Cecil Beaton: A Family Archive.

You might already know that this year we are hosting an exhibition at Hawarden called Cecil Beaton: A Family Archive. Beaton was a true renaissance man; gardener, photographer, three-time Oscar winner, painter, Tony winner, diarist, dandy, antagonist, playwright, and much more.

He was my grandmother’s brother and loomed large over my family life when I was growing up, I remember well his visits to Hawarden, and I vividly recall our trips to his exceptional homes.

I inherited a vast quantity of his possessions, some of which were used/investigated by my parents, but most of which was stuffed into a series of cupboards in a room that they rarely used.

This isn’t a criticism, my parents were great friends with Cecil and very proud of their association with him. I just think that they had other things that interested them more and so were smart enough to leave everything alone for someone else to enjoy. That someone is me.

Cecil has remained remarkably relevant. Rarely does a month go by without his photos featuring in Vogue. And this year there are two exhibitions of his work in London; one at The Garden Museum and one at The National Portrait Gallery.

And we have our own exhibition at Hawarden, which I have put together and which has really helped me to begin to make sense of the vast jumble of stuff that I uncovered. Many people have visited already; I am absolutely amazed by how many fans Cecil still has.

Anyway, the exhibition is sponsored by two of our businesses, Gladstone / Hellen and Hawarden Estate Holidays and has been hugely helpful in attracting lots of interesting and enthusiastic people to Hawarden and introducing them to the work that we do here.

So, win/win. I have put together something that I have enjoyed and that I needed to do and lots of people have been shown the magical worlds we are creating in North Wales.

But.

There are still lots of people who haven’t visited the exhibition yet and so we thought that we would throw a party that celebrates Cecil and his connection to Hawarden, and which was fun, educational and original. This will include a tour of the exhibition, drinks, music, a talk or two and lots more. A flyer is attached below and there are lots more details here.

If you’re considering travelling and want to stay locally, I am afraid that our accommodation is already booked but, there’s other amazing accommodation in the village, so just reply to this and we’ll tell you about it.

And if you’re local, well, please join us.