SNOW in mid-November is not that rare an occurrence, as was proved during a talk last Saturday at Croft Castle.

Historian Julia Ionides referred to a letter written by an American visitor Anna Maria Fay from Moor Park on November 17, 1851, in which she wrote of snow on the Clee Hills.

Exactly 153 years and three days later, thick snow was falling outside as Julia Ionides spoke.

It was all part of an illustrated talk on Victorian Days, drawing on the letters Anna Maria wrote home to her family in New England during a lengthy stay in Shropshire.

Nancy Gower read extracts from some of correspondence about the balls Anna Maria attended and her visits to the local gentry and aristocracy.

Julia Ionides and Peter Howell put the surviving letters into Victorian Days in England, published in 2002.

Last Sunday, visitors to Croft Castle, a National Trust property, learned about the secrets of the annual ritual of Putting the House to Bed for conservation and repair work during the winter before it reopens early next March.

On Saturday Barry Honeyborne will talk about Antique Restoration in the third and last of Croft Castle's autumn lunchtime lectures. Tickets at £12 include lunch and are on 01568 780246. MB