We had a smashing day today. Our first destination on our day out was Elizabeth Gaskell's house in Manchester. We've been before but not since COVID-19 struck!
We thoroughly enjoyed a stroll round the house and garden and then popped down to the café for a coffee and some cake. We were thrilled to spot a book sale and spent a very happy half hour making a fine selection of books.
Next on our itinerary was a visit to the Whitworth Art Gallery. We didn't have a lot of time so this was just a flying visit. We decided to concentrate on the exhibition of wallpapers, as well as having a quick look round the shop. We love the shop, they have such an eclectic mix of beautiful things!
The Whitworth houses a collection of around 10,000 examples of wallpapers. The wallpapers began arriving at the Whitworth in 1967, some of them are luxurious, beautiful, old and hand printed, but most are the cheap and cheerful output of factories that gave remnants to museums after ceasing production. We enjoyed spotting some examples from our childhoods, as well as some that were far too cool for our parents! If books didn't "wallpaper" our rooms, there were a few that might have tempted us.
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| Floral Patterned Wallpaper, late 18th century J B Reveillon Hand Block Printing |
Our final destination was the Richmond Tea Rooms in the Village. This is one of our favourite haunts. They serve wonderful food in an Alice in Wonderland themed restaurant,
