Highclere Castle - 6 July 2008

After our trip to the Valley of the Kings at Christmas, we thought it only right and proper to visit Highclere Castle, the home of Lord Carnarvon who financed Howard Carter’s Egypt expeditions.

Lord Carnarvon was an early adopter of the new fangled motorcar and was even cited by the local bobby for travelling downhill with reckless disregard for others at speeds up to 25 mph. As a result of this wanton speed he suffered a few motoring accidents and, consequently, was advised by his doctor to spend the winters in warmer climates.

So he chose Egypt, became interested in archaeology and the rest, as they say, is history.

Closing the motorcar – Highclere - Egypt – Highclere – motorcar loop was a Jaguar day in the grounds celebrating the XK Jaguar register’s 40th anniversary. Unfortunately it was an absolutely awful day for the owners to have their open top sports cars out for a spin as it rained most of the day.

We enjoyed a small patch of sunshine against the black foreboding skies as we left.

A little day out - 5 July 2008

There are a number of model villages in the UK and we have visited those at Godshill in the Isle of Wight, Bourton-on-the-Water and Wimborne Minister but it has taken us seven years to get around to visiting the largest, oldest and certainly our closest model village; the Beckonscot Model Village at Beaconsfield.
We must have driven past the sign at Exit 2 on the M40 hundreds of times in those seven years, often remarking that we must call in one day; but we were always rushing off to somewhere or on our way home late in the day, so never made it.

So today was the day, and well worth the detour it was too. Unlike the other villages, this one is very much alive with model trains, trams, sailboats, cable cars, merry-go-rounds, Ferris wheels, and even a house fire - all operating. The other three are models of the town in which they are situated; and in each of them one can find the model of the model in the model. This one is not modelled on any real village; it just echoes many familiar English scenes. One “real” model is of a house that no longer exists, Green Hedges, the Beaconsfield home of Enid Blyton.

Originating as a back-yard hobby in the 1920s, the owner chose a scale of one inch to the foot (1:12) and this has become the standard scale for dolls’ houses to this day. Over the years the village changed with the times until the decision was taken in 1993 to restore the village to the idealised 1930s that its creator started with. There are a few cars scattered around that are a little later than the 30s but the overall effect is quite captivating.

It is riddled with merchant’s names to amuse, if you are fond of cringe-worthy puns. Argue & Twist, Solicitors; W.E. Humpit & U.Burnet, Coal Merchants; Juan Coat, Painter and Decorator; Chris P. Letis, Greengrocer and so on.

We stopped briefly in Princes Risborough where we bumped into the Street Parade and fancy dress that begins their annual town festival. Children from the various educational establishments, along with a few parents, were making their way down the main street.

Much, much less busy was the village of Long Crendon where, at the end of the very pretty High Street, one can find the Old Courthouse. Built in 1500 it is a beautiful old timber framed building that was saved from demolition in 1900 and placed in the care of the National Trust as one of the Trust’s first few properties.

Summer pursuits - 28 June 2008

Summer is a great time to visit gardens and see them at their very best and today was a beautiful summer day for doing just that. We recently became aware of a garden that is in the top 50 in the UK and although the National Trust owns it, it is not strictly an NT property. Nevertheless, free entry was available to NT members on Saturdays and, as NZ Historic Places members, that included us - so off we went. West Green Garden is really quite a delightful setting with many different “rooms” and some interesting water features.

As we were “in the area” we called by and re-visited The Vyne. We were last there in September 2001 and had forgotten many of the lovely features of this fine example of an English Country House.

Also nearby is the site of Roman town of Silchester. All that remains now are the town walls, of varying heights (up to 4m) and the gaps for the gates. The walk around the walls is, from memory, 2.8km and just outside the walls are the remains of the amphitheatre.

Inside the walls we came across the Reading University Archaeology Dept Summer Dig. For six weeks every summer since 1999 a small area of the old town is turned into a hive of activity as students and others, dig, scrape, sieve, sort, wash, measure and document.

While walking around the walls we picked a few elderflowers to indulge in the very English pursuit of making our own elderflower cordial, and very nice it is too. One can’t help wondering how many casualties there were along the way as people discovered that all the green parts of the plant are poisonous but the flowers can be eaten or turned into a drink.

On our way home we stopped for a short walk around Watlington, a delightful little Oxfordshire village at the foot of the Chilterns.

Nuffield Place - 22 June 2008

Nuffield Place was the home of Lord and Lady Nuffield, formerly Mrs & Mrs William Morris. Not the William Morris of interior design but the man behind the Morris motorcar. Ultimately it was not only Morris but Riley, Wolseley, M.G. and Austin that entered the Morris fold.

In his lifetime Morris gave away over £30 million (the equivalent of several billion today) and, as he had no children, intended to divest himself of his entire fortune. He eschewed pretension and the house is comfortably but not ostentatiously furnished for the home of one of the richest men of his generation.

An interesting insight into his lifestyle is a workshop built into a cupboard in William’s bedroom: a place where he would repair his own shoes or tinker with other mechanical bits and pieces.

The future of Nuffield Place is under a cloud as the college that Morris gave it to has decided to sell the property. This would be a great shame as the house is a unique example of a complete furnished 1930s home of a great industrialist and philanthropist.

We had started the day with a walk along the Thames near the village of Goring and ended the day overlooking the Thames from the gardens around Taplow Court. Once the site of a monastery, it is now a Buddhist centre.

It was a dark and stormy day - 21 June 2008

For the past 6 years we have driven up the A1 past the signs to Knebworth House so we decided that it really was time that we took Exit 7 to see what was there. As with many of the stately homes in England, it has been passed down through a range of descendants, unusually mostly female members, but is still in the ‘same’ family after 500 years.

Possibly the most famous owner, Edward Bulwer Lytton, penned the oft quoted words, “The pen is mightier than the sword”. Perversely, he was also the first to start a novel (Paul Clifford) with the words, “It was a dark and stormy night.”

The beautiful formal gardens at Knebworth House are complimented by a more wilderness area that is home to just under 70 life-size dinosaurs, many familiar species and a few not so familiar. It is most interesting to walk amongst these imposing models.

Not far away is Shaw’s Corner, the home of the author GB Shaw. Because of another evening event the house closed early and we missed the chance to visit again so contented ourselves with a walk through the garden past his writing shed mounted on a turntable to allow Shaw to catch the maximum daylight.

The ‘new’ (1778) local village church was built as a ‘garden ornament’ by the Lord of the Manor to provide a classical, Palladian, view from the big house.

Home of the Morgans - 15 June 2008

Our weekend accommodation was near Bridgend which, sadly, features in the news on a regular basis due to the, statistically disproportionately, high number of local young people who commit suicide. At the top of the town is another impressive castle ruin, with a very deep but now dry moat; all that remains of Coity Castle. We also checked out the cute hump-backed bridge, after which the town is named. Pilgrims used to pass over this bridge on the way to St David's church further west in Wales.

Llantwit Major is a picturesque town; with a number of interesting buildings and from there we toured nearer to the coast, and drove through Barry for a look at their “island” seaside resort. In true British fashion it is wall-to-wall arcade and fast food: we did not bother to get out of the car. Far nicer was Penarth; this Victorian seaside town has a colourful pier, and did appeal to us.

Tredegar House was the main focus of the day. Newport Council now runs this, the former estate of the Morgan family. They have done an excellent job in restoring the huge mansion, and we went on a conducted tour, made interesting and amusing by our excellent guide. The house has many beautifully decorated rooms; the best would have to be the oak room. Completely panelled in intricately carved oak, and with wide oak floorboards, the longest of which is 14m long. Although built in 1670’s, it still looks very beautiful today, a room anyone would love to spend time in.

The gardens are also pleasant to walk around. They have very successfully recreated a parterre, using shells, coloured sand, grass and coal chips. Coal gave a very different look, and was appropriate, as the family made their fortune from coal mining.

Vale of Glamorgan - 14 June 2008

The crescent shaped area west of Cardiff, goes by the enticing name of the Vale of Glamorgan. Although we have visited Wales several times we had not been to this area so we finally made a weekend trip to explore the Vale. It's only a little over 2 hours from London, providing you get a good run on the M4.

Dyffryn Garden is a Grade 1 listed garden, and this was our first stop. To be honest, it wouldn't rate as the best English garden we've seen, but nevertheless, was very pleasant to stroll around in the sunshine.

Just up the road from the gardens is the Tinkinswood Burial Chamber. Built around 4000BC it has the largest capstone of any such burial chamber in Britain, estimated at weighing 40 tons, it was pretty impressive. The logistics of early civilizations moving and placing this slab are incredible.

The road through the centre of the Vale was pretty uneventful, but the fascinating thing about Wales is old abbeys and castles dotted regularly around the countryside. We felt obliged to check out the Heritage sign to Ewenny Priory; marvellous walls left behind in the middle of nowhere.

Then it was time for our walk of the day: combining one from the Country Walking magazine, with one in a Walking Wales publication, we ended up with a very picturesque 8.5 mile ramble starting from Dunraven Bay. Wonderful stacked cliff faces line the beach along the coast here. At the start there was the remnants of a castle on the headland, and half way round the walk were the ruins of Ogmore Castle; set on the banks of a river with a fun set of stepping-stones.


The final leg of the walk took in a few miles of the Glamorgan Heritage Coast trail, a very pleasant way to end a lovely sunny June day.