Not the worst place you could be sent to work an extra shift

Today I was lent out from Helmshore to help out at another Museum. Originally I had said no. "It's at Gawthorpe?" said Louise, my boss, and so I was sold. I love Gawthorpe. The land in this corner of Padiham, in Lancashire, has need owned by the Shuttleworth family since the 14th century. In the 1600s Gawthorpe meaning 'place of the cuckoo' was built as a home for the family. It remained empty for a long time when, in the 1850s, famous architect Sir Charles Barry, was hired to renovate the hall. It's most recent owner, Miss Rachel Kay-Shuttleworth, decked it out in all the finest arts and crafts furniture and fabric she could. Hence it is full to the brim with Crane and Pugin designs and a hoard of National Portrait Gallery paintings to boot. It didn't really feel like a day a work, all that tea and chats with Gary and Mary!