The likenesses of Mr & Mrs Gladstone had hung on the wall of my grandfather’s farm house for as long as I could remember

They were actually plates with photographic images of the great man and his wife and dated from the late years of the nineteenth century

Although they had aged well there was a dark stain on William’s plate which was supposed to have been the result of an incendiary bomb that set fire to some adjoining farm buildings in 1940 during a raid

I never believed this tale and knew that the staining had been caused by the toxic smoke that came from my grandfather’s pipe

He often used to sit in his chair directly under the portrait of William smoking quite heavily

The cottage is now a restaurant and a sympathetic extension has been added to the building near where the stables used to stand

On the wall opposite the fireplace where the Welsh Dresser used to be is a solitary ribbon plate

This shows the lovely Queen Alexandra in later life

Its pale blue ribbons have faded somewhat but the likeness of Edward’s dear wife is still quite clear