BY the time they have reached the front door of Fawley Hill, first-time visitors have necessarily encountered much that will have amazed them. Readers of last week’s article have already been introduced to the park and its railway network, replete with stations, signal boxes, and architectural salvage, as well as the seven species of deer that roam freely in the surrounding woods and even, in the turning circle at the front of the house, a colony of meerkats.
Central to all these marvels were the personality and enthusiasms of the late Sir William McAlpine. Bill, as he was known, was born in the Dorchester Hotel in 1936 and left Charterhouse school aged 16 to start work in the family construction firm Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd. He went first to the company depot in Hayes in Middlesex where engines and rolling stock were kept, work that fired his lifelong interest in railways.
Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd was founded in Scotland in 1868, the first contract being for a humble signal box. The firm was soon building railways such as the Mallaig extension on the West Coast Line, and the now famous Glenfinnan Viaduct, as well as the Singer Factory at Clydebank, a gasworks in Glasgow, an aluminum works and several power stations. At the outbreak of war in 1914, the firm became involved in constructing munitions and aircraft factories, followed by the 1924 Wembley Exhibition Buildings, the Mersey Tunnel and, soon after, the Ebbw Valley Steelworks and Elstree and Pinewood film studios.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة January 25, 2023 من Country Life UK.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة January 25, 2023 من Country Life UK.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
Kitchen garden cook - Apples
'Sweet and crisp, apples are the epitome of autumn flavour'
The original Mr Rochester
Three classic houses in North Yorkshire have come to the market; the owner of one inspired Charlotte Brontë to write Jane Eyre
Get it write
Desks, once akin to instruments of torture for scribes, have become cherished repositories of memories and secrets. Matthew Dennison charts their evolution
'Sloes hath ben my food'
A possible paint for the Picts and a definite culprit in tea fraud, the cheek-suckingly sour sloe's spiritual home is indisputably in gin, says John Wright
Souvenirs of greatness
FOR many years, some large boxes have been stored and forgotten in the dark recesses of the garage. Unpacked last week, the contents turned out to be pots: some, perhaps, nearing a century old—dense terracotta, of interesting provenance.
Plants for plants' sake
The garden at Hergest Croft, Herefordshire The home of Edward Banks The Banks family is synonymous with an extraordinary collection of trees and shrubs, many of which are presents from distinguished friends, garnered over two centuries. Be prepared to be amazed, says Charles Quest-Ritson
Capturing the castle
Seventy years after Christian Dior’s last fashion show in Scotland, the brand returned under creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri for a celebratory event honouring local craftsmanship, the beauty of the land and the Auld Alliance, explains Kim Parker
Nature's own cathedral
Our tallest native tree 'most lovely of all', the stately beech creates a shaded environment that few plants can survive. John Lewis-Stempel ventures into the enchanted woods
All that money could buy
A new book explores the lost riches of London's grand houses. Its author, Steven Brindle, looks at the residences of plutocrats built by the nouveaux riches of the late-Victorian and Edwardian ages
In with the old
Diamonds are meant to sparkle in candlelight, but many now gather dust in jewellery boxes. To wear them today, we may need to reimagine them, as Hetty Lintell discovers with her grandmother's jewellery