived...they have now) and were met by a very happy smiley woman in the kiosk who gave us the warmest welcome imaginable. It all got top marks for excellence on our post-visit questionnaire.
Originally known as Sharpitor, the house overlooks the magnificent and very beautiful Salcombe Estuary...
and built in the late 19th century, it has a chequered ownership history. This is not a home that has been in the same family for generations, and seeking out the stories of those who have lived in houses like this holds endless fascination for me. Perhaps the most poignant residents have to be the Verekers who bought the house in 1913, subsequently rebuilding it to face the sea. Their second son, Lieutenant Robert Vereker, just twenty-one years old, was killed within three weeks of the outbreak of the First World War, during the retreat from Mons in Belgium, and the couple immediately offered their new home rent-free to the Red Cross for use as a VAD hospital for the treatment and convalesence of British and Allied troops. The Verekers stayed and helped to run the hospital which cared for more than a thousand soldiers over the next four years, not a single death was recorded and by all accounts it was a truly wonderful and recuperative place.
Of Dutch descent, Otto Overbecks was, by profession, an analytical chemist, but also an inventor and collector who bought the house and gardens in 1928, bequeathing it to the National Trust on his death less than ten years later and requesting it be named after him. Part of the house is still a youth hostel but the rest has been turned into a cornucopia of collections, reflecting both Otto's life along with the history of the locality.
I love the little asides that you discover on visits like this...
Otto discovered that a waste product of brewing was actually a palatable (to some) and nutritious food. He called it carnos (Greek for meat) we know it better as Marmite.
Bookhound was completely overcome by the fishy landing, it was like leaving him in a Man-Creche for two hours...
Whilst I am always enamoured by the miniature world of a doll's house..
No NT house should be without one...
I never quite know what to make of butterfly collections, dozens of the same species, row after row of them, and the NT sign nearby reflected that disquiet and how greatly times have changed. Yet they are still mesmerising to look at, this batch held my gaze for ages...
I am easily won over by a conservatory with a sea view too and I sat here while Bookhound discussed the merits of a cased carp with an official who had been summoned to answer questions...
The gardens were just going over but still resplendent in this little south Devon micro-climate that allows things like banana trees to flourish, whilst the shop were selling NT raffle tickets and giving away a packet of poppy seeds collected from the garden if you bought two. I didn't like to say that I would happily have paid £2 for a little piece of Overbecks to grow in my own garden so I am hopeful that I will have a display of Papaver 'Lauren's Grape' next summer because I am already planning a Poppy Fest in honour of the centenary of the start of the Great War.
As it was my birthday and it felt like hours since lunch, we felt obliged to sample the tea rooms and the lemon meringue cake. I would hate you to miss out on that and the hot chocolate..
I deserved to be sick but on this occasion wasn't.
Wandering around I took a shine to what I now call Overbecks Blue, a particular shade that brought the outside of the property together in a very cohesive way, perfectly reflecting the backdrop of the sea...
Gates and doors all matching and very pleasing on the eye.
And strangely pleasing on the ear, the sound of the Overbecks' Polyphon playing a tune. First built in Leipzig in Germany, apparently Otto saw this one in a local pub and made a deal with the landlord, swapping it for a modern gramophone and a fiver. Apologies that this little video clip is a bit dark and leaves you standing on your head...it's just the way it was, but hopefully you get the gist etc. and all National Trust visit recommends very welcome in comments.
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