I’ve had The Country House At War ever since it was published by the National Trust to commemorate the centenary of the end of WWI in 2018. I bought it because it was written by my uncle, Simon Greaves. He was, I think, retired at the time, but had somehow managed to get the commission for the book from the National Trust. He’s mostly known for writing and drawing a series of Shakespeare Comic Books. I remember him talking about travelling around the country visiting various National Trust properties and talking to their archivists. I’m not sure he ever made any money from the project, but it certainly sounded like a lot of fun. I’d almost forgotten I’d had it until casting my eye over my bookshelves and wondering what I should read next during my “year of WWI”, it occurred to me that now was the perfect opportunity.

It’s a large format hardback printed on thick paper in full colour, in a kind of magazine style with large headlines introducing short sections of text and with photographs and pictures mixed in. Not at all the kind of book I’d normally read. It’s a little over 200 pages, which it took me about a week to get through. It’s divided into chapters covering each year of the war plus chapters on Women in WWI, the air war, and the overseas war. There’s a brief historical overview with each chapter, but the meat of the book is the stories of individuals linked to National Trust properties. Simon’s favourite, and the hero of the book, is Fredrick Hughes, a poor son of a family who worked at Chirk Castle. Simon lives just a short walk away, so it’s not surprising that he’s taken a special interest in young Fred. It’s quite astonishing that Fred’s letters have survived all this time. A credit to his family. They paint a picture of a cheerful stoic character, who obviously enjoyed the camaraderie of his fellow troops, and uncomplainingly made the best of whatever circumstances threw at him. In the end, like so many others, he was killed by a German shell. It’s notable that few of the characters who populate the book survived the war.

I really enjoyed the book. Simon writes very fluently and the pages flowed by. I loved being introduced to so many interesting characters and being told their stories. It feels like some justification of their unfairly truncated young lives to remember them. Next time I’m in Chirk I shall seek out the Eric Gill designed war memorial and look for the name Fredrick Hughes.