Idyllic childhood blossomed on estate
IT’S the stuff of Enid Blyton tales from a bygone era - growing up on a country estate and building dens while cheekily hiding from members of the public.
But this idyllic childhood was a reality for Veronica Kitton who lived on the Capesthorne Hall estate, near Macclesfield.
Her dad Peter Phillips, was the head gardener at the estate from 1987 until 2018 and he still lives there with his wife Yvonne.
She was aged just six when the family moved there and younger brother Alex was three. Such was her affection for the estate, she lived there while studying at Manchester Metropolitan University.
And the BromleyDavenport family gave her permission to use flowers from Capesthorne’s gardens in her wedding bouquet in 2014, which included hydrangea from the formal gardens.
Veronica said: “My bouquet was handmade by my mum Yvonne and the rest of the wedding flowers arrangements, handmade by my dad. He was very famous for his dramatic door wreaths at Christmas on the huge door entering the hall.
“It was an amazing childhood spent at Capesthorne Hall. I was able to experience lots of outdoor spaces that are lacking today, I was allowed to go out and play in the fields and woods for hours on end with my friends.
“I really enjoyed that space and making dens. We used to name the different places. There was Frogland - it was like a pond with frog spawn and we used to go and play around there.
“Then there was Bottleland which was where there would be rubbish from the hall.
“It was full of wildlife. We used to see pheasants, owls and I remember seeing a baby owl, foxes, badgers and lots of rabbits.
“Our house on the estate was right next to a field of cows. One morning a mother cow gave birth and there was a baby calf there at our back door.”
Veronica now lives in Congleton with her husband and runs consultancy company VK Business Assist.
While her childhood was mostly spent playing out with her brother and friends in wellingtons they would, steer clear of the pristine formal gardens the public paid to visit.
She and her brother played with the children of the caravan park warden and workers from the estate.
Veronica said: “It was like a secretive adventure. We were very much behind the scenes when the general public were around - playing in the woodland.
“I see myself as a person of two halves. I live in Congleton and work with businesses, which is the complete opposite of my rural childhood.”