‘“Chilly” is an adjective that was long associated with Eastnor Castle before we restored the central heating system.  We kept the word association going with the “Big Chill”, which last year celebrated its tenth anniversary at Eastnor.  We will miss the festival this year as it is having a rest while many of its faithful customers will be watching the Olympics or going abroad to avoid them, but we look forward keenly to its return in 2013.  In the meantime, we are organising our own Chilli Festival, not as much to keep the theme going, but because we think it will be an excellent new event for our visitors to the Castle. 

We have seen the success of the chilli festivals at Levens Hall through our membership of the Historic Houses Association and felt the distance between Cumbria and Herefordshire was enough to allow us to follow their example without competing, so now we look forward to having 40 exhibitors set up their stalls in the Courtyard.  Visitors will be able taste and buy curry sauces and pastes, pickles and jams, chilli chocolate, cheese and vodka.  There will be specialist hot food suppliers selling curries and other spicy food.

Local suppliers will include Monkhide Wines,  The Velvet Bean and Ambalama Spices, Rayeesa, a curry expert will lead cookery demonstrations in a covered area, Los Squideros, a Hereford-based Mexican band, will provide live entertainment, and for children there will be a Chilli Trail, stilt walker and fire juggler.

We have had a lot of interest so far, I hope it will be a great success… and also that someone will be selling bananas to absorb the heat!!

JH-B     22nd April 2012

As we prepare for Easter opening, Easter egg hunts etc, the new Burma Bridge connecting our playground to a nearby redwood tree nears completion. It replaces a rather unslippery slide and a wooden tower with a climbing net for access, and should be as much, if not more fun. The image shows it under light test by two of my daughters, but we are confident it will take as many children as there is room for.

It has been built by Motiva who have an excellent rope walk in the trees of the Forest of Dean. They have used special soft wood, specified for this type of use and grown in the Baltic republics, where the cold weather ensures slower growth and a better quality of timber. All ropes and nets are safety approved, and the destination tree has survived many storms and winds, not to mention the 1976 hurricane. If it ever started to move, I am confident that the Burma Bridge would hold it in place. It will be free of charge to visitors to the castle and grounds, and that includes parents and grandparents.

My older children used to think it was quite cool to live in a house with its own playground. As they grew older, however, they were less keen on shared access. My younger children luckily are still at the thinking it cool stage. We hope lots of visitors will too!

JH-B   2nd April 2012