The Sunshine is Here! Time for Outside Entertaining!
March 26, 2012
Now is the time to dust of the garden chairs, make a date with friends and family and get prepared to hold a garden social.
Wilstone House and gardens are the sole UK importers of the most amazing garden feature. The Kadai firebowl.
Once used for ceremonical cooking in India, Wilstone import original Kadai and recycled Kadai. The difference? The originals were used to cook food inside the bowl. The outsides are lovely and knarly from the build up of the flames over the years. Full of character, each original Kadai is completely different. Wilstone also sell a recycled range. These are made from recycled iron oil drums. For further information, head to www.kadai.com
I’m often asked, what can you cook on a Kadai? The answer … pretty much anything! From your usual sausages and burgers, to fish or shell fish, either wrapped in foil or skewered, vegetables, joints of meal … anything!
My recent favourite is Piri Piri Chicken. A very simple and easy to follow recipe: 6-12 fresh red chilli’s, 1 tbsp garlic, half a tsp oregano, half a tsp paprika, 100 ml olive oil, 50 ml red wine vinegar. Simply pre heat your oven to 180c/350f/gas4, place the chilli’s on a roasting tray and roast for 10 mins. Cool and roughly chop. Place the chillies, garlic, oregano, paprika, oil and viegar in a saucepan and simmer for 2-3 minutes. Allow it to cool then puree. Store in a lidded container for a month if required. Shake before use. Marinate chicken portions for a least one hour (I prefer overnight). Cook on the hot part of a kadai firebowl to seal, then move to the outer edge to cook properly. Always test food before serving.
Shropshire company wins ‘Product of the Year Award’ at Chelsea Flower Show
September 14, 2011
Happy Spring!
March 14, 2010
As I sit here, typing from our retail outlet near Church Stretton in Shropshire it definitely looks like Spring has finally sprung!
Blue skies over the Caer Caradoc and Lawley Hills, Spring lambs dotting the landscape like white full stops, and an abundance of snowdrops. Lovely!
We have been busy here at Wilstone – having aleady done the first show of 2010 – the Spring Fair at the NEC., in Birmingham. We took a huge range of our iron kadai firebowls with us, and they went down a storm! Our firebowls are the outdoor trend for this year, so if you’d like one, order it now before they run out, which they will! Telephone us on 01694 771800.
The shop is now packed to the rafters with new stock, from opium sofa benches to the most wonderful ornately carved mirrors, delicious fabrics, beautiful antique furniture and so much more!
So, if you are travelling along the A49 in Shropshire, look out for Wilstone House and Gardens!
The Best Ever Present?
May 5, 2009
The Wilstone House and Gardens Kadai on a low stand
Here at Wilstone House and Gardens we have a huge variety of unique and ecclectic items that would enhance any home or garden. We have also just taken a HUGE delivery of the ever popular Fire Bowl or Kadai, as mentioned in a previous posting. These Kadai sold out when we exhibited at RHS Chelsea Flower Show last year. People wanted something a little heavier than the standard BBQ.
These Kadai are so practical and really unusual.
Wilstone House and Gardens Kadai on a high stand
Light up a BBQ in the Kadai (and as some of the Kadai measure up to over 1m in diameter it will allow for plenty of sausages!) and once all your food is eaten, simply remove the grill and throw in some logs or coal and get the party started! As the Kadai is circular you and your friends can sit round it and be wonderfully warm for the rest of the party!
Buy yours now, before they sell out! www.wilstone.com
Satisfaction for the Shopaholic!
October 30, 2008
Many of us ‘happy shoppers’ still rely heavily on high street shops for our retail therapy fix – but look past these super-shiny and over-preened shop fronts away from the high street to less conventional locations and you will find an eclectic and unique array of independent and inviting outlets that will be able to satisfy even the most ardent of shopaholics.
One such shop, one of many, is located on the busy A49 which runs happily between the hills of Little Switzerland (aka Church Stretton) at Leebotwood (known by the locals by its old name, Lebotwood). Wilstone House and Gardens has occupied this former mechanics garage for the last 5 years.
Wilstone House and Gardens – simply put is an Alladins Cave. We all know there are many of these shops dotted about – but this one is the one. The exterior of the building belies the interior, but the minute you walk through the door your senses are blown away! Crammed, stacked, leaning, in baskets, in pots, on shelves – unusual, odd items simply everywhere.
We all know that if you needed to buy, for example, oil for your car – you would head off to a certain well known chain store whose name begins with ‘H’, and stock up.
Would you know that if you needed to buy a camel saddle you would come to Wilstone, or if you needed a ship’s wheel, an ox cart, hand turned wooden ghee or butter pots, old brass tea urns, wooden jugs for goats milk, and that is just the beginning!
Wilstone was set up by Christo McKinnon who’s roots lay firmly in the antique business, until he and his milliner wife Kate decided to buy a rambling Georgian house with dilapidated barns amid the glorious Shropshire Hills. The McKinnon’s had previously spent many months travelling Asia and found a myriad of interesting and unusual items that they felt would enhance homes and gardens within England.
Christo and Kate regularly travel to India and source items of interest that are then shipped back to England in huge crates. Each crate represents a possible logistical nightmare, with many suppliers having to coordinate production and packing for the shipping date. But, once the container arrives, having been precariously driven around the tight lanes inhabited by the fearless chickens of Wilstone, where the main warehouse is located – it is like Christmas.
Hundreds of boxes and crates, miles and miles of brightly coloured shredded paper wrapping Cobalt blue ceramics, hand crafted stone troughs, jali panels in all shapes and sizes, fountains made of shiny white sparkly marble, old market cart wheels, symbolic shrines and temples that would have been disregarded on the streets of India, delicately hand carved wooden panels of all shapes and sizes depicting Peacocks, traditional floral designs, horses, Indian Gods and Deities and many carvings stemming from the period of the Raj. Victorian Tiles, taken from their original setting and turned into Coat Hooks. Iron Gazebos shrouded in bubble wrap, a pair of stately looking hand carved Lions, Stone benches shining a pale golden yellow in the afternoon sunlight.
In a small hamlet, amid the hills of Shropshire, there are busy people organising and planning for their next trip abroad, to bring back many, many more fascinating and unusual things to delight and enhance the homes and gardens of Shropshire.
Wilstone House and Gardens
October 10, 2008
The Fairtrade ethos is now making more of an impact on the nation, with most customers being aware that purchasing items under the Fairtrade banner means that the workers have been paid a fair rate. Scan along any supermarket shelves and you are bound to see chocolates, coffee, tea, and dried fruit – but an eccentric husband and wife team based in Shropshire has taken Fairtrade to an entirely different level.
Christo McKinnon’s roots lay firmly in the antique business, until he and his milliner wife Kate decided to buy a rambling Georgian house with dilapidated barns amid the glorious Shropshire Hills. The McKinnon’s had previously spent many months travelling Asia and found a myriad of interesting and unusual items that they felt would enhance homes and gardens within England.
Christo researches traditional and functional designs in iron and stone, and commissions the highly skilled and fairly paid masons and ironworkers in India to re-create his designs. Christo also visits the production sites and talks to the workers ensuring that they are getting a decent wage with good working conditions.
With the house bought, many months of ‘Fairtrade’ research and the business plan in place, Wilstone House and Gardens was formed.
Christo and Kate travel to India and source items of interest that are then shipped back to England in huge crates. Each crate represents a possible logistical nightmare, with many suppliers having to coordinate production and packing for the shipping date. But, once the container arrives, having been precariously driven around the tight lanes inhabited by the fearless chickens of Wilstone, it is like Christmas.
Hundreds of boxes and crates, miles and miles of brightly coloured shredded paper wrapping Cobalt blue ceramics, hand crafted stone troughs, jali panels in all shapes and sizes, fountains made of shiny white sparkly marble, old market cart wheels, symbolic shrines and temples that would have been disregarded on the streets of India, delicately hand carved wooden panels of all shapes and sizes depicting Peacocks, traditional floral designs, horses, Indian Gods and Deities and many carvings stemming from the period of the Raj. Victorian Tiles, taken from their original setting and turned into Coat Hooks. Iron Gazebos shrouded in bubble wrap, a pair of stately looking hand carved Lions, Stone benches shining a pale golden yellow in the afternoon sunlight.
In a small hamlet, amid the hills of Shropshire, there are busy people organising and planning for their next trip abroad, to bring back many, many more fascinating and unusual things to delight and enhance the homes and gardens of England.
The Wilstone House and Gardens Kadai
October 2, 2008
Perfect for the cool late Summer evenings, the Kadai from Wilstone House and Gardens makes an ideal BBQ. After you have eaten, remove the grill and fill with firewood. The handles don’t get too hot, so move the Kadai nearer and all your friends will be toasty warm. Lovely!
These Kadai are available in many different sizes to suit all gardens and outside spaces.
For further information, please visit the Wilstone House and Gardens website www.wilstone.com
The Wilstone House and Gardens Kadai on a high stand
