Royal Stafford Teacup

Hello Everyone,
First, I want to thank everyone who visited my "high heels" post last week. It was fun reading your comments about the wearing (and not wearing) of high heels! I most definitely prefer cute flats now, but I would love to wear heels again for a special occasion. So, if, or when, that happens - I'll share with you, I promise!

My sister and I went antiquing in a nearby town last week, where I found this vintage Royal Stafford teacup. You won't believe how much I paid for it!

It was marked $2.00, and they were having a 20% off sale, so it cost me all of $1.60 plus tax! What drew me to this cup is the shape and color of the "bowl" of the cup (which doesn't show up well in my photo...but it's a very soft, pale shade of pink.)

From my research, I found that Royal Stafford is a "brand name" of an English company from Staffordshire, England that was called Thomas Poole. The Thomas Poole Company was founded in 1880 (and formerly known as Johnson & Poole.) In 1952, the company was re-formed again and became known as Royal Stafford China. The backstamp on my cup dates it to this period, sometime after 1952.

I'll be posting photos of some of the other interesting things I saw at the antique barn later in the week. For now, I'm sharing my teacup on the Tuesday Tea Time link parties and other blogs listed below. Have a great week, everyone!

Cindy

Linking to the following Tea Parties and Blogs:

Tuesday Cuppa Tea at Antiques and Teacups

Tea Time Tuesday at Rose Chintz Cottage

Teacup Tuesday at Martha's Favorites

Teacup Tuesday at Artful Affirmations

Tea in the Garden at Bernideen's Tea Time Blog

Teacup Thursday at Miss Spenser's Blog

A Return to Loveliness at A Delightsome Life

What's It Wednesday at Ivy and Elephants

Show and Tell Friday on My Romantic Home

Passion Parade Friday Link Soiree at Petites Passions

Royal Vale Tea Set

Today I'm featuring photos of my friend's vintage Royal Vale tea set.

I think this is the perfect English tea set, with its' lovely thatched-roof cottage and flower garden scene. My friend lives in Hertfordshire, England, and knows that this set dates from at the latest the 1930s to the earliest the 1920s. It's stamped "Royal Vale, Made in England" on the back. My research of Royal Vale proved to be a bit challenging, but from what I can gather, the trademark was originally used by H.J. Colclough Vale Works (1897-1937) It eventually became part of the Ridgway Group of Potteries, located in Werrington-Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England.

No matter where it was made...it looks as if it belongs here:

...or perhaps here...wouldn't you agree?

English cottage photos courtesy PicturesofEngland.com

"Life is meant to be enjoyed: sipped like a cup of tea."
Author Unknown

Until next time,

Cindy

Linking to: Tea Time Tuesday at Rose Chintz Cottage

               Teacup Tuesday at Artful Affirmations

             Teacup Tuesday at Martha's Favorites

                       A Return to Loveliness at A Delightsome Life

                    What's It Wednesday at Ivy and Elephants

               Teacup Thursday at Miss Spenser's Blog

Cats on Tuesday ~ Meet Dolly

We have a guest on our blog today because our human mom didn't get any cute pictures of us for our special day, Cats on Tuesday. So, instead, we're showing everyone pictures of our friend, Dolly, who lives in Hertfordshire, England. We love this picture of Dolly and think she's so smart to sit on the bird table in the garden! MOL!! 

Here's another one of Dolly enjoying a cuppa!

...and here is Dolly showing off for camera!

We hope you've enjoyed meeting our friend! She'll probably get a big head now for having her picture on the internet. For more cute cat photos and cat stories, visit Gattina's blog, My Cats and Funny Stories by clicking HERE, or click on the orange cat photo. Happy Tuesday!

Buster, Rudy, Sam and Cindy

Victoria Holt, Queen of the Gothic Romance or How I Became an Anglophile

Cottage in Dartmouth, Devon, England

Coast of Cornwall

Skipton Castle, Yorkshire, England

Yorkshire Dales, Northern England

  

I love my country, the USA, but I must admit to being somewhat of an anglophile. I’ve never visited England, but I love castles, thatched-roof cottages covered in ivy and roses, bluebells, hedgerows, English breakfast tea and old English pubs. And then there is my inexplicable fascination with Queen Elizabeth I. So, I'm sure I'll indulge my passion with a post about Old Blighty now and then. My ancestors, on both my mother’s and father’s side, came from England, so perhaps it’s in my blood. I think I was also greatly influenced by the gothic romance novels I devoured as a teenager. Books like Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights - and my favorite - the novels of Victoria Holt.

I didn’t realize until I was much older that Victoria Holt was a pen name for British author, Eleanor Hibbert (1906-1993.) She also wrote under the pen names of Jean Plaidy, Philippa Carr, Eleanor Burford, and others. I only knew I loved her books of romance and intrigue, set in places like the Yorkshire Moors and the coast of Cornwall. Hibbert was born in London and got her love of reading from her father who was a dock laborer. She attended business college, and it was only after her marriage that she began writing. She published her first novel in 1941 under the pen name Eleanor Burford, which was her maiden name, and her first novel as Victoria Holt in 1960. Hibbert went on to sell more than 100 million copies of her books.

The first Victoria Holt novel I read was The Legend of the Seventh Virgin, set in Cornwall in a brooding mansion that was once a convent. I was hooked and read every single book by Victoria Holt after that…some of them many times over. One of my favorites was “Kirkland Revels,” which takes place in a spooky, stone mansion set high in the Yorkshire Moors. Of course, there is a young bride who arrives there with her husband, and slowly she discovers the secrets of the family that lives there. It was more than enough to fuel my young imagination, and I credit these books for greatly influencing my desire to become a writer. Thank you, Eleanor Hibbert, for many, many hours spent exploring abbey ruins, wandering hallways of centuries old mansions, and hiking the coast of Cornwall. You helped one shy, small-town teenager imagine a vastly different world.