A Boxing Day TRIP – to experience the ‘Festival of Light’ at Longleat, Wiltshire.

On what was possibly the wettest day of the festive season – 26th December 2017. Someone’s inside-out umbrella abandoned in a bin.  I didn’t have an umbrella – or a coat and got soaked through – but it didn’t matter…

The heavy rain couldn’t hope to dampen MY spirits because through my eyes – it only enhanced the LIGHT more – by reflecting it in the lakes of puddles.

At fifty-odd – I was suddenly a girl again; like Alice stepping through the looking glass into childhood’s world of magic and make-believe. Longleat had been transformed into a giant pop-up book of all the classic, best-loved Grimm’s fairy tales – laid flat for everyone to wander through.  These are just some of MY HIGH-LIGHTS…

Touching MAGIC and MAGIC touching me.  The wall of Sleeping Beauty’s Castle…

Despite ice-cold hands and fingers that had lost their ability to function properly – I determined to make a short film in the thorny enclosure that encircled Sleeping Beauty’s Castle… To capture the MAGIC forever – and to especially record the beautiful hypnotic but ‘nameless’ soundtrack of the ‘moment’ that played continuously on a loop…
The buffeting wind, biting rain and intermittent roars of a huge fire-breathing dragon over my shoulder – were all part of it. I felt like I was under some sort of enchantment – frozen by time – and elements. The ‘moment’ lasted longer than the fifty-nine seconds recorded, I’m certain of that – maybe even a hundred years… 

Meantime, my two rain-soaked sons retreated into ‘Costa’ – seemingly with everybody else – it was chock-a-block! Not my scene at all – everything and everybody was steaming like the contents of the huge plastic cups on offer – YUK! 

Eventually – I retreated into the comfort of an Edwardian Christmas in the main House – where I warmed my frozen hands on the hearth in the Great Hall. Again, I was transported to another time, another place -another century.  No photography allowed in the house – but I did sneak one last shot of the unforgettable ‘Festival of Fairy Tale Lights’ through the misted, listed window. A FANTASTIC ALL-ROUND TRIP.

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My special Christmas Mistletoe scarf drying out on the dash on the two hour journey back to Devon – thank god for the heated seats!

Completely COLOUR-FAST hand-blocked pure silk scarves and other beautiful hand-printed things available here.

Detail.