“It’s as if the housekeepers, stewards, kitchen-maids, footmen, under-butlers and chef have had the day off…the kitchen copper gleams, jellies are lined up in the dairy, with rolling pins and floured boards at the ready.” Petworth House is
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The beautifully tiled Winter Dairy at Petworth House was completed in 1891. North facing and partially underground, the airy light room was ideal for the storage of butter, cream and cheese – and also perfect for the preparation of cold desserts su
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6am, light the fire and make tea for the chef and the head kitchen-maid; next, it’s onto the servants’ breakfasts for 8am; then, it’s yeast buns into the oven for the servants’ afternoon tea. And that’s just the start of the kitchen maid’
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The scullery is the main artery of any country house kitchen, for it provides the cogs for good things to come. Efficiency and order in a busy kitchen is critical, for it delivers a happier cook and consequently delicious things to eat. In today’s
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Christmas is here and our Yule log inspired windows are in: families of mushroom brushes and teapot brushes cluster on snowy logs; brown paper wrapped trees sprout wooden spoons; antique baker’s boards form distant hills; and a single candle burns,
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Keep Off The Grass!…and the bowling green for that matter. Our spring shop windows…have sprung, with ceramic leafiness. A collection of vintage leaf and apple blossom Carlton Ware, and all for sale.
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The stage is set, the curtain’s up, and our Magritte inspired Christmas windows are revealed. Clouds, pipes, curtains, and bowler hats are some of the most immediately recognizable icons of René Magritte, the Belgian surrealist – and
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“The wash house was almost part of folklore. Some of our older volunteers had remote memories of it so we decided to explore more. We weren’t disappointed” said the Director of Middleport Pottery, John Lowther. This workers’ washroom – p
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Middleport Pottery, Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, is a must-see. Tucked away behind rows of back-to back factory workers’ Victorian terraces it quietly sits, a ghost of its former self, the days of bustle and toil long gone. Yet its fire still burns - i
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The King’s Breakfast is served! We have raided Balmoral’s below-stairs for the finest ironstone wares - everything is for sale, bequeathed by her late majesty. The King sobbed, "Oh, deary me!" And went back to bed. "Nobody," He whimpere
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Like something out of Fritz Lang’s 1927 film Metropolis, Battersea Power Station, London’s iconic landmark, has risen from its ashes in full futuristic splendour. This magnificent cathedral to the machine age has at last shaken off its post-apoca
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Our spring windows are in. A collection of wonderful mid-century Cannes pattern plates designed in 1954 by the celebrated architect and designer Sir Hugh Casson for Midwinter potteries. Each piece is signed on the underside, and we’re selling the
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Our Christmas windows are in! Peep through a Sleeping Beauty thicket of twigs, mossy trunks and ivy, to spy on gnomes in a glen, each window a snowy nook. Then walk through our door and the magic continues with wondrous gifts galore. Robins have f
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Autumn is here, and full on, with its gumboots, leaves, quinces and rain - and, of course, our autumnal windows. We’re drumming in the season’s ochres and siennas with our one-man band arrangements of Edwardian hat boxes, ceiling brushes, feat
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The final curtain of our Elizabethan age is about to be drawn. Our windows, in honour and thanks to Her Majesty The Queen, are set in readiness for this final farewell: The State Funeral. Your devotion to service, your devotion to your people, and yo
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All the containers came today And it looks as though they're here to stay Oh You Pretty Things… All for sale. We’re open. The sea is waiting. So wake up you sleepy head Put on some clothes, shake up your bed …and get yourself down to Hast
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“Best in show” …our summer windows are in. Rows of staged geraniums planted in vintage Denby tea cups and saucers, and all for sale at £9.50 each. Open today, so don’t miss out - we still have a handful left.
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Planters, tubs, baths, and buckets all stacked up in the back of our van - a wonderful haul of large vintage galvanised wares, perfect for the garden. Plus, I spy with my little eye some more of those extra delicious antique bread boards tucked in th
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God save the Queen!….a compilation of our platinum jubilee windows, glittering with mirrors, paper crowns, and Sex Pistols’ iconography. Our coronation Festival of Britain style coronets, crowns and tiaras bear all names for her majesty: Ma
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Gearing up for our tribute to The Queen – our platinum jubilee windows. Our busy little Blue Peter fingers have been cutting and stapling much paper to make Festival of Britain style coronets, crowns and tiaras, all bearing the much-loved names
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More from the wonderful world of Lobster & Chips. May Day weekend, and the tables were laid and set, in resplendent anticipation for the glorious L&B ritual at Sam Taylor’s Rock House, Hastings. This was the big one: Sam’s 60th with 60 guests. Bu
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Our windows now sprout with the green shoots of spring: a hyacinth-arium come herbarium of enamel pans, bowls, jugs and bread bins planted with neat rows of bulbs and tufts of herbs. Enamel is perfect for window-box planters and when planted will bri
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The Christmas House is open tomorrow! Listed number 2 in the Guardian’s top 10 historical homes to visit this Christmas, and this is what they say: “Stepping through the door of this captivating 16th-century merchant’s house in Hastings Old
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Our Christmas windows are in! A dragon’s hoard of gleaming silver, cascading with platters, ladles, champagne buckets, food cloches, tazzas, goblets, flatware and chalices. We, the trustees of the treasures of B Baggins, The Hobbit, of Bag End, an
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Hat, coat and polished shoes - new door policy. Haha! Just kidding. Oh those were the days - we wish they’d never ended. Last week a production company used the shop front for a cut-away scene in “Vindication Swim”, an upcoming biographical dra
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Step inside our Christmas imaginarium: Through The Looking Glass. Our store is brimming with wondrous gifts and is open today, and every day right up to Christmas. We also offer click-and-collect, so check out our online Christmas Shop and you can po
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The house opens its magical door this coming weekend. Due to the conditions in place for social distancing we have been unable to open this year, and the little house has missed you all. It’s been slumbering quietly, dreaming up wondrous things; so
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Tune In To Your Wireless Alastair Hendy will be on Radio 4’s Four Thought on Wednesday 25th November at 9.30am, talking about how we in the UK have lost our food culture. Yes, you read that correctly: we have lost our food culture. But once Alast
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Oh lord! Christmas cometh. Yes, Our Lord’s big moment is also the big moment to give our kitchen busying and dining action a little spruce up, bunging in cheer with a flash of red: make real tea in a teapot; stuff a roast bird and truss with string
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Sometimes you just have to take a big blast of your own trumpet, so please allow us – as Alastair and his shop are the subject of this month’s guest editor interview on the Good Web Guide: “Alastair Hendy, The Walking Magazine”. Here, Alasta
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We’ve cleaned, bleached, scrubbed, swept, just about every nook and cranny we can lay our hands on by now - but, look down. Horror! Your shoes! Forgotten. Do not go into meltdown. We urge you. To the rescue - and plastic free, all-natural and handm
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Now that you’ve rebuilt the duck house; woven a tapestry cushion; reupholstered the sofa; become a master-baker; are fluent in three languages; knitted 1000 loo-roll covers, and completed 101 marvellous ways with mince; you just may be twiddling yo
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`Well, I'll eat it,' said Alice, `and if it makes me grow larger, I can reach the key; and if it makes me grow smaller, I can creep under the door; so either way I'll get into the garden, and I don't care which happens!’ A copse of Christmas trees
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Our Treasures from the Orient have arrived. A cargo of antique Chinoiserie laquer ware, ebony, mother of pearl, papier-mâché and hand painted calligraphy makes up our windows; along with silver, exotic taxidermy and boxes of glittering delights, ev
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We are offering our A G Hendy & Co extra large vintage archive box at the discounted price of £19.50 during the Christmas period. Constructed from vulcanized cardboard with an internal aluminium frame and rivets for extra rigidity, they were origina
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After a long and anticipated wait our weekend kitchen will be opening again from Saturday 29th June. Our fresh-off-the-boat seafood, our generous shellfish pot and our plates of seasonal vegetables are all on the menu. To make your lunch reservation
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Our traditional enamelled workshop light is all fitted, wired and ready to go. It makes a very handsome addition to any room and is particularly practical when suspended low over a desk, table or kitchen work surface, as it is fitted with a handy on/
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Looking for a way to say thank you for that perfect Christmas day or fabulous New Year’s dinner? Then we might just have the answer. Our bespoke A G Hendy & Co gift boxes can be packed with beautiful products of your choice, such as this one - with
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Just a little reminder. The Christmas House opens its wee door for the last time this coming Christmas Eve weekend, so if you were planning a visit, now is the last chance for 2018. We are open this Saturday and Sunday, no booking required. And we al
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Unlock the door to another world of Christmas gifts: of Victorian pharmacy jars; Edwardian poison bottles; mushroom corals; foxed silver bells; 1930s smoke-glass powder pots; and miniature weighing scales. Our magical Christmas room is brimming with
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Our Christmas shop this year is like a story book - it takes you on a journey. Once through the door, you enter paragraphs of rooms that weave a narrative. Upstairs you will explore a dark glittering surreal Svankmejar world of inky-blacks, tarni
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Our gift boxes and gift box sets are here! Each is filled with a bespoke selection of our finest products - curated by you or as one of our ready-made collections. Available in-store or from our online shop. Click here. Our A G Hendy & Co brand
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Our Christmas windows are in. The entire contents of an old pharmacy lit by flickering candles and with the ghosts of Christmas past peering out through shattered baubles and frosted chemist bottles, translucent with tincture traces and remedial ungu
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The dark days of December are nearly upon us and once again comes the opportunity to experience first-hand Alastair Hendy’s fairytale home at Christmas. Lit by candlelight, with log fires crackling, and filled with the smells of spiced wine and woo
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Our Ladybird alphabet inspired spring shop windows are kitted out with a pair of 1940s school outfitter's shop display mannequins. Price for the girl and boy and more details available upon request.
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A last minute reminder: our Tudor House will open its wee door once again for Hastings' Jack In The Green festival this coming weekend, 6th & 7th May. Lit by candlelight and with log fires burning it’s like stepping into the pages of a Grimm’s fa
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Our Tudor House will open its wee door once again for Hastings' Jack In The Green weekend 6th & 7th May. Alastair Hendy will be giving restoration tours of his magical house and its secret garden. Lit by candlelight and with log fires burning it’s
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Snow has fallen, the turkey is roasted, a jelly and ham are served - come in from the cold for wondrous gifts displayed over two floors at A G Hendy & Co Homestore Hastings. We are open every day this week, including Christmas Eve or visit our on-lin
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We have just two weekends left of our summer kitchen, as we close the restaurant this year on 1st October. So if you are planning a visit, we’d recommend booking right now. To make your Saturday or Sunday lunch reservation please call our store du
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Our fresh-off-the-boat seafood, our generous shellfish pot (as pictured) and our plates of seasonal vegetables are all still on the menu. Our kitchen will close in October, so if you are planning a visit, we’d recommend booking now as our tables fo
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Our kitchen is back! After a long and anticipated wait our weekend kitchen will be opening again from Saturday 8th July. Our fresh-off-the-boat seafood, our generous shellfish pot and our plates of seasonal vegetables are all on the menu. To mak
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Add another highlight to Hastings' Jack In The Green weekend by visiting 135 All Saints Street, where Alastair Hendy will be giving restoration tours of his magical house and its secret garden. Lit by candlelight and with log fires burning it’s l
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We are about to appear on Channel 4’s new TV series Hidden Restaurants presented by Michel Roux Jr. Last summer, Michel joined Alastair Hendy in his packed-out kitchen at A G Hendy & Co to lend a hand in the cooking of our stunning Shellfish Pot. T
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Drumming, marching, sinister costumes and burning torches once again take over the smoke-filled streets of Hastings - and then come the Black Bogies, pulling pitch-fired carts. This is Hastings Bonfire Night Parade. It’s as if the ghost ships of th
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Grey enamel cutlery holder £14 click here to purchase
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It is Hastings' famous Jack In The Green this coming bank holiday weekend - see our previous Notice 'Jack In The Green'. Add another highlight to your weekend by visiting 135 All Saints Street, where Alastair Hendy will be giving restoration tours
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Our spring-clean windows are an avifaunal paradise of brushes and dusters exhibited in Norwich canary display boxes. Come view the exhibits, which include: Turdus Migratorius (toilet brush), Scrubbus Vulgaris (scrubbing brush) and Fluffimus Maximus (
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Welcome to our Steptoe & Son collection of vintage finds arranged flea market style on our shopfront pavement. My mum roared with laughter through the 60s at tv's sitcom Steptoe & Son, while I was more transfixed by the glorious piles of furniture, p
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Our cut-price sale has started - plenty of vintage bargains to be had in-store. What you call a snip!
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Christmas has arrived at Homestore. Our windows are packed with the essential supplies of vintage baubles, hotel silverware, candles, haberdasher's tape, and Victorian pen & ink poems. Haberdasher's tape is just-the-job for all your Christm
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‘Jack is asleep, awaiting the next time he walks the land. The Morris men, and women, and dragons dance on. The Sweeps keep on sweeping, the Bogies are still drinking; and the Drummers play on.’ hastingsjack.co.uk Out came the green f
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