Castles in the Air: The Restoration Adventures of Two Young Optimists and a Crumbling Old Mansion

by Judy Corbett

Book Overview

When Judy Corbett caught sight of a great stone mansion in the craggy wilds of north Wales, she had little idea of the adventure on which she was about to embark. She and her husband, Peter, had long dreamed of buying an old ruin and escaping the pace and excesses of modern life. But it was only when they had moved into the vandalized, squalidly filthy, cold and wet Gwydir Castle that they began to realize what restoration dramas lay ahead. Restoring...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0091897319
• ISBN13: 9780091897314
• Release Date: January 2005
• Publisher: Ebury Press
• Length: 308 Pages
• Weight: 0.52 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.0" x 7.9"

Customer Reviews

DIY was never this...wet!

First Line: I have just had to dry the sheets with a hair drier again before getting back into bed. Judy Corbett and her husband-to-be Peter Welford wanted very much to find an old ruin of a house to restore so they could move out of the rat race of city life. They found their dream ruin tucked away in the foothills of the Snowdonian Mountains in Wales, but they had no real idea the challenges they were agreeing to take on when they signed all that paperwork. Gwydir Castle was Judy Corbett's favorite type of dwelling: as each successive generation of owners wanted to "smarten up" the place, they just slapped an addition in the current style on one end or the other instead of making the entire building look homogeneous. Parts of Gwydir dated back to the dissolution of the monasteries. When Judy and Peter found it, some of the rooms had been turned into a noisome sort of pub. As I read Judy's account of the restoration, I swore it must have never stopped raining the entire time: "When it's very dark in the castle and the batteries have run out in the torch [flashlight] and I can't find a dry match to light a candle, the symphony of drips guides me through the rooms. I have learnt to distinguish a coal scuttle from a paint pot and know exactly where I am by the tone of the drip." Book bloggers from around the world would not be able to fault Corbett on her criteria for her future home: "The yardstick by which I measured the suitability of any potential house was whether I could imagine myself reading in it." Naturally the course of restoration did not run smooth, even with the help of workmen with interesting names like "the Scouse git" and the approval of a resident spirit or two. The sheer amount of work and discomfort that those two endured while restoring Gwydir Castle is jaw-dropping. Never in my wildest dreams would I ever undertake anything remotely resembling this gargantuan restoration project, but Corbett loved every minute of it, and her joy and feeling of accomplishment are plain as each small bit is completed. If you love reading about old houses being brought back to life by people who love what they're doing and have a true sense of adventure, you will love reading Castles in the Air. Corbett not only has a knack for restoration, she's a deft storyteller as well.

A remarkable labor of love and persistence

In northern Wales, 11 miles south of Conwy and 4 miles north of Betws-y-coed, across the bridge from the village of Llanrwst, on the floodplain between the River Conwy and the B5106 road, lies Gwydir Castle, the ancestral home of the Wynn family. Largely of 16th century construction, it's actually what remains of a more extensive Tudor courtyard manor house, and is the finest example of such in Wales. Peter Welford and Judy Corbett, an architectural historian and a bookbinder respectively, pooled their meager life savings and a substantial bank loan to buy the place in the early 1990s. CASTLES IN THE AIR by Corbett is the utterly charming story of the pair's labors to restore Gwydir from its abysmally ruinous condition at purchase to something resembling its former glory. The book offers a little something for everyone. There are the restoration adventures, of course, and also romance; Peter and Judy subsequently marry in an ancient chapel on a nearby hilltop. There's a fairly convincing supernatural ingredient that involves Peter being the unfortunate focus of animosity coming from the ghost of Lady Margaret Cave, a 17th century mistress of the manor, which resulted in his being struck on the head with a spade. There's hidden treasure, in this case the original carved wooden paneling stripped in totality from the dining room and auctioned off as a single lot in 1921 to (as it turned out) the American millionaire William Randolph Hearst, and later bequeathed to New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, which still had it stored in the original packing crates in a warehouse on the rough side of town. Throughout the narrative runs Judy's dry English wit, such as when she describes the visit by an impeccably dressed representative ("Please, just call me Bill") of The Met, who was so impressed by his first view of the castle that: "... he didn't look where he was going and stepped into the biggest pile of peacock guano you have ever seen. Peter silently directed him to a patch of rough grass where he endeavoured to remove the vile-smelling substance from the stitching of his fine Italian shoes." Above all, CASTLES IN THE AIR is the story of the pair's love affair with and dedication to something old, historic, and worth saving in the face of seemingly impossible odds. And it would seem they've succeeded beyond their wildest dreams; the recovery and reinstallation of the Dining Room paneling brought a visit by the Prince of Wales himself, though his shoes did stick to the floor varnished only hours before his arrival. Judy describes herself and Peter as socially reticent almost to the point of misanthropy. Therefore, the fact that they accept paying B & B guests as well as hire out the ground floor halls out for weddings - see the official Gwydir Castle website - is indication of the financial strain imposed by the ongoing refurbishment of the manor house that continues to this day and into the foreseeable future. The Welford's affection for the a

Very comfortable entertaining read! Talk about an adventure....

I loved every minute of this book as was sorry to reach the end. I hope the author will consider a sequel of subsequent adventures? As an antique collector I'm in awe of this couple's ambition and fortitude in rescuing and restoring the ultimate antique, a wonderful old estate, and sharing this home and tale with the world. Judy Corbett (Welford) tells the colorful story with humour and grace; trials and tribulations, local characters, royalty, unbelievable discoveries, romance, and plain old fashioned luck (or is it fate?). Since reading the book, I have visited north Wales and Gwydir Castle, and both are beautiful beyond words. The resoration of the house and grounds is spot on, perfectly on tune with the age and history. Gwydir Castle and the Welfords are a match made in heaven. If you are thinking of purchasing this book, stop reading the reviews and buy it now! It's definitely part of my "keep" collection.

Great read....

I purchased this book because I had visited Gwydir castle and thought I might enjoy learning more about it's restoration. I was amazed to find a great book about pursuing your dreams.

an amazing project and an amazing read

for any fan of history or even just histoprical fiction, this is a fantasy come true .... the purchase of a Tudor castle in Wales to live in ... and the realities of accomplishing such a feat and renovation in today's age. Not only are the author and her husband brave hardy souls, but he is an artist and she is gifted with words - this is truly a great book to read!