There are two bedrooms on the sixth storey. These are generally kept as additional spare rooms for visitors and can only be reached through the games room.

The North Room is slightly smaller than the other and rarely used. It contains little furniture save for a double bed with a carved headboard in dark wood, pushed up against the back wall, a pair of coat-hooks on the back of the door, and a white-painted dresser on the wall to the right of the windows. The windows in both these rooms are surprisingly large and close to floor-level, like those in the games room outside; a yellow pottery vase lives on the sill opposite the foot of the bed. It is currently empty, but when the room is occupied this vase is filled with flowers in season and a few sprays of leaves.


The Blue Room is the larger of the two, and much more cheerful. The 'blue' originally referred to the colour of the counterpanes on the two beds set against the outside wall — one under each window — but in keeping with the name the dressing-table, chest of drawers, chair and wardrobe have been painted and lined-out in various shades of bird-egg blue, while the rag rugs beside the beds are patterned in darker blue and cream. The frame of the mirror has also been painted — a rather strident shade of royal blue that seemed like a good idea at the time but with hindsight was probably a mistake...

Here, too, there are flower-vases on the low window-sill. They are, of course, blue and white Chinese ware!

This room is bright and sunny in the mornings and through most of the day and thus is often more popular with visitors than the 'main' spare room on the floor below, despite the fact that it can seem somewhat crowded by comparison. In fact, the sun can be a problem; the counterpanes are beginning to look distinctly faded, and if the water in the vases gets too warm, people can return to their room only to find that the cut flowers on the windowsills have all wilted in the course of a couple of hours.


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The Ivory Tower pages are maintained by Igenlode Wordsmith

Last updated Mon 16th February 2004
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