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| Owner: |
Gill Raikes |
| Model: |
Cream 4-oven |
| Vintage: |
c1930s |
| Location: |
Wales |
| Snapshot: |
Gill’s family home, Treberfydd, is a Grade 1-listed house near the Black Mountains and the Brecon Beacons. Treberfyd was built in 1852 and is renowned for being a fine example of Gothic architecture. The house is used as an exclusive events venue and film set – Dr Who was filmed there in 2008. The coal-fired AGA was installed in the 1930s, to replace the original Victorian range. “It would be riddled morning and night – one of the most evocative sounds in the world,” Gill recalls. The AGA was used to perform a great many tasks other than cooking. “We burned all our tissues in it to stop colds spreading and it was especially good at airing clothes – I would put my school uniform in the bottom left-hand oven, and it was warm as toast when I put it on in the mornings.” Gill also learned to make perfect meringues – “left overnight in the plate oven to not so much cook, but dry out, they were delicious”. In early spring, the AGA set about reviving orphaned lambs which “sometimes with three legs or one eye” slept in boxes by the oven doors “and often lived much longer than their fitter counterparts”. Power cuts, though frequent, failed to interrupt daily life and the AGA continued with its duties nonetheless. “The power lines were laid very close under the earth, so in ploughing season we got used to no electricity.” |
| Finest Hour: |
Gill is a determined AGA cook and knows the perks. “I cannot live without hot plates – such a pain if you don’t have an AGA – such a habit if you do.”
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