Ever since I read about Mr Straw I was determined to visit the house. Given how close it is, that should be simple, but rarely are we in the right place at the right time.
Today the planets are in alignment and we grab the 13:20 slot via the National Trust app. All that’s needed is the drive from our castle to Worksop in the time allowed.
Fortunately the traffic is mostly good and we get off with time to spare, this being pre-allocated to Mr Gormley, but sadly the fog descends and we can barely see the Angel of the North, so it’s hardly worth stopping today.
Hence we arrive early and our guide is super-attentive, especially when it turns out he lives near us.
Mr Straw’s House should more properly be The Straw Family House, since the story expands beyond the final chapter. Initially, the father (and his wife) lived above their grocers shop in Worksop. Soon there were three boys, although only two survived. On returning from the Great War William went to university and on to a City lifestyle for some time, whilst Walter continued the grocery business.
The business is doing well, so in 1923 they purchase their “des res” in one of the finest streets in town. It’s a semi, but a proper “gentleman’s villa” with room for servants, internal bathroom and an appropriate standing in society. Mrs Straw sets out to make it a splendid house of the period. She even has a commemorative carpet woven to celebrate the recent find of Tutankhamen's tomb at great expense.
Dad dies in 1933 and his widow insists his belongings are just kept, rooms left as they were. Which they are until she had also dies, in ‘39, when Walter moved a few things, but mostly left the house as it was. He continued to live without changing the house, other than no longer needing servants, so took over the attic rooms for his interests of cactus growing and books.
Around that time William returned from London and ran the house whilst Walter ran the shop, and this continues until he retires in ‘62. In retirement the interest in books and cactii was able to grow. Good business sense permitted them to purchase the other half of the villa, which was tenanted, and also the large parcel of land opposite which they turned into allotments.
Walter dies in 1976 and William in 1990, leaving the entire estate to National Trust, except the properties, which go to the sitting tenant, but the cash is ample to allow NT to buy both villas back and then curate the current property. The allotments make a great car park, and the tenanted half is the reception and museum part of the project.
Photos of the rooms are much brighter than reality thanks to iPhone 12’s excellent low-light imagery, in reality it’s quite dark in every room.
After an excellent hour or more we wander up the street briefly then head out of Worksop towards our home-from-home, Fischers at Baslow Hall. My history with Susan and Max Fischer goes back forty years, and their restaurant is the place we chose to celebrate pretty much anything of importance, from getting married (twice if you count the upgrade) to important birthdays, anniversaries, New Year’s Day, meeting friends and of course any other possible reason to dine one can think of.
So, where else would we chose to end our holiday and celebrate Husband’s birthday this year?
Before changing for dinner we take a wander around Baslow, a lovely Peak District village which has not changed much in decades. Then it’s:
PIG CHEEK (Cured Lardo / Spring Onion / Apple Caramel);
CHALK STREAM TROUT (Sea Herb / Hot Smoked Oyster / Yuzu Gel)
DERBYSHIRE LAMB (BBQ Asparagus / Salsa Verde)
WHITE CHOCOLATE & HONEY (Whisky / Sheffield Honey / Lemon Cake)
All courses are absolutely fantastic, plus canapés and a pre-desert of sweet potato ice cream, then we go moon watching and star gazing in the garden for a while.
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