Stoke Place is a three storey ‘William and Mary’ style house and was built as a family home in 1690 by Patrick Lamb. Later, east and west wings were added to the building, creating a substantial and impressive country house. The infamous talents of Capability Brown turned the surrounding grounds into a quintessential rural idyll. Filled with nooks and crannies, and with plenty of original features to ‘ooo’ and ‘ahhh’ over, the decor, with its lush plum rooms, secret corridors, whimsical giant candles and empty picture frames, lends a narnia-esque feel that is conducive to wondering aroundbare foot and reading Nancy Mitford.

The staff are lovely, not at all snobby, and they didn’t bat an eyelid at some of the outfits still lingering from the night before. After breakfast it was giant chess on the lawn, and dipping a toe in the marvellous lake bordering the garden. Giant hammocks for two are dotted around the sumptuous grounds. Understandably I pretty much had to be prised away kicking and screaming from this quirky oasis of countryside calm, back to the train station, clutching onto a giant knight.

Following the success of their 1940’s pyjama party, The Futurist Aerobanquet, Colourscape and Tweed, The White Blackbird returns on the auspicious day of St George’s with Rule Britannia, a soiree dedicated to Blighty and by Jove, a jolly good knees up!

We will be there hosting the dressing up room, will Steven Merchant be lurcking around a in a tutu again? Come and say hello and find out!

The White Blackbird’s carriages will be stationed at a Central London pick up spot to whisk guests away to the rural idyll of Stoke Place, where the house and grounds have been turned over exclusively to the party goer’s pleasure.

You can flex your muscles on the lawn tennis court or alternatively enjoy a leisurely croquet match before retiring indoors for a reviving cuppa at the very Fine Tea Bar or a glass of that most essential eau de vie, served from a fountain of glorious Bulldog Gin!

Pick up tips on how to take the upper hand in the courting game at the The Art Of Woomanship, a lecture inspired by the One Upmanship books of Stephen Potter and get down on one knee before taking part in one of the fleet weddings conducted by the Lady Greys. Having found that their grounds are exempt from the marriage act of 1753, you won’t find yourself in a tight spot after tying the knot.

Follow in the steps of great British explorers by solving colonial clues to conquer a new land in a treasure hunt, at which the winner will receive a complimentary two-course dinner for two with a bottle of wine at Stoke Place’s highly acclaimed restaurant and if you picked up a tropical illness on your travels or are just suffering from general ailments, then pay a visit to our resident Quack Doctor. Straight from the 1600’s, he will be examining patients (willing or not) and dispensing all manner of traditional remedies. In a nod to Britain’s first psychic Mr. Daniel Douglas Home as well as the Victorian craze for the supernatural, you can also have your horrible future predicted by Mr Home’s trusty assistant, Russella. Not for the feint hearted!

Pop into some Elocution Lessons given by our very own Eliza Doolittle. Perfectly in the pink, see the Vyse Room transformed into a music box, at the centre of which the perfect English rose will appear every hour on the hour.

Watch out for the sword-fighting businessmen as they lock umbrellas and seek harbor at the Secret Gin Bar, held at a a secret room number, you will need a special knock to enter! Feeling energized, Dance the night away with the Dixie Ticklers, as they run through a couple of sets of the finest British jazz and swing, followed by a top notch DJ in the Purple Room.

If all that dancing has worked up a hunger, then make sure you are seated for the midnight feast, serving thoroughly British fare such as bubble and squeak, mini cones of chips and Peach Melba. A lucky few will have booked the very limited number of room packages available, including dinner, bed and breakfast. They will be able to enjoy the benefit of a bar that never closes as the party continues into the night.

We have a pair of tickets (excluding travel) to win, please leave a comment telling us what you would like to see if the VS dressing up box?

PS the top pic is of me being naughty at the first one.

GOOD LUCK!

Micro-Economics interested me at school (genuinely it did, Mr Manville) but these days, it’s not something I bring up too often over a gin. This Sunday then, I was surprised to read my own name in a Times article on the ‘New Capitalism’. I was flattered to be mentioned along side seasoned business luminaries like Joe Corre and Deborah Meaden.

The theme of the this unexpected coverage? Keeping business niche and personal.

It woke a dormant urge in me. Well first I called everyone in my phone book but after that I was moved to write about something I’ve been considering recently; my own female-led, locally-based business circle. I knew it but I suppose this article made it official. I belong to a coterie of women movers and shakers of which I am quietly but I think justifiably proud. Who are these dynamic women though? Well, dear readers, let me bestow on them the title of (thunderous drum roll please ) The New Girls’ Club’ or NGC. I’m sure it wont have the same impact as BRIC nations, but you read it here first.

So what are the rules of the NGC?

• 1st rule: It is open to all ages and backgrounds, so long as you have something to offer, and are willing to share – no throwing the rattle out of the pram please.

• 2nd rule: Listen to others, keep an open mind. Leave the snobbery by the coat stand.

• 3rd rule: Partake in collaboration, skill swapping, sharing of contacts and products on an ongoing basis. Not just when you are being paid for it.

Bonus ball: Remember, you didn’t invent the wheel. Modesty is not just about the length of your skirt.

Is this another victory in the gender war? That might be overstating it, I’m not sure froo-froo is a feminist issue. However I do not see an army of male entrepreneurs running successful businesses out of their living rooms, I can only see what is going on around me and that is very clear. I see a troop of women armed with ideas, notes books and New Media OCD advancing their careers with exciting and self-created events and projects.

What has been a major factor in their success? Collaboration.

So why do women share and collaborate, even with those might be considered competitors? Because *whispers* its not always a competition, and this is exactly what the Times picked up on. Cate Sevilla, Editor of the ultimate source of all thing you should know about right now has this to say on the matter:

‘I think because things can be tough for women in business, when we see other women who are doing it for themselves and are really passionate and excited about what they’re doing – we want to connect with them.

Women are fantastic at networking and collaborating because it’s quite exciting to meet like-minded women, and even more exciting to actually collaborate and combine your different talents to create something spectacular.

If more women could get past the over-competitiveness and catty jealousy, we could produce even bigger and better things, because we would be working together.’

We are not turning back the clock and bartering bunting for baked goods. Jam and Jerusalem, this ain’t. It’s about trading ideas and getting people involved in the bigger picture.

Nor, I am pleased to say, can this movement be accused of perceived social shallowness. It isn’t all about sequins. Indeed some of the NGCs take their inspiration direct from that most inspirational girls club, the Suffragettes. Climate Rush, a female led environmental group, first recruited members by reaching out to Women’s groups. As their numbers grew, protest attendance became gender equal, and welcomely so, (incidentally they also have some cool vintage inspired outfits, which ticks my box) so no ditching this in a militant, women only dead-end.

Here are my NGC heroes, people who just make things happen, and also call you 3 months down the line for the next project. Who are yours? Do let us know. Go on, name and champagne!