Heritage Open Days Hardman’s House

 

Each year, all over the country the doors of historic monuments and buildings are thrown open, in particular those normally closed to the public and last week we got to see inside Toxteth Reservoir and around Toxteth Town Hall.  This week we were lucky enough to go along to the National Trust property on Rodney Street – Hardmans House.  It really is a hidden gem in the heart of our City and is worth a visit.  The houses on Rodney Street are beautiful and the Hardmans House is no exception.

 

As it was a home, the tours are quite small – groups of no more than 7 people are shown around the house by a team of extremely knowledgeable and passionate volunteers and each room has a really interesting story to tell – from the public facing rooms where people waited, then the changing room – as ladies wanted to be photographed in their ball gowns and gentleman in their suits, the studio where the portraits were taken, to Hardmans private dark room where he and his wife would spend hours listening to the wireless as they developed pictures of landscapes which was their true passion.  We got to see some previously unseen photos that had only recently been found and developed. 

 

We went and looked at the Hardmans private rooms where they lived, slept and ate; and the dark room in the cellar where his staff developed thousands of pictures and the offices were there are still instructions on how to answer the phone – something every business even today knows is one of the most important first impressions you can make!

 Steven said “It’s been very interesting I’ve liked looking around.”

 People are really interested in the history of their City and getting to see the Hardmans House was a real treat.  Thank you to the volunteers who made the day so informative and interesting.

If you would like to know more about Natural Breaks and what we do we would love to hear from you!