On a bright, sunny Sunday, the 11th September, I woke up early to spend the entire day exploring historical buildings as part of the Mole Valley Heritage Open Days 2016. I had a great time visiting a range of sites, from concert halls to churches, and even a house belonging to solicitors!
The first location: the Yehudi Menuhin School. As a school for the musically talented, its Hall was designed to 'caress the sound of strings', and was built for the best acoustic experience. Though not the most beautiful or grand, it holds a special place in my heart - many (very many!) years ago, I myself played a piano piece in that hall. It was nostalgic, to say the least. Little me hardly knew what was going on those years back and everything was much more intimidating, so this was a wonderful way to appreciate the architecture without the nerves and butterflies.
I then visited the lovely town of Dorking, heading straight for St. Martin's Church, an absolutely gorgeous church where I was met by an equally as wonderful old man who showed me around. After this, I had a brief tour of Downs Solicitors, a townhouse located on the High Street with a considerable history.
The final location was the most exciting: St. Barnabas Church in Ranmore. They had a choir singing when I arrived and an elderly man with a knitted jumper and wispy white hair playing the organ. I was then allowed to go up the terrifyingly narrow spiral staircase to the top of the steeple, and watch a man ring one of the eight bells they had. It was so impressive, he demonstrated different techniques which really opened my eyes as to how complicated bell-ringing is - it's not just pulling on ropes a couple of times!
They also sold donated books there for very cheap prices, and after a quick browse, I found Life of Pi (a book I've wanted to read for a long time but never had the time or chance), a hardback of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, and a 1915 first edition of Some Musicians of Former Days. I've been obsessed with old books lately, especially their homely smell, so I was extremely pleased with my find.
♥
I love you
xxx
