Those of you who have been in the past year will know how we had the end part of the Dining Room (the servery area) painting Red Sand at the bottom and Roman White at the top of the Dado rail. We have now extended this to the full Dining Room, repainting the ceiling (repaired, so hopefully people won’t be getting extra toppings on their pizza*!) and windows and walls. We are pleased with the results, done by our professional decorators – it cost money, but, then, the good stuff does and should!

The decorators used top-grade oil-based paint for this job, as it is not one we wish to have to repeat too soon.

During the re-decoration week, the couple of courses we had in used the Drawing Room as a little temporary Dining Room. They loved it, and, indeed it made a very pleasant dining room. Spare a thought, however, for our catering staff who had to carry the food from the kitchen all the way down the corridor – their heels must have ended up two inches shorter at the end of the week!

We also recently upgraded the LED lighting on the chandeliers – now you can even see the topping on your pizza*

One thing that is still missing is a mirror – and we are on the search for a Louis Philippe style reproduction that will sit above the mantelpiece and reflect those beautiful Georgian facade windows and, of course, the picturesque scenery outside. As you can see such a mirror works so well in the Lecture Room, we think the space above the fireplace in the Dining Room is now crying out for a similar one!

We shall keep you updated!

• No, we do not really do the pizzeria stuff – just used for the purposes of humour – although a Quatrosatggione a la Higham could be made in the kiln when it isn’t being used for pottery!