Gardens and Country Houses – 17 June 2012

Banbury is an hour away, and the start of our circular drive. After driving through Banbury, we stopped in nearby Wroxton, where Wroxton Abbey, once the country home of Lord North who was Prime Minister at the time of the American War of Independence, is now an American University. They allow the public to wander in the grounds, so we enjoyed walking around the immaculate grounds, surrounding the typical Elizabethan E shaped house, detouring to the Dovecote and Obelisk.

From here the next stop was Broughton Grange Gardens. We last visited in 2006, and were so impressed, another visit before we leave the UK was the focus of the day. The owners have been there since 1992, and developed the gardens with the help of Tom Smith, in 2000.

Since then, Tom has gone on the win a gold prize at the Chelsea Flower Show six times. The whole look is like a giant Chelsea Flower Show garden. We were just as impressed as when we first visited. It's the sort of place to inspire anybody thinking of creating a garden.

Nearby is Broughton Castle, and as it did not open until 2pm, we were forced to retrace our route back to the attractive nearby town of North Newington. The pub there is old and quaint, as are the staff. We enjoyed a leisurely Ploughman's lunch, before heading back to the Castle.

This castle is amazing to visit. Not only do they allow photographs inside, you feel as you are a guest with the run of the whole house, from the Great Hall where we entered, to the roof, where we could wander freely over part of the lead roof.

The house has not been spoilt and 'modernised' in the Victorian era, instead the modernisation happened in the 16th century and since then has remained largely unaltered. This means wonderful Jacobean ceilings and a truly castle-like feel.

The garden is lovely too, the sort of place to sit for a while, and we met the helpful, friendly owner too, out working in the garden.

From here, we drove via the Tyso villages, to Upton House. This National Trust property was set up for a 1930's weekend away. A video made at an actual house party, set the scene, along with the odd fur stole draped over chairs, snooker available to play on the full-size billiard table, and easy chairs to relax in while reading books in the library.

Nearby is the Edgehill cliff-top castle Pub, dating from the 18th century, commemorating the battle between Charles I and the Roundheads in 1642. The perfect place to stop for coffee. The road descends rapidly to the village of Radway, where the battle actually took place. It's quite a different feel in this tranquil village today.

From here we crossed the M40 and climbed uphill to a really magical place – Burton Dassett. After crossing a cattle-stop at the top of the hill, an open area with a grassed over 'craters of the moon' look, is ideal for private picnics. The old grassed over iron quarry has an unreal feel. Cars seem to be free to drive off road to park in amongst the grassy hillocks, people had picnics set up around every corner. The church is also very different The floor seems to follow the contour of the hill, and definitely has a decided slope. Large windows with clear glass and the plain walls, give a very open, European feel.

The day was nearly over, but we had time for one more stop, the village of Cropredy was also part of the 17th century battlefield. Charles and the Roundheads were based each side of the river Cherwell.

Standing Stones - 27 May 2012

On Sunday we continued the Shaftesbury tour. Two towns in particular were highlights, Blandford Forum is a sizeable market town, which owes its uniform Georgian good looks to two local builders who rebuilt the town in brick, after a fire raised the town in 1731.

Our other favourite spot was the tiny, remote hamlet of Ashmore – the highest village in Dorset, built around the duck pond.

After completing the tour, we were not far from Avebury, one of the prehistoric henge sites in Britain, and now a World Heritage site.

The BBC ran a series 'The Manor Reborn', where they followed the restoration of the Avebury Manor. As the house had had so many owners, and no real record of what it looked like, the restoration team had a free hand. 

The result now is a mixture of eras, reflecting significant periods for different owners and apart from the hand painted Chinese wallpaper, visitors are allowed to touch anything, sit in the chairs, play billiards or the piano. Quite different to the usual 'look but don't touch' museum piece type of property.

The library is now a lovely tearooms, with bone china tea-service and great cakes. A very nice touch.

Much of the village of Avebury (including the Manor) was probably built with some of the Standing Stones, before they were discovered by the outside world. Despite this, many of the stones still remain in their original locations, and are an impressive sight.

Along the Avon - Sunday 6 May 2012

Driving across the countryside today, was like passing through rays of sunshine. The rape fields were in full bloom, and the effect is quite stunning.

 We were off to Stratford-on-Avon via a circuitous route, starting at Charlcotte Park. This impressive Elizabethan house was a great start to our day. The house has been well looked after, and oozes history including a visit by Queen Elizabeth for which a new entrance was added.

 Not far from here is Coughton Court. It is unlikely Queen Elizabeth would have visited here, as this was owned by a Catholic family, who in later years, were very involved in the gunpowder plot.

 A short distance away was Ragley Hall. This house had a very different feel to the two houses. Built in a later era in the Palladian style, the beautiful interior, with exquisite ceilings lead room by room to a total surprise. The foyer and staircase opposite the grand hall type entrance had had a modern makeover, finished in 1983. Graham Rust took 14 years to paint a three story mural called the Temptation – the largest mural in the country. On the ceiling is Jesus on the Mount of Temptation, but all around him on the high walls is a giant mural of the family standing on balconies, surrounded by exotic animals and plants. The whole thing blows a breath of fresh air into an old period home. Quite a feeling of stepping into another world through the doorway!

 We had already passed trough some lovely towns on our tour so far, including Alcester. We continued on to Stratford-on-Avon through other nice towns including Bidford-on-Avon. This is a town well known to Shakespeare. He was also very familiar with Charlecote Park, as he was caught poaching in the park, and brought before the judge (who also was Lord of the manor).

 Straford-on-Avon was our last stop, and a wonderful town to spend time wandering around again. So full of history and rich in historic houses associated with Shakespeare. Many buildings were covered in wisteria, looking pretty much at it's best.

Literary Inspirations – 5 May 2012

Continuing our 'staycations' on Bank Holiday weekends, the long weekend was based around the area of sunshine nearest to Chorleywood.

 Bedfordshire looked good, so we set off for a 'Pilgrim's progress' around the area familiar to John Bunyan. Our first stop was a little out of his local area, but having read about a small church in the tiny hamlet of Cockayne Hatley, we made a slight detour.

 In the 18th century, the vicar Rev Henry Cockayne had transported home the 17th century interiors of the Abbey of Alne, and installed these in his own church. Presumably, like most small country churches, this was previously quite plain, now there is a total stunning surprise when entering – just like a miniature abbey.

 We were fortunate to meet a key-holder in the churchyard. Apart from letting us in, they also showed us the tomb of WE Henley, a frequent visitor to Cockayne Hall, who had a wooden leg, and was the inspiration to Robert Louis Stephenson for Long John Silver. Also buried in the same vault is Margaret Barrie. Her father was also a friend of Henley, who called Margaret 'fwendy-wendy', which became the inspiration to her father for Wendy in Peter Pan.

 From here, we drove through picturesque villages, one with it's maypole waiting for the ground to dry out, before the May Day celebrations could take place, and on to Elstow. This is where John Bunyan was born in 1628, and would have been familiar with the 15th Century Moot Hall, now a museum.

 On the way to lunch in the lovely town of Ampthill, we walked to the ruins of Houghton House, up the 'Hill Difficulty' with the 'Delectable Mountains' in the distance. This house, visited by Bunyan in his earlier days as a tinker, was the inspiration for the 'House Beautiful'.

 The final stop of the day was Woburn Abbey, where they currently have an outdoor sculpture exhibition. The house is magnificent, to us the best room is the dining room with its 21 Canaletto paintings of Venice, which look just like giant size tourist postcards of the day, which is what they are, as the 4th Duke of Bedford commissioned them in 1731, after a visit to Venice.

 The other treasure of the house are the vaults, which contain an amazing collection of silver and china. A mock pavilion is set up with a full Sevres dinner service. This year the treasures have been added to with a recently authenticated painting of an old man, by Rembrandt. This alone made our visit today worthwhile, it was spellbinding.

Coaching Inn to Chateau – 28 January 2012

Today we stepped back into the time of historical novels, and visited the Kings Head in Aylesbury, one of the oldest coaching inns in southern England, which still has its original coaching yard.

It is owned by the National Trust, and they have a history room in the stables, which dates the history of the inn. It started life in the 15th century, and has housed many notables in its history including Cromwell; Judge Jeffries; Anne Boelyn & Henry who VIII visited on their honeymoon; and in more recent times, Richard Burton.

We visited for lunch, and very much enjoyed the food and the ambience. We could almost hear the horses hooves on the cobbled courtyard, and hear the grooms etc. It really is a wonderful piece of history.

Not far from here is Waddesdon Manor, a very different slice of history. The Kings Head was once a hotel owned by the Rothschilds, but Waddesdon was the country home of Baron Rothschild, built in the style of a French chateau. We went to see their winter garden, but it was more interesting to admire the house in the winter sunshine.

Old London Town - 17 December 2011

It never ceases to amaze us, the things that one can discover in London. There is a set of stairs by Temple Station that features in many movies set in “old London town” and right beside them is a building that we have walked past many times and admired from outside and which has recently been opened to the public.

2 Temple Place is an absolute gem; a Victorian Gothic revival, built as the London abode of the Waldorf Astors when they moved to the UK from the USA. With the funds at his disposal, no expense was spared on the internal fit-out of this town-house which is now owned by Smith & Nephew.

The building has recently been opened to the public as a gallery, currently holding the contents of the William Morris gallery which is undergoing refurbishment. This means one can see fabulous tapestries, paintings, tiles, wallpapers and sundry other William Morris/Burne Jones items in absolutely sumptuous surroundings.

Having had our fill of Victoriana we wandered outside to see that the next-door Inner Temple area had been commandeered as a film set for a new production of Great Expectations. Unfortunately the “heavies” near the entrance made it abundantly clear that the public were not invited to watch!

Crossing the Thames we set off in search of a photo-op of the, under-construction, Shard tower and stumbled into the back of Borough Market. It is never a hardship to wander through this part of London and having sampled the mulled wine we set off for home.