Charles Paget Wade: 'Let Nothing Perish'

Anyone who travels very much will find themselves either reading, or watching, or listening to Rick Steves. Before the SconeLady ever leaves the tarmac in Seattle or LA, she will have already heard or read whatever Rick might have to say about where she is going. It is utterly essential.

And then once I am on the new tarmac (almost always London Heathrow), Rick comes along in the form of a podcast, burbling away in my ear and giving helpful advice and information. I was listening to him only yesterday, although no major trip looms in my near future. A trip does loom, to be sure, but it will not take place for at least a few months. No matter. My iPhone is set to Travel With Rick Steves, just in case I hear something splendid about someplace intriguing. 

Yesterday Rick was interviewing two Italian and two British tour guides who had all sorts of fascinating info to pass along:

Rick's Guests:

• Tommaso Pante, tour guide based in Sicily
• Nina Bernardo, tour guide based in Rome
• Gillian Chadwick, tour guide based near London
• Roy Nicholls, tour guide based in Dorset, England

https://www.flickr.com/photos/19473388@N00/3980125673

One story that stood out to me in particular pertained to one of England's 'Stately Homes' called Snowshill Manor. Roy Nicholls told us all about how the owner went away to fight in the First World War, and came back severely mentally damaged. His response to this was to become a recluse and a collector - one might say an extreme collector, filling his house and his outbuildings with anything he could find - garden equipment, bicycles, toys, furniture, paintings - anything at all. The lovely Snowshill Manor became so filled with all of these collections that he moved out of it and into the gardener's cottage! It, too, Nicholls said, was promptly filled with collections of all sorts.

Roy Nicholls never said the word 'hoarder' as pertaining to Charles Wade and his collections. But that word did hover in my mind as I listened. The family motto fits right in with that, too. Are you ready for it? - LET NOTHING PERISH. 

I rest my case.

When Wade died, he donated the property to the National Trust, and it took them all of 5 years to clean it out and catalogue his amazing collections. Visitors to the Manor can come, and see, and be astounded by it all. 

Hearing about Charles Paget Wade has made me want to go to the Cotswolds and visit Snowshill. Perhaps, a walking tour in the area? With the odd afternoon tea here and there along the way? I wonder if Snowshill offers scones? I shall check. This could turn into great fun! There is so much more I want to learn.

And for a while I wondered if Mr Wade had been married. A wife surely wouldn't have been able to coexist with all that clobber. But wait! I found that he did marry. He married Mary. So how did she do it?

And then I found one telling sentence that may help answer that query: "After the marriage, they spent increasingly greater amounts of time at their house in the West Indies." (Wikipedia).

Hahaha! I knew I would like Mary.

See you along the way!

the SconeLady

photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/19473388@N00/3980125673">Snowshill Manor Garden</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/">(license)</a>