The Children Of Green Knowe Appreciation Society

This ancient manor made hand-sewn quilts the main event At The Manor in Hemingford Grey, Cambridgeshire, Diana Boston leads visitors through the historic house where her mother-in-law, writer Lucy M. Boston, lived, wrote the Green Knowe books and created an extraordinary collection of patchwork quilts. I thought the house itself would be the thing I remembered. Instead, I kept stopping at the quilts. They are not little decorative extras tucked into a room. Lucy made them by hand over years, and seeing them here, in the home where she actually worked, suddenly makes all that patient cutting, stitching and arranging feel wonderfully real. Diana’s tour was what pulled everything together. Rather than feeling as though we were being marched past a succession of old rooms, there was a family connection to what we were looking at — the books, the quilts, the rocking horse, even the music mentioned around the house. I’m usually the person wondering about stairs, fires and how a house actually functioned while everyone else admires the grandest room. Here I found myself completely distracted by fabric (which Imogen would consider a minor miracle). The garden afterwards was lovely, but those quilts stayed with me. A historic house is so much more affecting when somebody’s actual work is still sitting inside it. House visits are currently £14 for adults and include the garden. I’d very warmly recommend booking one if you are anywhere near Huntingdon.