Sponsored by
The magic of growing up at Shibden Hall
TWINS Ruth and Jean Webster were just six and their sister, Pauline, eight when their father, Mallinson, was appointed first warden at the newly opened Shibden Hall museum.
The decision to open the Jacobean house to the public was made in February 1934 and just weeks later the Webster family, which included mum Annie, moved in. It was to be their home for almost 20 years.
Now, 75 years later, as one of Calderdale's favourite tourist attractions celebrates its special anniversary, the memories of the Webster sisters of growing up at the historic hall and playing in its wonderful grounds are just as vivid as they were in those early days.
And so that they can be shared with others, the sisters, after a nostalgic return visit to their old childhood home, have recorded their recollections for the hall archives.
Ruth, now 81, is Ruth Skye and lives in Huddersfield. One of her earliest memories is of a day when her dad had moved in ahead of the rest of the family to get the hall ready as a museum. Mallinson had to sleep at the hall once the last owner, John Lister, had died and it passed into the hands of the old Halifax corporation because in the short time it had stood empty there had been a problem with looting.
"Two policemen were sent, briefly to sleep there too and they were frightened when an owl came down the chimney and they thought it was a ghost. We called it the ghost room after that – it's now the Edwardian room," she recalls.
And before a bathroom was installed the only toilet was high up in the tower.
"This meant, for the little six year-old wimp I was, going through the old kitchen, across a dark passage, through the housebody with its dark panelling, past the Lister lion, of which I was terrified, lots of dark portraits, through the dining room, through another dark passage and up some steps. I had nightmares about this later."
However, Ruth remembers being entranced by the beautiful grounds, the park over the garden wall and the boating lake where the girls learned to row.
"What became our sitting room and what is now the education room, had meat hooks for hams and salt beef all over the ceiling," she says. Ruth also recalls exploring the kitchen garden with its walls, heated for the vines, the lily pond and the cold winters when the lake froze over and they learned to skate.
"The Hall stayed open till dusk (no lighting in parts of it) which meant 8pm in summer. One evening Jean and I were in bed, aged about nine, our bedroom door opened ad two women looked in and one said 'ooh, there's two children in there.' They had managed to break through the doors into our part. Dad fixed locks after that."
Jean, who now lives in north Wales, remembers Tommy Topham, the estate gardener who used to bring sweets for her and her sisters and one day in 1937 when Shibden Hall played host to Royal visitors.
Soon after his accession, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth (who was to become the Queen Mother) visited Halifax and had lunch at the hall.
"Modern cookers were installed in the old kitchen and a toilet with wash basin was put in for the Queen," reveals Jean who adds that the only view they got of the visitors was the King's top hat and that the Queen must have been feeling unwell because she did not want to eat the lunch prepared for her.
"The cooks came through to Mom and asked her for a milk pan and milk because The Queen wanted warm milk. She also wanted toast and they had no ordinary loaf so Mom had to supply that. The milk pan came back burned! But they gave us the food that was left over – chicken legs and dinner buns.
One of Jean's fondest memories is of the sunsets over the Shibden Valley. "We were really privileged to live in such as place."
After retiring, Mallinson's position as resident warden was filled in 1953 by Reginald Chadwick and his daughter, Marilyn, has also recorded her memories for the archive.
"My room overlooked the front lawn and had a narrow stone balcony. When I grew taller, I was able to climb out, though the climb back in was harder," she says.
"I loved to explore the hall, particularly in winter when it was closed to visitors. I liked the desk in the study with its many secret drawers and never tired of opening them.
"The Savile Room was my favourite because it contained so many interesting things, a tea box, delicate silver candle snuffers and a fascinating sewing box. I also enjoyed exploring the storage areas, though they were dark and dusty and I never went into them alone.
"The museum staff used the tower for lunch and it always smelled of soup. But to me the spiralling staircase leading up into darkness was magical. I wondered was the old woman with the spindle from Sleeping Beauty up there?"
l A number of events to celebrate 75 years of Shibden Hall opening as a museum are being organised. For details ring 01422 352246.
Email to a friend
Print this page- A58 crash UPDATE: road now re-open after man hit by car earlier this morning
- Crash on the A58 in Halifax this morning UPDATE: Man in hospital with several broken bones
- Taxi worker dies aged 35 after finishing his shift
- Man suffers serious injuries in accident on M62
- How the new Halifax Central Library will look
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Halifax
Saturday 11 February 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: -2 C to 0 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: South west
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 2 C to 5 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: North west
