The pros and cons of living in Narnia [AD]

One of the things nobody warns you about before having children is the horror of tissues in the washing machine.  Granted, it happens occasionally even when you only live with adults.  But with children, it’s virtually every wash.  In go nice, smart, dark coloured clothes.  Out comes a snowstorm Mr Tumnus would be proud of.  

Living in Narnia

If you follow me on Instagram, you’ll probably realise that where we live in Malvern was said to be the inspiration for Narnia.  C S Lewis used to walk on the Malvern Hills with his friend, J R R Tolkien.  Legend has it that the old fashioned gas lamps that are still dotted around the streets and hills stuck in Lewis’s mind.

Even now, there are more than 80 working gas lamps in the area. If you’re local or visiting Worcestershire, you can see the lamps on Belle Vue Island in Great Malvern. They’re also in Priory Churchyard, Malvern Wells and a few locations on the edge of the hills, including West Malvern. More information about the lamps is available on the Visit the Malverns website. I always look out for the gas lamps on the hills and they’re particularly beautiful when it snows. It feels like stepping back in time. When Lucy emerged from the wardrobe and got her first glimpse of Narnia, a lone gas lamp stood in the snow. A little bit like this.  

I love the Narnia books and have read The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe to the girls as a bedtime story. I’m looking forward to reading it again with them now they’re a bit older and moving onto the other books. I’m hoping they’ll want to watch the films soon too, I certainly will.

Sadly, my love of Narnia doesn’t soften the blow when the washing comes out of the machine with tissue snow stuck to it.  

Cushelle washing machine resistant tissues

I’m clearly not the only person battling against tissues being left in the pocket of clothes, because Cushelle have thankfully come up with a solution.  Their facial tissues are washing machine resistant which means if they are accidentally left in a pocket, they won’t break up and leave residue on clothes.

The handy mini packs are great for popping into school bags or pockets for winter sniffles. They also come in pretty boxes of different colours for the home too. There are four designs of regular packs and four designs of cube packs, so there will be one to match any colour scheme. The tissues themselves are lovely and soft and have recently won a Mumsnet rated badge. Of 105 Mumsnet users who tested Cushelle Facial Tissues, 95% would recommend them.  

Cushelle facial tissues were launched in 2019 and are available to buy in Tesco, Morrisons and Ocado. You can read more about them on the Cushelle website.