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UK Holidays - Castles in the Air: The Restoration Adventures of Two Young Optimists and a Crumbling Old Mansion
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List Price: $14.00
Our Price: $11.90
Your Save: $ 2.10 ( 15% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Ebury Press
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Average Customer Rating: 
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 643
EAN: 9780091897314
ISBN: 0091897319
Label: Ebury Press
Manufacturer: Ebury Press
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 308
Publication Date: 2005-01-01
Publisher: Ebury Press
Studio: Ebury Press
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Editorial Reviews:
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When Judy Corbett caught sight of a great stone mansion in the craggy wilds of north Wales, she had little idea of the adventure on which she was about to embark. She and her husband, Peter, had long dreamed of buying an old ruin and escaping the pace and excesses of modern life. But it was only when they had moved into the vandalized, squalidly filthy, cold and wet Gwydir Castle that they began to realize what restoration dramas lay ahead. Restoring the 16th-century castle, which reduced the couple to near penury, turned their lives into a curious blend of real and imaginary, past and present. But the magic of the place, its history and the landscape, ensured that they stayed to tell this charming, deeply romantic tale of escape and homecoming.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: I have only one complaint
Comment: The book ended too soon!!!! I wanna know if they got the second room back...I want to know how the finished product turned out...I want more pictures!!!!! A LOT more pictures!!!!!
What a delightful read. ^__^
Customer Rating:
Summary: A remarkable labor of love and persistence
Comment: In northern Wales, 11 miles south of Conwy and 4 miles north of Betws-y-coed, across the bridge from the village of Llanrwst, on the floodplain between the River Conwy and the B5106 road, lies Gwydir Castle, the ancestral home of the Wynn family. Largely of 16th century construction, it's actually what remains of a more extensive Tudor courtyard manor house, and is the finest example of such in Wales.
Peter Welford and Judy Corbett, an architectural historian and a bookbinder respectively, pooled their meager life savings and a substantial bank loan to buy the place in the early 1990s. CASTLES IN THE AIR by Corbett is the utterly charming story of the pair's labors to restore Gwydir from its abysmally ruinous condition at purchase to something resembling its former glory.
The book offers a little something for everyone. There are the restoration adventures, of course, and also romance; Peter and Judy subsequently marry in an ancient chapel on a nearby hilltop. There's a fairly convincing supernatural ingredient that involves Peter being the unfortunate focus of animosity coming from the ghost of Lady Margaret Cave, a 17th century mistress of the manor, which resulted in his being struck on the head with a spade. There's hidden treasure, in this case the original carved wooden paneling stripped in totality from the dining room and auctioned off as a single lot in 1921 to (as it turned out) the American millionaire William Randolph Hearst, and later bequeathed to New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, which still had it stored in the original packing crates in a warehouse on the rough side of town. Throughout the narrative runs Judy's dry English wit, such as when she describes the visit by an impeccably dressed representative ("Please, just call me Bill") of The Met, who was so impressed by his first view of the castle that:
"... he didn't look where he was going and stepped into the biggest pile of peacock guano you have ever seen. Peter silently directed him to a patch of rough grass where he endeavoured to remove the vile-smelling substance from the stitching of his fine Italian shoes."
Above all, CASTLES IN THE AIR is the story of the pair's love affair with and dedication to something old, historic, and worth saving in the face of seemingly impossible odds. And it would seem they've succeeded beyond their wildest dreams; the recovery and reinstallation of the Dining Room paneling brought a visit by the Prince of Wales himself, though his shoes did stick to the floor varnished only hours before his arrival.
Judy describes herself and Peter as socially reticent almost to the point of misanthropy. Therefore, the fact that they accept paying B&B guests as well as hire out the ground floor halls out for weddings - see the official Gwydir Castle website - is indication of the financial strain imposed by the ongoing refurbishment of the manor house that continues to this day and into the foreseeable future. The Welford's affection for the ancient pile is evident in Judy's words:
"... to walk in the moon-washed shadows of the yew trees and to see the ancient profile of the house silhouetted against a cloudless sky was to feel oneself suspended out of time, as though in that moment we were living in parenthesis. Sometimes, if the night was cold enough, the trails of yesterday's peacock tails would be cast in frost across the patches of lawn we had managed to scythe the day before ... We would walk down to the bottom of the garden and sit on the massive slate bench ... with the sounds of the night rustling and chirruping around us."
How incredibly rewarding the lives of these two must be!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Very comfortable entertaining read! Talk about an adventure....
Comment: I loved every minute of this book as was sorry to reach the end. I hope the author will consider a sequel of subsequent adventures? As an antique collector I'm in awe of this couple's ambition and fortitude in rescuing and restoring the ultimate antique, a wonderful old estate, and sharing this home and tale with the world. Judy Corbett (Welford) tells the colorful story with humour and grace; trials and tribulations, local characters, royalty, unbelievable discoveries, romance, and plain old fashioned luck (or is it fate?). Since reading the book, I have visited north Wales and Gwydir Castle, and both are beautiful beyond words. The resoration of the house and grounds is spot on, perfectly on tune with the age and history. Gwydir Castle and the Welfords are a match made in heaven. If you are thinking of purchasing this book, stop reading the reviews and buy it now! It's definitely part of my "keep" collection.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great read....
Comment: I purchased this book because I had visited Gwydir castle and thought I might enjoy learning more about it's restoration. I was amazed to find a great book about pursuing your dreams.
Customer Rating:
Summary: an amazing project and an amazing read
Comment: for any fan of history or even just histoprical fiction, this is a fantasy come true .... the purchase of a Tudor castle in Wales to live in ... and the realities of accomplishing such a feat and renovation in today's age. Not only are the author and her husband brave hardy souls, but he is an artist and she is gifted with words - this is truly a great book to read!
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