England June 2019: History and Gardens of the South and London

England June 2019: History and Gardens of the South and London

Henry becomes (unintentionally) a recurring theme of my trip ......

For years I have been parking a trip to England in the “one day” basket for when I can no longer climb Namibian sandhills or the Great Wall of China, or sleep in an Okavango Delta camp tent, but the pull of English history and a few Netflix English garden shows made me pull the option out of that basket, and go looking for suitable airfares, car rentals and AirBnBs,  So “one day” arrived. My first attempt at sorting an itinerary using a National Trust tome resulted in a map of England smothered in starred sites, and enough items for a few years of touring. So sadly leaving Chatsworth and Castle Howard for another time, I narrowed the options to two weeks each for the South (five AirBnBs) and London(two). So armed with my NZ Heritage ticket and my credit card, I flew into Gatwick, and collected my (Mercedes!!!!) rental!

Royal Tunbridge Wells (May 29)

So starts Josephine’s South England Culture Vulture Tour! Two exciting things today (but only a photo of one of them) from Gatwick, via the back roads, to Tunbridge Wells:

1. My rental car collected at Gatwick is a MERCEDES!!!* Not sure how or why, but I shall swan around loftily for the next 18 days, waving graciously at the plebs.

2. I missed the photo of the fox, as I thought it was taxidermy! I took the pretty lots-of-green-tree-tunnels back route from Gatwick, and as I drove towards it, I was admiring the big fat stuffed fox outside a little wayside building - until it turned and ran away! I realise they are a pest here, but coming from fox-free NZ, they are a charming novelty.

Tomorrow I begin my attack on the English stately homes with a visit to Knole, the ancestral home of the Sackvilles since the 15th century - My month-long itinerary is full of amazing places, so I dare say I shall be faced with the usual challenge of how to whittle down 1000+ photos to a manageable number.

So be thankful that today you just get one... ( sorry about the fox...)

*OK, only a lowly one ....

PS - note I have already adopted the strange English practice of parking facing the wrong way. Very scary when you drive into a street and have a panic attack that it is one-way against you, as all the cars on the left are facing you....

Knole (May 30)

Knole, the home of the Sackvilles, is the start of my country house pilgrimage. And it has all the big names attached to it since it was built in the 1400s by an Archbishop of Canterbury. However Henry VIII took a liking to it when visiting, so the archbishop decided losing his house was preferable to losing his head..... (Similar to Henry’s acquisition of Hampton Court from Wolsey) Hever Castle, the Boleyn family home was nearby,so perhaps.......Elizabeth I inherited it from her father, then gave it to her favourite courtier, Robert Dudley. The Sackville family acquired the lease from Dudley, and various generation have now lived there for about 400 years - acquiring the name Sackville-West when there was only a female heir, so her husband’s “West” name was added, to carry on the lineage.

The assorted earls since then have been a varied lot - one cleverly acquisitive specimen brought all the “leftover furniture” from the King’s palaces to fill Knole - still the largest collection of Stuart furniture anywhere. Others were notorious womanisers - one kept a beautiful Spanish mistress whose stunning life-size naked sculpture was relegated to the attic by the subsequent wife. More recently there was a whole illegitimate line that tried to claim the title and estate - Vita Sackville-West’s mother was the eldest daughter of this liaison who married her first cousin to get her foot back in the door.

The house today is a wonderfully preserved example of 16th century grandeur in the middle of a 1000 acre park, the last of the medieval deer-hunting parks , with hundreds of deer still roaming the hillsides. A great start to my tour- heaps of history to wallow in, and gorgeous furniture to drool over.

Entrance to Knole Castle

The King’s Room - always hoping for a visit, but he never actually arrived. Contains Louis XIV furniture.

Jacobean chimney-piece

The Great Hall, lined with auspicious portraits

Pretty deer everywhere - quite tame

Sissinghurst Castle - (National Trust, Cranbrook) - Friday May 31
Arriving at Sissinghurst, I marvel again at the fabulous institution that is the National Trust - a priceless repository of the architecture, art, furnishings and gardens of Great Britain, all available to be enjoyed by many thousands every year, and all free with my NZ Heritage card - yippee!! And free wifi at all of them once you log in at one site ! Check the Wikipedia entry for an in-depth history. Gates open in 10 mins, so must trample over English persons to get in....
Afterwards: Hundreds of photos would not do it justice.

Bought by Vita Sackville-West and her husband Harold Nicolson in 1930, Sissinghurst is regarded by many as “the best English Garden” . When it was bought, the castle was in ruins and the garden was wild and overgrown, so they essentially started from scratch. Harold did the design, and Vita did the planting. He set out a rigidly stylised plan, and she stuffed it full of as many flowering plants as she could, with an emphasis on old roses, but so much more. It is laid out in a series of garden “rooms” which have inspired many gardeners, such as the famous “White Garden”, but elsewhere there is a riot of colour, with vibrant purpled, reds, oranges and yellows.

The tower of the old castle was rebuilt as Vita’s writing sanctuary into which she admitted only her dogs and a very few selected humans. After her death, her son, visiting her writing room for only about the fifth time ever, discovered a locked Gladstone bag, and being unable to find a key, he cut the leather open. Inside was a manuscript, which, while using pseudonyms, was clearly the story of his mother’s passionate affair with Violet Trefusis. He waited until after both his father and Violet had died before publishing Portrait of a Marriage. The commentary at Sissinghurst suggests that the garden was the expression of their strong, though unconventional love for each other, embodying Harold’s rigid organisation and Vita’s romanticism.

Plan your visit...... (these photos can only be a fleeting glimpse)

Entrance to Sissinghurst

Vita’s writing tower - the family lived not in one house, but a series of buildings reconstructed out of the ruined castle

View from the roof of Vita’s tower

Teensy bit of the White Garden



Glorious red poppies, thick with bumble bees




Lots of colour, as well as the white...

Pretty purples and pinks

More purpleness

Stunning indigo irises. Alongside roses, irises are a theme of the garden -
dozens of gorgeous varieties. (Vita grew over 150 different roses which the current head
gardener is trying to replicate.

Canterbury Cathedral - Saturday June 1st
Canterbury Cathedral - the history around here all links and connects and assorted King Henrys (?pl.) seem to crop up everywhere!

So CC is famous firstly for the murder of the Archbishop, Thomas Becket, sort of at the behest of Henry II - “Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?”. The site of his martyrdom became a pilgrimage destination, and is now marked by a modern cross-shaped sculpture, with the wall shadows depicting the looming assassins who beheaded him ( very amateurishly due to their drunkenness). His body was entombed in a place of honour in front of the altar, and Henry VIII, in one of his fits against the church had it destroyed, so it is now marked only by a sole burning candle. And Henry, if you remember, “acquired” Knole from an Archbishop of Canterbury ....... so the links continue.....

The exterior is a building site of scaffolding for repairing the crumbling French stone, so no photos of that, but the interior has some lovely aspects, fortunately preserved during WWII by the roof fire watchers who manually cleared burning debris during incendiary bombing raids. The town was of no strategic importance, but was attacked as part of the “Baedeker Raids”; this was a guidebook to the pretty towns of England, used by the Germans to select morale-damaging targets!

The town of Canterbury has many pretty buildings, some restored after the bombing and some original - seems quite affluent, though some empty High St
shops, and a proliferation of charity shops.

To continue these connections, Hever Castle, the home of Anne Boleyn is next on my itinerary.

Canterbury Cathedral nave


Glorious quire screen

Memorial beside the spot where Thomas Becket was martyred
- shadows depicting his assassins.

Simplicity can be very evocative

View across the main nave

Entrance gate to the Cathedral Close - modern Christ in the centre,


Because of a parapet at the edge of the roof, they could not sweep burning embers off,
but had to manually throw each one over the edge. Nasty job in a steep roof in the
middle of an incendiary bombing raid.


Usual timbered houses - now bars or Union Jack mug shops.

Hever Castle (Sunday June 2nd)
Hever Castle and Gardens has done the “exceeding the customer’s expectations“ thing with bells on! I went for the Boleyn history and got so much more! It is a rather lovely castle on quite an intimate scale, though what we see now is a wonderful restoration courtesy of John Jacob Astor (more on him later).

So dealing with those Boleyns first - they were relatively lowly-born, but very clever and ambitious. There is even a tenuous family connection to Thomas Becket of Canterbury Cathedral .... Sir Thomas Boleyn, Anne’s father was a successful courtier at the court of Henry VIII and some have unkindly said he pimped out both of his daughters - Mary Boleyn was Henry’s mistress, but Anne supposedly held out for marriage. There is even a rumour that their mother was also one of Henry’s conquests! Henry visited the Boleyn family at Hever during his courtship of Anne, but of course when Anne lost favour ( and her head), the family also lost Hever. Henry inherited the property (no point beheading people if you can’t take advantage of their belongings...), and a few years later he gave it to his divorced wife No.3, Anne of Cleves. Hmmmm - how would you feel about living in your beheaded predecessor’s house???

The castle passed through various hands until being almost a ruin in the 1900s - then along came John Jacob Astor, a wealthy Anglophile American of German origins who bought, lovingly restored, and extended Hever. So here is another theme of English stately homes: being rescued by American or other foreign money. There was a whole generation of marriages to heiresses such as Consuelo Vanderbilt that saved homes like Blenheim, and Astor’s work at Hever employed hundreds of craftsmen to create a “modern” castle that incorporated many Tudor features. He added a wing of faux-Tudor houses to accommodate his weekend party guests, and copied Tudor carvings in the new timber work, keeping as much of the Tudor influence as possible in a liveable house.

And then he turned to the garden! This includes a Tudor knot garden, a “Tudor chess piece garden”, a yew maze, an Italian garden, a rose garden and many acres of beautiful landscaping, lakes, and rockeries - just gorgeous! Dare I say, I probably enjoyed this at least as much, if not more, than Sissinghurst, which is probably heresy....

I have always wanted a moat and a drawbridge.


And a portcullis for those pesky unwanted guests.

The dining room where Henry VIII ate with the Boleyn family -
quite a modest size by aristocratic standards

 
The bedroom where Henry and Anne may have “visited”

A tiny chapel, built behind panelling, where the Catholic Waldegrave family,
who owned the house after Anne of Cleves, (the wife Henry did not do away with..)
could hear Mass in secret.

Lovely gardens

And more ....

..and more .....


Beautiful layered landscaping

There are hundreds of glorious roses ....

The faux-Tudor wing where John Jacob Astor’s weekend party guests could stay

Seven Sisters Cliffs - Monday June 3rd
Beautiful white chalk cliffs - the Seven Sisters - on the south coast at Seaford Head, which are often now movie or TV stand-ins for the White Cliffs of Dover. These are allowed to erode naturally, so stay white, while the Dover ones are protected so are now accumulating vegetation and are “greening”! This was my first leg from Tunbridge Wells, then it is on to Petworth.





Petworth - Monday June 3rd
Well those names keep popping up - Percy, Cecil, Howard, Seymour, and lots of Henry.... but Henry Percy this time. The Percy family have lived at Petworth since the 12th century until today, with their history being closely connected to many of the major events of British history: assorted Percy men were involved in the plot to replace Queen Elizabeth I with Mary Queen of Scots, the Gunpowder Plot, supporting the Parliamentarians against the Royalists in the Civil War plus being major sponsors of the arts and charities. One Henry befriended a young Van Dyck, so as a result there are four different Percy portraits by Van Dyck, plus about a dozen others! The art collection is the most valuable in the National Trust’s portfolio. Apart from walls of Van Dycks, there are numerous Turners (he painted in the grounds) and Gainsboroughs, an extremely valuable Hieronymus Bosch, an Aphrodite from 300 BC, galleries full of classical and British-classical sculpture, plus wood carvings by the craftsman who decorated St Paul’s. Fabulous!

Then there is the beautiful 17th century baroque building (later “toned down by removing some embellishments when French style was not PC) and Capability Brown estate with lake plus both an Ionian rotunda and a Doric temple......... luckily the deer do the lawn mowing......

This building is an 18th century version built on the foundation of the centuries-older house.


A wall of Van Dycks - more elsewhere.


The entrance hall with a couple of the many Roman sculptures.

The three youngest children of King Charles, held by the Percies to encourage 
Charles to agree to abdicate - unsuccessfully!

One of the many classical statues - the Percies also sponsored English sculptors 
who worked in the classical style - many of these can be identified by the presence of a 
dog or animal! Paintings similarly often include the favourite pooch.


Aphrodite from 300BC, one of the most valuable pieces.

The chapel, dating from mediaeval times, and renovated during the 17th century rebuild. 

Capability Brown artificial lake

A nice little Doric temple for the garden


Or an Ionian rotunda if you prefer...

Sir Harold Hillier Arboretum and Gardens (Tuesday June 4th)

I think I have found my spiritual garden home! This fabulous garden (about 30 minutes from Winchester) is ENORMOUS, and is essentially the record of trees of the UK, plus many from elsewhere, all scientifically labelled, but it is so much more than that. To me it combines the best of Japanese tree landscape gardens, with the addition of glorious co-planting of lavish colour - the rhododendrons for example are gasp-inducing. I had to make myself put the camera away! (also it was playing silly beggars putting arty filters on things that I could not figure our how to turn off!!, so the rest were all iphone shots anyway....) Two hours of blissful wandering. I won't bother with captions - just enjoy .......

Mottisfont Abbey (Tuesday 4th June) - second garden of the day .....
This is apparently the best rose garden of the National Trust, and looked and smelt fabulous this morning. The roses are the specialty but the peonies and irises were wonderful too. The house is a converted mediaeval abbey, lost by the monks after Henry’s edicts gave these properties to whoever was in his favour, and was rescued in the 1930s by 
 a banking couple as their weekend retreat. The house is interesting but unremarkable, while the garden is absolutely world standard.

  .
Renovated abbey
r
Beautiful landscaping

Glorious roses

...and more ....

..and irises...

..and more roses ....

....and irises ...

.... not sure??.....

Winchester Cathedral 
Another glorious Gothic mediaeval cathedral which fortunately was off the Germans’ target list in WWII. Begun in the 11th century, it was redeveloped in the 14th century by Bishop Wykeham, a major influence to this day: he acquired property which ran continuously from Oxford to London, an endowment still producing income today! The 700-pupil Winchester College charges £35000 pa fees; Wykeham’s bequest has funded 70 scholars per year from the 1400s to today!


The stained glass window over the entrance also has a fascinating history. Rather than seeing assorted religious images, one sees a mosaic of glass pieces. During the Civil War, the Cromwellians smashed the original; the locals collected all the fragments and after Cromwell’s defeat they rebuilt the window with these as a beautiful coloured mosaic. Probably more effective than the original due to its story.











Bath (Wednesday 5 June, Friday 7 June)
Bath from the hilltops looks almost like a Mediterranean city, with all the golden stone of its houses. Street after street of gracious Georgian houses, often built on a curve to echo the glorious Circus and Crescent, with rows of chimney pots atop each roof for the coal fires which necessitated the “coal holes” still seen in roadways so that coal could be delivered directly to the cellars without despoiling the grand houses.

My afternoon walking tour covered the Town from the time that the Romans lazed around the hot-spring- fed baths, to the grand Georgian days of the Assembly Rooms, Beau Nash and Jane Austen, and the building of the beautiful houses such as the complete circle of the Circus, and the partial curve of the Crescent by the architects John Wood, father and son. There are mutterings about Masonic symbolism in the designs, but despite (or because of?) this, the buildings still today provide gracious multi-million pound dwellings.

The Assembly Rooms (Georgian dating agency ) described by Jane Austen have moved, but many of the fittings remain in the newer 19th century buildings, in particular the fabulous Georgian chandeliers, now worth over a million pounds each. These, along with many British treasures, were stored in slate mines during WWII, luckily, as the Assembly Rooms were hit, so glass chandeliers would not have survived. A local woman was on the tour, and she remembered as a small child seeing flames on the horizon and being told that it was the Assembly Rooms. She had also been told that the chandeliers had been sent to America for safety, so I am not sure which local legend is true.

As we wandered the streets, the houses of many past notables were identified, from Jane Austen, to William Pitt, to Sir Isaac Pitman (shorthand), to William Harbutt (plasticine) to the benefactor of the Smithsonian, to Nicholas Cage!

My BnB is not so ancient, but still very nice, a separate wing of a house, and an easy 25-minute trot down the hill to the centre of town.......... but a steep 35-minute chug back up! And that was after my two-hour walking tour of the town, so tired legs tonight. But parking in English towns is a zoo - and I lost my car for ten minutes in the car park when I arrived in town this morning - thank heavens for key flashers - and the direct mile from the centre of town to my BnB by the satnav route was a winding couple of miles around one-way streets, so I was not keen to drive in again. A car in these towns is a mixed blessing.

Tomorrow is Longleat, but I have to get there early to get a seat on the safari bus - not too keen on having the monkeys or lions sampling the fittings on my rental car! Also Bath Abbey that I ran out of time for today.

After tasting the water, I think it relies on the “If it tastes ghastly, it must be good for you” principle

One third of the Circus

Coal holes in the street leading directly to house cellars.

One of the million- dollar Georgian chandeliers

Three of them ...

The Roman Baths- not sure if you would smell better or worse after bathing - quite sulphurous.....

 
The still-active bubbling spring that feeds the main pool. 

Spring water flowing into the pool.

Bath Abbey that I will hopefully get inside tomorrow

Longleat House (Thursday 6 June)

Major sat-nav booboo - aaaargh! That will teach me for laughing at the story last week of the old guy from Leicester who set out to drive to Rome to see the Sistine Chapel - he ended up in Rom in NE Germany....... well I set off for Longleat, duly entered in the sat-nav, until 25 minutes later I noticed motorway roundabout signs for London!!! I was heading for Longleat House, London! So a quick U-turn on a side road, and heading back the other way....... Fortunately, I always leave early, so I was not too late, as there is soooo much to see at this fabulous estate of the Marquess of Bath. If the lions and monkeys can pay to keep this fabulous house intact, well nose-thumbs to those sniffy persons who judged it to be “not done” back in the ‘50s, when the Marquess did it! Fortunately for me, most of the people do seem to be there for the monkeys and lions, so wandering the lavish house was a very quiet uncrowded experience. (I did do the lions and monkeys too - see other post.)

The current decor in the formal rooms is largely Italianate, though the original Elizabethan Great Hall retains its 16th century features - including fossilised prehistoric deer antlers, about 10,000 years old dug from Irish bogs! External corridors were added in the 19th century to provide more private rooms, and better access for family and servants.

A fabulous feature of many rooms is the ceilings, designed by an English craftsman, Crace in the 19th century, but inspired by Italian ceilings from Rome and Venice, including a copy of a ceiling from the Doges Palace in the Breakfast Room. Another room, the State Drawing Room was designed to hold the 4th Marquess’s collection of Italian Old Masters, including a Titian, “Rest on the Flight into Egypt” which was stolen in 1995, but thankfully recovered. Another couple of the paintings and a table in here have been accepted by the Government (Victoria and Albert Museum) in lieu of death duties in 1997 and 2005, but permitted to remain in situ at Longleat. Quite a nice arrangement .......

Photos are from the guidebook I had to buy as there were no photos allowed, and I HAD to have a record of those ceilings. Apologies for the creases in some photos.....

My photo of the entrance - with lions

The Elizabethan Great Hall. The enormous prehistoric antlers are at the other end of the room

Ceiling of the Red Library - even this photo does not truly capture its ornate magnificence.

The Lower Dining Room (yes, there is another even grander one!) with another 

fabulous Crace ceiling. 

The State Dining Room for REALLY important people.You can’t quite see the ginormous silver centrepiece by Garrard which weighs 1582oz, depicting the Battle of Lansdowne and is really rather ghastly. Bigger does not necessarily mean better ......

The Saloon - this is rather lovely actually and has a sort of rose glow from the wall covering that this photo does not quite pick up. Many priceless tapestries too.

The State Drawing Room designed to display the Marquess’s Italian Masters. The room is kept draped to protect the paintings but also to imitate the evening candlelight ambience - the house did not get electricity until 1928.

The Grand Staircase

The servants’ bell board

Sculpture at the entrance - actually there is a matching one on the other side, but there was a dratted van parked in front of it, spoiling the photo! So you only get one side .....

Beautiful rhododendrons line the entrance driveway.

Longleat Zoo and Safari Park - (Thursday 6 June)
This is what pays to keep the house functioning and still in family hands rather than given to the National Trust or allowed to decay. I opted for the bus as they REALLY mean it when they say the monkeys may damage your car. Actually, watching this happen was a highlight of the tour! We saw monkeys pulling off windscreen wipers, chewing on aerials, demolishing windscreen washer nozzles, and generally clambering over anything they could grab onto. One car had about 8 of them attached to any protruding pieces or just riding along on the roof! Lots of sleeping lions, a few tigers and leopards, herds of assorted deer, giraffes, zebra and much more.


In the zoo section later there were several displays where the animals were right next to you, ( meerkats, marmosets, koala) just with a keeper standing there for safety. The “Jungle Safari” in a boat on the estate lake included a couple of hippos, and half a dozen very large sea lions that jumped out of the water, barking to be fed the fish you could pay £1 to throw them. All great fun, and the families there seemed to be having a great time, even though they never ventured into the house. Strange ........

Ring-tailed lemurs cuddled together - these were “touchable” with just a keeper watching for safety. (Not sure if that is their safety or ours ....)



Three of the dozens of monkeys clinging to this car, doing damage!!









Cute little marmosets

This is the most wide-awake koala I have seen. Several others nearby in usual snooze mode.


Red panda

Very large and greedy sea lions beside our boat, barking madly.
Bath: Abbey and Costume Museum, plus Dyrham Park (Friday 7th June)
Quiz: Which is Summer, which is Winter: Bath, raining, 11deg; Auckland: raining, 14deg. Hmmmm - well, tramping around in icy wetness not being my fave, I headed for warmer indoor sites.

First stop was Bath Abbey, another lovely Gothic church (not a cathedral, as no bishop), founded in the 7th century, then rebuilt in the 10th, 12th and 19th centuries, and undergoing more restoration at the moment. Major snafu: taking out my camera to capture the loveliness, my lens cap came off its string and disappeared down a decorative steel grating in the aisle! Many foreign visiting students helpfully fired their iPhone torches into the channel below, to no avail! Never to be seen again! Lucky it wasn’t a diamond...... anyway, there was lots to admire, including the beautiful fan-vaulted roof over the altar, and hundreds of memorial plaques attached to the wall and inlaid in the floor - must have been a worthwhile fundraiser!
Then it was on through the icy rain to the Costume Museum at the Assembly Rooms - a marvellous repository of fashions over the last centuries - one can only marvel at how the women breathed in those frocks - or perhaps they didn’t, hence the prevalence of swooning. Even a Dior New Look coat from the 1950s, worn by Dame Margot Fonteyn, had a waist that defied reality. The glove collection was a favourite.

Then bravely sallying forth to the Sally Lunn Shop (how else would one get there?), I was a tad disappointed that there was no sign on my bun of the lavish pink icing and coconut to be found on those of Mrs Tinsley in Kaitaia in 1959. Do you think perhaps they don’t know how to make them properly? Despite the warming effects of a nice pot of tea and a bun, I was so frozen, I scuttled home planning to hunker down and read a book for the rest of the day. But 3pm, and the sun popped out briefly, so it was off to Dyrham Park.

This is an example of the class system, even at those upper levels. This house in a gorgeous deer park has a nice enough exterior, but inside, is clearly several steps down from Longleat. It is undergoing National Trust restoration but the family fortunes had sadly declined over the years, and little furniture is left, though there is still some rather nice art work. However, its pièce de resistance is the glorious garden, for which the sun kindly popped out for another 15 minutes.

So Bath is a unique city, with its golden stone, stylish architecture and fascinating two-thousand-year history; three days was not enough ......

Bath Abbey nave

Fan vaulting

Memorial plaques - no doubt an effective fundraiser









Dyrham Park

















Tintern Abbey, Wales (Saturday 8 June)
Sat-nav snafu again, but this time not my fault. Heading across from Bath to the Wye Valley, I wanted to visit Tintern Abbey, so duly instructed sat-nav to take me there. Well about 5 miles away, there is simply a sign blocking the road, saying Road Closed. No suggestions for a detour, or alternative route! Fortunately a nice Welsh gentleman pulled into the church car park beside me, and he responded to my plaintive bleating along the lines of “What do I do?” He told me of an alternative route which sounded rather complicated, but I set off in the general direction he was pointing fo a couple of miles down the road, until I overshot a little side road indicating “Tintern 3 miles”. Frantic backing-up ensued, and lo and behold, there is my nice Welshman, turning into the road and signalling to me to follow him. We then entered a beautiful primeval green tree-tunnel of a narrow road for about two miles, winding our way around - I never would have got there by myself. We eventually emerged in a pretty valley, he pulled into another church car park, and waved me on to the right - and there it was! Founded a thousand years ago as a Cistercian monastery, it fell into runs 500 years ago after Henry’s dissolution of the monasteries (familiar theme going on here?) But ruins can be fabulous too, and this one certainly is - quite magical in its lush green Welsh valley. So my sat-nav adventure had a happy outcome after all......










Gloucester Cathedral Saturday 8 June

A rather rushed visit due to a wedding being on when I arrived, and assorted parking issues (as always - parking in English towns is manic!) I spent some time outside trying to get an exterior photo without the three men in high-vis vests who stood front and centre holding a VERY long conversation.... I didn’t think they would appreciate my asking them to move along...... This is another beautiful Norman-Gothic confection, with beautiful stained glass windows (supposedly showing the first ever reference to golf, a couple of hundred years before one showed up in Scotland, but I did not find it in my rush), more lovely fan vaulting on the ceiling, and a rather Catholic-looking altar-piece. Plus many tombs and monuments that I confess I rather glossed over. Dratted parking ....

Sudeley Castle (Sunday 9 June)

I may need to change the name of my tour of England to “Visiting Places Connected to Henry VIII”, as the theme keeps continuing ....... Sudeley Castle was on my itinerary because it had cropped up on searches of “gardens near Cheltenham”, but of course, once I get there, the Henry stuff is EVERYWHERE!!!! It is primarily known as the home of Katherine Parr, the last of Henry’s wives, who actually survived! However there are many more connections than that.

The castle had been granted to the Tudors after the War of the Roses, but reverted to the monarchy at the time of Henry VIII. He and Anne Boleyn visited often, and it was from here that he issued the edict of the dissolution of the monasteries (was Anne winding him up, perhaps?).

After Henry’s death, his son Edward, granted the castle to his uncle, Edward Seymour, who within two months had married Katherine Parr, who returned to live here with their ward, Lady Jane Grey whose parents had sold her rights to marriage to Seymour for £2000! She was valuable, being the great-niece of Henry VIII. A few years later, Katherine Parr became pregnant, but died shortly after childbirth, and is buried at Sudeley - (the child, Mary “disappeared” from history) her grave only rediscovered in the 18thC. Lady Jane Grey was the chief mourner at her funeral, but after the death of Edward, this unwilling young girl was put forward as Queen of England and was so for all of nine days, then later, as was the custom, lost her head! So the Henry links continue for my tour.

Apart from that, the castle fell into run after being sacked during the Civil War, then was salvaged from its ruins in the 19th century by the Dent-Brocklehurst family (whose money came from machine-made silk, and gloves!) who rebuilt it, salvaging what they could from the ruins and recreating the rest.

The family still lives in part of the castle and it is not National Trust, so it is tourists like me who keep it running. An American wife (another theme?) has been responsible for managing it over 50 years, opening it to the public, building up the gardens, and putting it all on a viable financial footing. The gardens are of national standard, and the house, although it is not actually all that old, incorporates parts of the ruins, such as the fireplace, and glove money has bought up items such as 500-year-old tapestries, and furnishings matching the period. So it is not museum-perfect, but has fascinating connections everywhere.

Sudeley Castle - because of trees you cannot get a good photo angle of the whole building - 

I traipsed around, trying ..

The church in the grounds where Queen Katherine Parr is buried.

Ruins of the original castle, beside the rebuilt sections.

Ruins .....

No photography in the house as the family still lived there for part of the year (only open to tourists in summer), but I snuck a snap of this loo in one of the bedrooms; this is a reconstruction as the rooms Henry stayed in are now ruined, but I saw a similar one at Hampton Court. Madly unhygienic, I would have thought.

Lovely gardens

A replica Tudor knot garden

No, he isn't real.......

Chipping Camden Monday 10 June
Well I just had to be the gawpy tourist, slamming on the brakes to snap photos from the roadside - it really is impossibly chocolate-boxy and pretty - including a genuine Tudor green recycling bin .......

Hidcote Manor Garden (Monday 10 June)
The icy rain tested my tourist mettle today, but I got an hour clear at Hidcote before the heavens opened for the day. This is one of the most famous gardens in Britain, and deservedly so. It was developed a hundred years ago by a reclusive Anglo-American, Major Johnston and his mother, using a similar style of “garden rooms” to Vita Sackville West at Sissinghurst, though there was apparently no connection between them. It is a stunning garden with a couple of photogenic thatched cottages thrown in for added appeal.

Manor house at the entrance - not open to the public

Prettiness.....

Waited 5 mins to get people out if this!!

More prettiness....

Convenient photo-op over the fence

Pretty woodland area - in the rain......

Another gorgeous neighbour providing a backdrop.

Sculpted hedge for you Kathryn Ellis Redmore 

And another Kathryn Ellis Redmore

Kiftsgate Court
Would you believe, TWO fabulous gardens within a stone’s throw - this is at the entrance to the lane to Hidcote, and is perhaps less well-known, but rivals it for beauty of flowers, landscaping down a hillside, and stunning views across the Cotswold countryside. More icy rain, but I did it in two bursts, with a reviving pot of hot tea in the middle. It is the creation of three generations of women gardeners, and was started about the same time as Hidcote, just up the road, and Heather Muir, the original developer, worked closely with Lawrence Johnston (owner of Hidcote). The work was continued by Diany Binny and Anne Chambers to produce a brilliant garden, proposed the the National Trust Garden of the Year, this year - it would be a serious contender. The flowers are just fabulous, even in today’s rain when the peonies were drooping somewhat, then there is a sloping landscaped hillside with mountain goat stone paths down to a glorious lawn with pool, looking out across the green pastures and wooded hillsides. Prettiest yet? Possibly .......


Kiftsgate Court

Snowshill Manor, (Monday 10 June)

Ha! You thought you were getting away without any Henry VIII today, but no such luck!

The last stop on my odyssey today was at Snowshill Manor and Gardens, the home of an eccentric early 20thC collector, Charles Wade, who bequeathed his massive hoard to the National Trust, to be displayed in an “interesting” state of dim lighting and no labels so that it looks like what it is, the personal collection of an avid accumulator of whatever took his interest, and then he collectedtwenty of them! So there is a room full of samurai costumes, a room of bicycles, a wall of baby carriages, a room of Victorian childcare items such as the fore-runner of the Jolly Jumper, innumerable Japanese and Chinese lacquer-ware cabinets, and more, and more and more! Quite incredible, and understandably he lived in the little priest’s house next door, and filled the house with his amazing collection.

So where does Henry come in? Well, it used to be one of those monasteries that he liked to get rid of, so he acquired it personally, and included it in his dowry for Katherine Parr, whom we met yesterday at Sudeley Castle......

By this stage I was somewhat exhausted, and the lighting was rather impossible, so only a few photos......

Manor House

These are ivory balls-within-balls, carved in one piece! I had seen them on AR, but never for real

Stuff!!

Coal Buckets

Shoemakers' stuff

Assorted musical instruments

Westonbirt Arboretum (Tuesday 11 June)
Leaving Cheltenham this morning in 10deg damp fog, layered up in every warm item out of my suitcase, I was not too hopeful of my garden visits for today. However things cleared slightly as I headed across the Cotswolds to Tetbury, and beyond to the Westonbirt Arboretum. This is an enormous place, the scale of which I did not quite realise. It consists of two 2-hour loop walks, so I could only manage one in the time (and puff) I had before my afternoon appointment at Highgrove. In comparison to the Hillier Arboretum, it is much more focused just on trees (which I suppose is what an arboretum is ...) without the underplanted gardens. Still very lovely, and a beautiful woodland-type walk that I managed in a bit less than the two hours at a brisk trot. Prince Charles lives just down the road, so supposedly after a visit here, he decided he wanted an arboretum too, at Highgrove, as you do ...... Rododendrons were lovely, and lots of beautiful huge old trees.






















The Royal Gardens, Highgrove (Tuesday 11 June)
This was Stop No.2 for the day, and was just the most fabulous garden. However, according to HRH’s edict, no phones or cameras allowed past the entrance, which is tragic! I was suffering palpitations as we went around the garden, desperate to pull out my camera to capture it all. The scale of the place is amazing, with “room” after “room” of wonderful trees, shrubs, flowers, sculpture etc etc! You will just have to book your own visit - or get the book from the library. The photos below have mostly come from Google with a couple of my own taken at the entrance. Just fabulous!



This garden came from the Chelsea Flower Show and is an Alhambra-style design, inspired by a carpet!




Tree house built for William and Harry as little boys - no doubt Diana played with them in it, but her name cannot be mentioned of course ....

A little garden resting spot for HRH


These sculpted yew hedges surround the formal garden

The “Thyme Walk” with topiaried golden yew on either side

An apple arch with lots of little apples forming - must be lovely later when they ripen.

Several whimsical buildings scattered in the garden.

The entrance orchard that I could actually photograph

Willow sculptures for sake - the artist was a recipient of a Prince’s Trust grant to get her started. In the gardens there is a gift from her of a sculpture of Charles’s dog, Tigga.

Willow sheep sculpture

Woburn Abbey (Friday 14 June)
A room-ful of Canalettos - sigh ........ But of course, Henry VIII had to feature here, as that IS the theme of my trip. Woburn Abbey was yet another of those Cistercian Monasteries that Henry closed down, then conveniently grabbed for himself. In this case he doled it out to one of the Gentlemen of the Privy Chamber (Google what THEY actually did), John Russell, and it has remained in assorted branches of the Russell family ever since. The house and grounds have undergone various renovations, additions and titivations since then, but it truly is one of the grandest of the stately homes. The treasures therein are just mind-boggling - the Canalettos are only pRt of it - there are Reynolds and Van Dycks galore, plus the most fabulous furniture, mirrors, china and little delights such as about twenty etchings by Victoria and Albert (very good, too) given to a previous Duchess in thanks for her services as a Lady-in -Waiting. The grounds are lovely parkland, with pretty ponds and lakes, and an expansive deer park surrounding it, with herds of photogenic deer. There is also a Safari Park that I did not visit. A magnificent house.


My photo of the entrance

Room for a few visitors


The Racing Room with one of the Ascot trophies on the centre table won by a Duke’s horse in 1847

The Blue Drawing Room (so you would know what to wear to coordinate...)



The Armada portrait of Elizabeth I, with lots of symbolism related to her power- “attributed to George Gower” so I think its history is a little vague. Also vague is how Woburn acquired it ....

Queen Victoria's Dressing Room

One of the over 20 Canalettos in one room .... Guess where....


The stairs are lined with portraits of important persons - this one is Lucy Harington, 
wife of the Third Earl of Bedford.


The State Dining Room - sorry for the crease from the guide book !

Ascott House and Gardens (Friday 14 June)
This is Rothschild Stage 1; Buckinghamshire was the site of various branches of the Rothschilds building country homes - this is a lesser one, and I am visiting the star tomorrow: Waddesdon Manor. But this is still a nice house with an even better garden. The house is a no-photo zone and Google has let me down for interior photos, but the main point of interest is the extensive collection of Chinese ceramics. The garden is part of a 3200 acre estate with expansive rural views and lots of enthusiastic clipping of hedges - just for youKathryn Ellis Redmore.......

Waddesdon Manor (Saturday 15 June)

Well, Lord Rothschild did pop in, so that does make it rather special - he is the fellow in the green jacket with his back to us! He does not live there in the summer, but instead uses the family’s other house, Eythrope, across the valley, so he must have just been dropping by to borrow some silver plate for guests for dinner.

Built as a French chateau by Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild between 1874-1889, it was donated to the National Trust by his French great-nephew (both Ferdinand and his sister Alice died childless), but the Rothschild family gave a huge endowment with it (which they, rather than the NT invest!) and retain a large interest in the property. It is probably the best I have visited for the degree of accessibility to so many of the rooms. Its interior is newer than some, but partially overcomes this by using recycled interiors from European houses, and the family managed to accumulate some fabulous treasures which add an air of more ancient lineage. There is the brilliant George III silver plate service for 120 guests!! (It actually BELONGED to George, fir his German Palace, not just “Georgian“). There is also Louis XVI’s writing desk from Versailles, and so on.....

In Ferdinand’s time he entertained all the best and brightest of English Society, business, politics etc. - Queen Victoria sent her chef to the kitchens to study the cooking, and her manager from Windsor to study the interior design she was so impressed by her stay there.

Lovely garden too - check out the computer-designed garden below ....

Google the rest - there is so much history and interest....

You must come, and plan to spend a long day here.

Last day with my little Mercedes - drop it back tomorrow at Gatwick and then into London...

Entrance to Waddesdon

Lord Rothschild (in the green jacket) popped by to say Hi.

That is a writing table, believe it or not.

A selection of the wines in a VERY extensive cellar - these ones are all Rothschilds.

French panelling in the Breakfast Room

The White Drawing Room - there are several....

The 400 piece Sevres porcelain service to serve 24 people, was given as a gift from Louis XV to an Austrian prince - one of the most expensive gifts he ever gave. The R family used this until the 1980s 

This is George III’s silver service for 120 people - now set out in an upper room, rather than just have it in storage!

A birdie for Rachael O'Sullivan and Kathryn Ellis Redmore

And another.....

This is 1/3 of a garden (would not fit my lens) made from a photograph taken of one of the current Duke’s private paintings, scanned, and a garden company’s computer designs the appropriate plantings then ships it out in planting trays to be inserted in the garden over 8 hours. Add water, and away you go!!!Amazing!

Part of the parterre garden, sort of Victorian-inspired according to the gardener.

Part of the Victorian Aviary

London (Lambeth) Sunday 16 June

Finally in my London abode after my AirBnB host cancelled on me at 7.30pm last night due to “a flood”??? However he came up with an alternative, thankfully as there was NOTHING on AirBnB available in Central London remotely within my price range at that short notice, so after much fluffing around I have a roof over my head for the next week. I am booked in a different place next week, so this will do until then. I have a balcony with a nice view of the Shard, Canary Wharf and the railway lines.

Only tourism for today was evening sung Mass at Westminster Cathedral - no, not Westminster Abbey - that is the one Henry VIII (HIM again ...) nicked, so the Catholics had to build another one. It is still not finished, but has some nice bits, plus a lovely organ that helped calm my frazzled self.


Westminster Cathedral with the obligatory scaffolding. Do NOT be fooled by that blue sky - the camera was getting a bit over-excited. I was still wrapped in many layers. 

Lovely altar roof but the upper ceiling is unfinished.

A side chapel

Some English saints - how come no one is called Oswald or Bede these days......

London Intro Monday 17 June

Standing in the Groundling line waiting for Twelfth Night after a VERY tiring first day of London.

First up was joining a very good group tour to watch the Changing of the Guard. We were scuttled around four sites to catch different aspects - the Bearskins setting up at St James’ Palace, then marching to Buckingham Palace. We then raced down the Mall to see the Horse Guards heading towards us, then across to watch the Gurkha Regiment coming in to relieve the standing guard, then back to Buckingham Palace again! Whew! But we did get good photo angles and the guide (MA in History, doing PhD) was full of historical trivia. For some reason H8 came into it: He killed off 50,000 to 70,000 who would not accept him as the new Head of the Church; Mary killed 250-270, yet SHE is called Bloody Mary!

And then there was the little green horse-poo-sweeping-truck that followed the process as there were mounted police too. Boy, did that truck stink by midday!

Then it was off on a lengthy trek across town to the British Museum for my first bite at that. I have decided to do it in 2-3 shorter bursts so I can take it in. Highlight was a docent tour entitled “Medieval Europe” which was 45 mins of enchanting expertise on assorted exhibits. The Sutton Hoo burial site was fascinating, and the 800-yr-oldLewis Chess set, and the 40kg Viking silver hoard discovered in a riverbank....... More to come later in the week.

Now, after consulting my Cliff Notes I am waiting to sort out my Viola, Olivia, Orsino and Malvolio, 30cm from the stage.

Photos to follow as Shakespeare awaits!

Household Guard marshalling st St James’s Palace

Marching on their way to Buckingham Palace

The Gurkha Regiment heading in to relieve the Guard

Household Cavalry on the move

More Gurkhas

And more Gurkhas - must be a different sort of hat for this lot ..

And this is the Globe Stage as I wait for what turns out to be a brilliant Twelfth Night

British Museum, Tuesday 18 June

Here are the photos from the docent Medieval England talk: Sutton Hoo burial site, the Lewis chess set, and the Cuerdale hoard of Viking silver.

I love these talks by volunteers who have deep knowledge of their specialties and bring an enormous museum such as this down to manageable levels. We only looked at a few items but got such depth of stories about them - marvellous! I will be back on Thursday or Friday for more, and also to see the Waddesdon Bequest Room which was randomly closed. (Perhaps that’s linked to the filming that disrupted my visit to the Manor last week)

The burial mound at Sutton Hoo contained the treasures of King Raedwald, an Anglo-Saxon king of East Anglia - this is his helmet 

On the left is his sword, on the right is a modern reconstruction using the “twisted iron” technique with a steel edge

Elaborate shoulder clips for a tunic

Solid gold belt buckle - all this from a “Dark Ages” society

This is part of the buried treasure and contains important items from Europe, at a time when Anglo-Saxon England had been considered to be an insular society with no international diplomacy; Sutton Hoo changed that perspective as this king had clearly been given significant gifts from foreign persons. 

Part of the 40kg of solid silver found in a riverbank by some workmen, believed to be the hoard of a group of Vikings expelled from Dublin in the 8th century. It contains coins from the East and Russia.

800-year-old chess pieces found on Lewis Island in far north Scotland - part of three sets. 82 are held at BM and 11 are in Scotland. One more was recently found in an antique dealer’s drawer - believed to be worth about £1million.....

Traces of red dye on the pieces lead to speculation that they used a red and white board do that is how they are displayed. All the pieces are uniquely carved fro walrus tusks and whale bone

London HOHO bus/boat day
Well today was a fairly quiet “sit on the HOHO bus” day but without much hopping off. I mainly did it to get my bearings around the different parts of London as I had on my previous two visits, 40 and 10 years ago, only travelled mostly by Tube, so my vision of London’s geography was a Tube map! Four hours looping around on two tour routes has sort of got me oriented. I then took the included trip on the river boat to Greenwich, but by then the rain had come back so I scuttled around snapping a few photos and will have to do a proper visit some other time. 
Strange sight of the day: at 9.05am crossing London Bridge, a streaming horde of office workers marching across to the City. Why are they not at their desks already?? What time do they start work??


Crossing Tower Bridge


The Tower of London

City Hall, London

Rain-spattered Tower Bridge

Rain-spattered Tower

The Queen’s House, Greenwich - built for James I’s wife , Anne of Denmark.

This is the view in the other direction- I read somewhere that this gap was left so the Queen’s House could keep its view of the river.

Dark and rainy view - The Royal Observatory with the ball that drops at precisely 1.00pm each day - will have to do another visit....

Churchill War Rooms Wednesday 19 June

This was meant to be a 2-hr visit but it stretched to 4.5 hrs, as there is such a fascinating story to tell, both of Churchill himself, and of Britain during WWII. Be sure to book ahead as when I emerged, the queue snaked for a looooong way. I have read a lot about Churchill’s life but there are still nuggets to be revealed. I sat for about 15 minutes at an interactive display that scrolled through his quotations - brilliant! David Redmore - this is your London destination!

I did get a tad claustrophobic at being underground in the narrow corridors and tiny rooms, but at least the loo I went to was a flushing one, not the barrels and chamber pots that they used. And of course the most poignant stories were told by those who actually worked there, the typists and radio operators and cryptographers who were all sworn to secrecy, and could only tell their Mum that they worked in an office! And one young girl had just typed up the orders for the D-Day Landings!
A day well spent.

That did me in for another site for today so I trotted up to Leicester Square to the theatre ticket stand, and acquired a seat for Thriller- Live! for tonight. So off I go to the West End!

So true! His words inspired a nation to defiance! 

His quotes became widely displayed posters

The Chiefs of Staff Map Room

The Cabinet Room

Churchill's Bedroom

The BBC radio room from where Churchill’s speeches were relayed for broadcast

The typing pool

The agreement that changed the war.

NZ's contribution

Apsley House, London, Wednesday 19 June

Fabulousness! Is that a word? It needs to be for this place, if nowhere else. The gifts given to Wellington for his victory at Waterloo are eye-watering! The Prussian Service from the King of Prussia, the exquisite Saxon Service of incredibly delicate Meissen from the King of Saxony, (sorry , no decent photos of those in the guidebook) the Wellington Shield and ginormous candelabra from the merchants and bankers of London - whew!! And on and on, from those grateful to be spared Napoleon.
The dining room /gallery would rival any palace in its grandeur and the art could set up a sizeable gallery - all gifts again from the grateful: half a dozen Breughels over the fireplaces, several Velazquez, a Caravaggio, the odd Van Dyck ....... and remember there was a country house too at Strathfield Saye, intended to be as grand as Blenheim Palace, but in the end that proved too expensive, but I gather it was still fairly substantial. Photos from the guide book do not do this house justice, particularly the china collection.

Entrance to Apsley House, beside Hyde Park.

Wellington Gallery modelled after Versailles - used to have twice as many paintings hanging! 

Painting of the annual Waterloo Banquet for those who fought with Wellington, held first in the dining room, then here in this gallery added to the house. Wellington would entertain 500-1000 people here regularly.

Bizarrely large statue of Napoleon carved by Canova - when it arrived, even Napoleon was embarrassed by its flattering god-like depiction and “put it in the basement”. After Waterloo, Canova tried to buy it back, but the British Govt bought it and the Prince Regent gave it to W who could hardly refuse. Apparently during the Blitz, the fig leaf (added for Queen Victoria’s visit) fell off.

The Wellington shield, an enormous silver-gilt circle, which, along with two giant candelabra, was a gift from the merchants and bankers of London

A detail from a giant silver table setting from Portugal - centrepiece, candelabras and multiple figurines encircling the table. Took YEARS to make!

Two of the Velazquez portraits. These were part of the Royal Treasure of Spain that Joseph Bonaparte helped himself to while “King” of Spain. When he was ousted by W’s troops, he loaded all his loot into wagons and tried to make it over the mountains back to France, but lugging all that stuff was rather slow, so the cavalcade was caught. W rescued a lot of the art and when he tried to give it back, the King of Spain told him to keep it as a gift! 

This Corregio of The Agony in the Garden, according to the President of the Royal Academy was worth fighting a battle for and should be framed in diamonds - another Spanish royal gift

The Portuguese silver table setting

And the Horse Guards trotted past under the window.....

Borough Markets Friday 22 June

OMG - Meredith Caisley I have found a use for your word “fabuluscious”. The best food so far in England: freshly-shucked oysters (with lemon, black pepper and a teensy dash of Tabasco) at the Borough Market! With Prosecco. And scallops with bacon stir-fry for dessert! And that is NOT the same glass of Prosecco..... PS - Meredith, should I have done a selfie with it? Oh , then a £2 bag of rosewater and pistachio Turkish Delight for afters ....

Houses of Parliament Tour, Saturday 22 June

I really had no idea how magnificent this building would be on the inside! Book your tour! The exterior is an iconic image of London, although it is a relatively recent addition, having been almost completely rebuilt after a fire in 1834 destroyed the 16th century version. The current Gothic Revival building incorporated surviving bits such as the Westminster Hall, and as always is undergoing repairs, meaning that Big Ben (or the Elizabeth Tower) is smothered in scaffolding, and the Westminster Hall is littered with building paraphernalia. But the important parts of the rest are all accessible on this tour with its accompanying audio guide.

So I wandered through the lavish gilding of the House of Lords , the assorted lobbies, the Royal Robing Room, and the slightly more austere House of Commons - all so amazing when we have seen this setting in movies and on TV so often. The dratted no-photos rule means I have had to search Google for relevant images but there is much I cannot show you, so book the tour the next time you are in London!

You may recall that last year I visited Budapest and the Hungarian House of Parliament which I was told was inspired by Westminster; the exterior clearly was, but I did not realise how much of the interior was too. The Hungarian version has taken the gilded style of the House of Lords and wound it up a few notches for the general interiors, and the Central Lobby of Westminster seems to have been magnified and embellished as the inspiration for the amazing Domed Room at the centre, containing the Hungarian Crown Jewels. Amazing similarities!

I was quite surprised at how much access we had to the chambers of the House of Lords and the House of Commons - wandering right through everything- wonderful. No Boris, though .........

Again, photos courtesy of Google as no photography allowed inside. (Tomorrow I move from Lambeth to my new AirBnB in Kensington High Street.)

Houses of Parliament - Big Ben is to the right, currently wrapped in scaffolding, so no bells ringing.

House of Lords

House of Commons

The Royal Robing Room

Part of the Central Lobby

The Royal Gallery - sorry for the bad resolution

Roof of the Central Lobby - between the Houses of Lords and Commons - clearly where the Hungarians copied their Crown Jewels Dome Room from.

The Central Lobby

Kew Gardens Chihuly Art Glass, Monday 24 June

I came for the gardens - which are fabulous - but the Chihuly Art Glass display throughout the grounds has rather subverted my plans. Stephanie May, Phillip Redmore, this needs to be on your itinerary! Dale Chihuly is a Seattle-based glass artist who has revolutionised concepts of what can be done with glass. He has held exhibitions in the Citadel in Jerusalem, hung chandeliers over the canals of Venice, fired his glass “reeds” in Finland as only they have the ovens long enough, tossed huge blown glass cylinders and shapes into rivers, lakes and canals and generally done things with glass that no one else could imagine.

He has exhibited at Kew before and planned several of these pieces specifically for sites in this exhibition while others are “on the road” as part of his international showcasing. At the end, in October, they will be packed up - that red and yellow creation has 1500 pieces! - to travel on.

Then there are the “indoor” pieces......

Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Arts.

This is a gallery within Kew where Chihuly’s “indoor” pieces are displayed - and you can buy a LITTLE piece for yourself for about £5000 - I was admiring one, and the American couple next to me said they had it in purple! An incredibly creative artist and craftsman - now if I had a spare £5000...... They also show a 40 minute film about Chihuly which ideally should be seen before you view his works but never mind ........

Kew Gardens, Monday 24 June

Well, there is a garden there too! Despite my star-struck blathering about The Chihuly exhibition, I DID look at the plants too! Kew began its life in the 18th century as a royal country house and began its garden development in a small way under the Princess of Wales, Princess Augusta, but expanded over the following years, both in its landscaping and planting, and its scientific role as a research and development site for various plant species. Tea and rubber are two crops which were developed for growing in other sites in the British Empire at Kew (tea from China was taken to India, and rubber from South America went to Malaya).

And a few animal ones too - George III had read that merino sheep gave the best wool, but as there were no merino in England at that time, a naval raiding party was sent to Spain where they rustled a flock of 50 merino on board a naval ship. They landed the sheep in Cornwall and drove them to Kew where George crossbred them to enlarge the flock. These were the basis of England’s merino flock, and some were sent to Australia to establish them there as well!

Banks, the botanist on board Cook’s sailings was the first unofficial director of Kew, and the scientific work continues today. 350 scientists are working on a variety of tasks such as protecting the world’s coffee and cocoa crops (CRITICAL you will agree), and they are working on preserving the DNA of as many of the world’s plant species as they can. They have a target of 25% by 2025, so it is a vital resource for the whole world. Queen Victoria gifted the gardens to the state and there are now330 acres of land with a huge variety of garden areas. I spent 7.5 hours there today and only covered about half of it, and that, very cursorily. It is truly a national treasure.

A 250-year old oak that was looking rather seedy in the 1980s. Then there was the great storm of 1987 when the south of England lost 20% of its trees in one night, and Kew lost about 800. This one was blown so hard that the RHS roots lifted out of the ground and as you can see, it settled down slightly skew-whiff! However it has grown 30% of its total growth since then and is a very happy tree. They surmise that the roots had become compacted and de-oxygenated so now all the trees have a programme of root aeration - a bit like bashing your rhubarb plant with a spade if it is looking feeble! 

My “take-home” rose: salmon pink with glorious perfume - Jubilee Celebration

One of the original trees in the garden, a Japanese pagoda tree, needing even more support than me after a day at Kew

The Princess of Wales hothouse has a delightful cactus section

The Broad Walk us supposedly the biggest herbaceous border in England - certainly lovely.

More of the herbaceous border

..and more .......

 ...and more ....

I love tree trunks

London - Random Bits

Just filling in a few random bits from the last few days. 

1. On Saturday, after the Houses of Parliament tour I went to the Tate Britain, particularly for the Turner gallery , but as so often happens, my “take home” painting was by someone else: The Age of Innocence” by Reynolds.

2. On Saturday night I went to a performance of Moby Dick at the Guildhall, a free show which is part of the current Architecture Exhibition. It was quite an amazing acrobatic-dancing-musical show by a troupe of brilliant/crazy Italians.
3. Sunday morning I did Mass at Brompton Oratory - a lovely church in Kensington, quite old-school Catholic: altar rails, rear-facing altar, kneeling for Communion, lots of ladies in mantillas, but clearly an active family church with little children taking up the collection and everyone chatting outside afterwards.
4. Sunday night I went to the organ recital at Westminster Abbey - very good - then stayed for the evening prayers afterwards conducted by an Australian woman priest who admired my little yellow jacket when we chatted on exiting!

Reynolds - The Age Of Innocence. Tate

Moby Dick by an Italian acrobatic dance troupe at The Guildhall

Crazy Italian acrobat

The ship of Moby Dick becomes the whale - very clever.....

Westminster Abby

Brompton Oratory - lovely Mass - very old-school Catholic.

Victoria and Albert Museum, Tuesday 25 June

I suppose today I saw about 1% of the treasures this place holds, as I tried to limit myself to a couple of areas. I averted my eyes as I scurried past the fashion hall, and crossing quickly over the Raphael Cartoon Gallery I could not stop myself gasping at the glorious work on the end wall. On my way from one tour to another I got waylaid by vast silver displays and mind-boggling ceramics cases, but to avoid brain overload I tried to narrow down. So I just did the Intro Tour, then the jewellery section, and the furniture wing, plus a 16th century England tour (Henry VIII, of course ...).
One strong message I got from the tour guides was how important Prince Albert was to the establishment of this amazing museum precinct here in London - and value of his patronage. I had always thought of “Victorian” England, but perhaps overlooked the significant role Albert played.
I felt so once-over-lightly that I must try to fit in another visit before my Sunday departures. Just a couple of photos ......

One of the several exquisite tiaras on display. The jewellery collection must be valued at many millions.

A hair ornament with the flowers on “trembling stalks” so they would move naturally ....

My “take home” piece of lacquer furniture - very useful, with drawers.

These two sets of jewels belonged to the Marchioness of Londonderry, and were made from gems given to her by Tsar Nicholas! He must have been enchanted by her! 

More of the Marchioness’s finery - The scale is a bit hard to grasp, but that piece on left us a stomacher which would ornament the front bodice of a dress - and that centre ruby is enormous! The Tsar was certainly enchanted.....

Something different - a 1000-year-old ewer from the East, carved out of solid rock crystal, still quite clear, unlike glass which would have clouded.

British Library, Wednesday 26 June

Overcast skies and chilly temperatures changed my plans for me from Syon House to the British Library - the advantages of independent travel! So off I tubed fir a day of Leonardo da Vinci and a few other literary treasures.

The BM is a little strange as in a way there are no books. Well yes, there are a few hundred thousand of them, but they are all stacked away eight storeys under your feet, or in the off-limits King’s Gallery in the central four-storey-high glassed-in box, or a few hundred miles away at Boston Spa in Yorkshire. To get a book, you must enrol as a Reader (which I did!), then order a book from the online catalogue, and you will be informed whether it will be available in 1 hour if it is on-site, or in 48 hours if it has to come from Boston Spa. In London all the books are retrieved from the stacks by hand, while at Boston Spa it is all mechanised vending machine-style. The books are placed in a plastic box and delivered by a mechanical roller system to one of the eleven Reading Rooms in the Library (Social Sciences, Maps, Art, etc. )There is a two-sided sheet of 38 instructions about what you can take into the rooms - pencils only, no pens- plus a lengthy list of other rules! I decided that I did not have time on this visit to actually get the book I was interested in, but I have my card for future use!

So my day consisted of first the Leonardo Exhibition which displayed a number of pages from three of his Codices ( plural of Codex), one of particular interest being the Codex Leicester, now owned by Bill Gates who paid US$31million for it in 1994, and who has lent it outside the US for the first time. There are a number of these codices which hold compilations of Leonardo’s notebooks in various stages of completion. This one particularly focuses on the properties of water and its relationship to the sun and the universe, plus many other musings, experiments and calculations. Fascinating, especially since it is all written in mirror-image Italian! So the photo prohibition probably won’t bother you too much ....
Then I wandered the Treasures exhibition which is quite awesome in the true sense of the word. Magical illuminated manuscripts which I managed two photos of before being cautioned, a first Folio of Shakespeare’s plays, writings by Dickens, Jane Austen, Charlotte Brontë etc, then there is the Magna Carta......... and more. My disappointment was that all the “Alice” material from Lewis Carroll is away on tour.
After that was the Library Tour, fascinating as these tours so often are. The guide was a keen philatelist so he took us to the stamps section, where unobtrusively in racks sliding into the wall are some of the world’s most valuable stamps. We saw several Penny Blacks, but then my murky photo shows one that way surpasses those - from Mauritius, and worth about £5million ........ and just under a bit of glass in a rack in the wall ........

Illuminated Torah

Illuminated Qu'uran

Illuminated Bible

Shakespeare's First Folio

Half the height of the King’s Library - started by the Collection of King George. Off-limits to all but eminent researchers.

Murky photo of 5 million pound stamp.......

This explains lots of things about light shining on water - you understand, now, right? From Leonardo's Notebooks.

London Architecture Walk Thursday 27 June

London modern architecture sweet spot: stand on the corner of Lime St and Leadenhall St. You will then have The Gherkin behind you, the Cheesegrater to your right, the Lloyd’s building in front of you, The Scalpel to your left, and The Walkie Talkie just a little way along the street! Today I needed a break from museums etc so I armed myself with a self-guided walking map and set off to do a Modern London tour. The architecture tour actually began with a very OLD item: The Monument ( to the Great Fire of London) Great fun just meandering along, taking side streets as they appeared interesting.
I then picked a few other sites on the map and headed for those: Firstly, Paternoster Square for the memorial to “the Two Fires of London”. This refers to the original Great Fire of 1666, and the second fire on the night of December 29-30, 1940, when 100,000 bombs fell on the city and large sections of London burned. Nine churches burned but luckily St Paul’s survived, and “only” 160 people died as the area targeted was historic but largely non- residential. Second was to the Wren church of St Stephen Walbrook which he designed before St Paul’s and was perhaps practising with the beautiful dome. It now has an interesting modern Henry Moore altar, and just for me the organist and soprano were practising too. Then via Dr Johnson’s house off Fleet St, to the Temple area with assorted legal types scurrying around but no wigs and gowns in evidence unfortunately. An amazingly quiet and peaceful enclave.
After that it was home, via a quick wander through Harrod’s, just to gawp. In the Food Market there were some nice- looking red or white cherries from France for £10 per 100g...... that is £100 per kilo, or $200 per kilo ...... A quick hop off the bus home fir a close-up of Albert ...

The Monument to the 1666 fire 

The Gherkin

The Cheesegrater (aka The Leadenhall Building)

LLoyd's

The Scalpel, or 52 Lime

The Walkie-Talkie

Close-up of The Cheesegrater - very artistically industrial

St Stephen Walbrook (Wren church)

The Henry Moore Altar

Newspaper of 30 December 1940

Albert looking at .....

...his hall.......

Wallace Collection, Friday 28 June

This is a place where even superlatives seem inadequate. And be sure to “do the tour”..... Located in Hertford House this is the complete, unchanged and unchanging* collection of art bequeathed to the nation by Lady Wallace, widow of Sir Richard, in 1896. It is the single most valuable bequest ever! The collection had been amassed by the four Marquesses of Hereford, the fourth of whom bequeathed his fortune and the art to his only acknowledged child, the illegitimate Richard Wallace. A distant cousin got the title and no money! The life story of the family is fascinating and littered with illegitimacies, acknowledged or suspected. In any case, Sir Richard used the inherited fortune to carry on the acquisitions at his home in Paris until the Franco-Prussian War made relocating to London a good idea.

* When Lady Wallace (she was his mistress of 30 years until he married her on receiving the inheritance) made the bequest , she stipulated that nothing was to be sold or bought or lent, so it remains exactly as when Sir Richard died. Famous paintings by artists such as Titian (several) or Rembrandt (five - Wallace thought he had 12) or Canaletto (2 ginormous ones plus several “school of”) cannot even be loaned for exhibitions. So if you want to see the REAL Laughing Cavalier, you have to come here.

The range of treasures is fantastic - including for example nearly all of an 800 piece setting of Sèvres porcelain made for Catherine the Great of Russia - the factory had to make over 3000 pieces due to breakages of the complex pieces! The furniture is of incredible quality - particularly several pieces by Boulle, a French cabinetmaker who pioneered complex marquetry work. After seeing a film at the V and A on how this is done, I am doubly in awe of the craftsmanship. And the miniatures....... and the illuminated manuscripts..... and..... There is a vast armoury display also that I ran out of puff and brain space to take in. What an experience.....

A very useful Boulle wardrobe with a couple of complementary Japanese cabinets

Early Boulle work - those little drawers would be great for socks and knickers. —

Yes, the real one, not that one you did on the 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle.

Part of the 800-piece Sèvres Service made for Catherine the Great 

Fabulous Boulle work. Look on YouTube for how it is made, then bow deeply before this.

A Sèvres potpourri vase - a lot of packets from Smith and Caugheys needed.

More Sèvres - there was also gorgeous salmon pink, and black.

A VERY large Canaletto

Fragonard - A risque story is attached to this one....

One of the Manolo Blahnik shoes scattered throughout, in a thematic display that I did not quite get the jang of.

Queen Mary's Rose Gardens, Regent's Park

Think about rose gardens - then completely recalibrate your thinking! The profusion of roses in this rose garden in Regent’s Park is breathtaking! I nearly gave up while on the 25-minute hike from the Wallace Collection Gallery, but I am so glad I persevered- it is a magical place!

London Saturday 29th - Sunday 30th June

Relax, my friends, your days will be much freer now that my FB posts are about to hibernate until October..... About to board, and VERY ready to come home. Thanks for travelling with me - solo travel is super-flexible but at times, when observing something spectacular/funny/poignant/tasty....etc., you wish there was someone to share it with, and that is where YOU come in - you are my share-it travelling companions. I can bore you silly with my latest snippet of H8 trivia, inspire envy with snaps of oysters, make your eyes glaze over with yet another garden vista! Perfect! And you don’t snore!

So just to finish off, a couple of gems from my last two hours at the V and A this afternoon, following a charming guide whose one hour stretched to two as she shared her vast knowledge of Mediaeval and Renaissance Europe. The “Wow” moment was one of the Devonshire tapestries (four others upstairs), an enormous 12th century marvel in brilliant colours - saved by the fact that in about the 17th century it became unfashionable so was rolled up and put in the attic! It was only rediscovered in the 19th century! In 1956, death duties hit, so these five tapestries were given to the State in partial payment. The colours and detail are unbelievable- my camera needed two shots....
There was also one of Leonardo’s actual notebooks .... plus a space in one cabinet where a little Madonna and Child sculpture went off to Rome, supposedly as a Rossini or some such - Roman art experts have decided IT is a lost Leonardo! It was scorned by the Church at the time because Mary and Jesus were smiling .... When it returns it will be behind bullet-proof glass - it is exceedingly valuable as he finished so few sculptures. And then there was more ......

My FB record will help me over the coming months to process all I have seen, so it serves a double purpose. Must now work out how to spend my last pounds on a farewell glass of wine - NZ SB of course ......

One end of the “Boar Hunt” Devonshire Tapestry. The others show hunting of assorted animals, plus alongside the animal hunting, there are romantic scenes, perhaps comparing the two types of hunting! Some of them show amorous advances being repelled, as the hand on the breast is being pushed away! Not much changes...... I imagine these knocked a few million off the Duke of Devonshire’s death duties.....

The other end. The colours are amazing considering how old these are. From my limited experience, they are the biggest and brightest I have seen.

Leonardo explains how things work. This is one of his tiny notebooks which he carried with him to capture random genius ideas. They were then collated into larger notebooks - the Codices.

Couldn’t resist this glorious gold and enamel tabernacle, as my farewell item.