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“One another occasion, Ivy tells me that the Norths were preparing to entertain a party of guests for tennis. Shortly before they were due to arrive, Della, Lady North’s daughter appears in the kitchen, this time with a large box of tennis balls.
“Ivy” commands Della. “Get these balls washed and scrubbed so they look good for my guests.” And off disappears Della to see to the preparations above stairs.
“Well”, says Ivy. “I'm blessed if I'm going to do anything with those balls. That’s not for the likes of us to do”. So when Della appears later and says “I hope those balls are nice and dry”, Ivy says “I’m quite sure they are Ma’am, cos’ they never got wet. It's not the job of the kitchen to clean them tennis balls”. And Della North had to be satisfied with that. You didn't argue with the cook.
Then there’s the time that one of the Graces was asked to go up to the dining room to clear away the evening meal that Lord and Lady N had just finished. Ivy had made sweets which had been put out on the sideboard for the Master and Mistress to have with their coffee. Grace has a quick look around to check there was noone to see and then starts to help herself to the remaining sweets.
Suddenly a voice booms out from nowhere. “Yes, please do help yourself!” What poor Grace doesn’t know is that Lord N’s favourite place to sit after a meal is a wing chair, in which he is completely hidden from the dining table but sees everything that goes on. Needless to say, Grace rushes downstairs in an awful pickle, but they could see she meant no harm.”
With thanks to Jean for telling us these anecdotes.
Photos courtesy of Penny Close
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