“YOUNG LADIES DO NOT EAT CHEESE AT DINNER PARTIES…”
Adrian Tinniswood, Blenheim Literary Festival, Oxford
********* What a wonderful quote with which to open this particular blog?
And it perfectly sums up just how quirky, fun and original Adrian Tinniswood’s talk on ‘The Long Weekend: Life in the English Country House Between the Wars’ proved to be.
Translated by me (and me alone) as: “If you loved ‘Downton Abbey’ you’d have loved this talk” it had ‘original’ stamped all over it.
Now whilst I wasn’t a fan of the hugely successful series - ‘Upstairs, Downstairs’ with Hudson, Mrs Bridges and Rose is my kind of period pin-up - I have to say I adored this talk. Tinniswood as a speaker was as delightfully whimsical as his subject matter, revolving as it did around how the lives of the ‘other half’ lived, loved and entertained betwixt Fridays and Mondays (the term ‘weekend’ was, at that time, apparently considered vulgar).
Country house parties for the well-heeled boomed because of three reasons -
1. The burgeoning rail network
2. The affection for etiquette
3. And the relaxation of certain reproduction-linked taboos.
Clearly, if you were old and had money, young and had looks, and were only too happy to embrace and acknowledge the first two, life could be a ball.
As was this talk…
![Blenheim Palace](https://blenheimpalaceliteraryfestival.com/images/logo/1072/blenheimpalacelogo-black__thumb.jpg)
![HSBC](https://blenheimpalaceliteraryfestival.com/images/logo/356/hsbc_masterbrand_logo_rgb__thumb.png)
![Desmond and Fiona Heyward](https://blenheimpalaceliteraryfestival.com/images/logo/1587/heywards__thumb.png)
![Lady Hatch](https://blenheimpalaceliteraryfestival.com/images/logo/1833/lady-hatch__small-2__thumb.gif)
![Jill Dunsmore](https://blenheimpalaceliteraryfestival.com/images/logo/1834/jill-dunsmore-2__thumb.jpg)
![Mary and Cecil Quillen](https://blenheimpalaceliteraryfestival.com/images/logo/1865/mary-and-cecil-quillen__small__thumb.jpg)
![Italian Cultural Institute](https://blenheimpalaceliteraryfestival.com/images/logo/1586/italian-cultural-institute__thumb.jpg)
![Owen Mumford](https://blenheimpalaceliteraryfestival.com/images/logo/1136/owenmumford__thumb.jpg)
![HM Government of Gibraltar](https://blenheimpalaceliteraryfestival.com/images/logo/1309/hmgog_stacked_new__listing__listing__thumb.jpg)
![Gibunco Group](https://blenheimpalaceliteraryfestival.com/images/logo/1557/gibunco_logo__listing__thumb.png)
![Hedges Law](https://blenheimpalaceliteraryfestival.com/images/logo/1751/hedges__thumb.png)
![Seabourn Luxury Cruises](https://blenheimpalaceliteraryfestival.com/images/logo/1831/seabourn-2__thumb.jpg)
![Blackwell’s](https://blenheimpalaceliteraryfestival.com/images/logo/361/blackwells_2__thumb.jpg)
![European Commission](https://blenheimpalaceliteraryfestival.com/images/logo/1832/commission_logo_pantone-hi_res__thumb.jpg)
![The Oxford Times](https://blenheimpalaceliteraryfestival.com/images/logo/363/oxford_times_mast_mono__thumb.jpg)
![Bear Ram Elk](https://blenheimpalaceliteraryfestival.com/images/logo/382/bearramelk_logo__thumb.png)
![Eynsham Hall](https://blenheimpalaceliteraryfestival.com/images/logo/1553/eynsham_hall__thumb.jpg)
![Floris of London](https://blenheimpalaceliteraryfestival.com/images/logo/366/floris_b__thumb.jpg)
![Oxford Cultural Collective](https://blenheimpalaceliteraryfestival.com/images/logo/658/oxford_cultural_collective__thumb.jpg)
![Macdonald Bear Hotel](https://blenheimpalaceliteraryfestival.com/images/logo/1441/bear-hotel-woodstock-sign__thumb.jpg)
![Princeton University Press](https://blenheimpalaceliteraryfestival.com/images/logo/1169/princeton_university_press-2__thumb.png)
![Lord’s Taverners](https://blenheimpalaceliteraryfestival.com/images/logo/1782/lords_taverners_logo_s__thumb.jpg)
![The Feathers Hotel](https://blenheimpalaceliteraryfestival.com/images/logo/370/feathers__thumb.jpg)
![The King’s Arms](https://blenheimpalaceliteraryfestival.com/images/logo/1864/kings_arms-2__thumb.png)
![The Sloane Club](https://blenheimpalaceliteraryfestival.com/images/logo/1164/sloane-club-for-web__thumb.jpg)
![Literary Review](https://blenheimpalaceliteraryfestival.com/images/logo/1554/literary-review__thumb.jpg)
![Liaison Financial Services](https://blenheimpalaceliteraryfestival.com/images/logo/371/blue_liaison_on_white__thumb.png)
![OX magazine](https://blenheimpalaceliteraryfestival.com/images/logo/1584/ox_magazine__thumb.png)
![K T Bruce Photography](https://blenheimpalaceliteraryfestival.com/images/logo/836/logo____thumb.jpg)
![Save the Children Bookshop](https://blenheimpalaceliteraryfestival.com/images/logo/1836/save_the_children-2__thumb.jpg)
![Experience Oxfordshire](https://blenheimpalaceliteraryfestival.com/images/logo/1705/eo_partner_logo__thumb.jpg)
![Wake up to Woodstock](https://blenheimpalaceliteraryfestival.com/images/logo/1784/wutw__thumb.jpg)
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A FLAWLESS END-OF-FESTIVAL TOAST… SUNDAY, OCTOBER 14, 18.27PM
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FROM THE RIDICULOUS TO THE SUBLIME… SUNDAY, OCTOBER 14, 15.23PM
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THE RAT PACK FOR THE STAIRLIFT GENERATION… SUNDAY, OCTOBER 14, 14.23PM
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JEEVES WOULD APPROVE… SATURDAY, OCTOBER 13, 18.31PM
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QUALITY NOT QUANTITY… SATURDAY, OCTOBER 13, 15.28PM
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WELL YOU WOULD, WOULDN’T YOU…? SATURDAY, OCT 13, 13.15PM
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WELL, I DIDN’T SEE THAT COMING… FRIDAY, OCTOBER 12, 17.55PM