Stelvio Tour, Day 2 - 26 July 2009

The morning began driving from Luxemburg (provence of Belgium), over the border into Luxemburg (country) where we used the motorway to skirt around Luxemburg (city) then across the border and into Germany for what was supposed to be a fast run across Germany on the autobahn.

While we did manage to top 198 kph we also spent great chunks of time when we would have been pleased to be achieve 1/10th of that speed.

Our first deviation from the proscribed route was to Landau where we had a quick look at the Romanesque church before enjoying some refreshments in the square. Then back on the autobahn for a few more queues before heading off to find the UNESCO World Heritage Maulbronn Monastery complex.

This was well worth the detour as it is a really attractive village set within the Monastic complex, most of which can be seen for free, the only payment required is to enter the Monastery proper, and we were there on a beautiful day so it was at its picture-perfect best.

Then it was back on the autobahn for another high-speed run and some more queues before going into the centre of Ulm to see the tallest church steeple in the world. Leaving Ulm we were thrown off the motorway on a detour for the second time but this time the alternate route was through attractive Bavarian villages with the Alps as a backdrop.

Stelvio Tour, Day 1 - 25 July 2009

Today we began the Stelvio Tour, a driving tour of the European Alps. Our early start was not really early enough to get us to the ferry at Dover with adequate check-in time but after a rather rushed journey to Dover, we sat on the quay for an hour longer than we should have due to delays caused by technical problems the previous day.

However, we were entertained by the centennial re-enactment of Bleriot's flight across the channel as the restored replica of Bleriot's plane flew overhead before landing at Dover.

The delay in Dover meant that we arrived in Calais just as la Patrouille de France (the French equivalent of the UK Red Arrows) was performing their routine for the French side of the Bleriot celebrations enabling us to enjoy a free show while we waited to disembark.

Then it was on the road for a motorway run across France and Belgium to Arlon, just before the border with Luxemburg.

To break the monotony we detoured into the centre of Mons and had a wander around the town square and later on we ventured off the motorway to see the Chateau de Lavaux Sainte-Anne and, after checking in at the hotel, we went into Arlon to wander around the town centre and up the hill to the Belvedere for a view over the environs.

The Future is here -18 July 2009

Just north of London can be found the recently opened Future Gardens, the first phase of the ambitious Butterfly World Project.

Opened just 6 weeks ago the gardens were a riot of colour with wildflowers in profusion along the driveway and beside the Meadow Trail.

There is a series of 12 Designer Gardens where the designers have been given free reign to unleash their creativity; most are fantastic, some are 'odd' and three are simply boring. There is a fantasy area where the flower pots, garden fork and so on are hugely oversize; the Through the Flower Pot Garden is designed to show a garden through the eyes of an insect.

However, if you want to see everyone smiling then visit the Theatre of Insects Garden. All manner of unlikely objects have been built into the walls of this stunning area to create nooks and crannies for insects to inhabit.

Obviously, there has to butterflies and until the tropical biome, the largest butterfly display of its kind in the world, is built there is a small walk-through tropical butterfly house where the glories of various species can be admired up close.

Next door is the Royal National Rose Society garden, which unsurprisingly has a huge variety of roses. The open season for this garden is from June to September but in mid-July the roses were already well past their best.

English gardens keep growing on us - 12 July 2009

It is impossible to see too many English gardens, but this morning we started the day with a rather different type of garden. Capel Manor Gardens is a series of different gardens, almost like a garden show, a really good place to visit to get inspiration for a regular city garden makeover. The gardens are part of a horticultural college on the site and are used for practical course-work by the students. There are also formal gardens, that originally belonged to the Manor, within the 30 acre complex.

Our main focus for the day, was a visit to Elton Hall. To reach this we followed a scenic route, which started near Greensted church. This is the oldest wooden church in the world and dates back to the 800s. Apart from its claim to fame as the oldest, it is definitely worth a visit; the church is stunning, with the original walls built from half tree trunks, a Tudor tower, and a fairly old brick extension. Undoubtedly it is much in demand for small weddings.

The route wound it's way through "The Rodings", a collection of eight hamlets and villages that take part of their name from the nearby River Roding, and other picturesque villages, to eventually join the motorway beyond the lovely village of Ickleton.

When we reached Elton Hall, we fell in love with the beautiful modern gardens, which were enhanced by the extremely stunning castle behind them. The castle itself has some very beautiful rooms, with a large art collection.

Faversham opens its doors - 11 July 2009

After visiting the London Open Home programme each year, it was interesting to visit the original Open Home scheme in Faversham. The Faversham Society was formed in the 60's, when a radical rebuild of the town was opposed by a group of citizens, who formed the Society. They still exist, and introduced the Open Home scheme to the UK. This year was the 40th anniversary making it the longest running scheme of its type in the country.

Faversham has about 500 listed buildings, in fact the whole town centre appears to be historical, so it is an ideal town to have a look behind the scenes. Unlike London, most of the Open Homes were actual homes; most with exposed timber beams and impossibly steep and narrow stairs to the top floor.

The day provided a fascinating peep inside many front doors. As a contrast to the private homes, the craftsmen's workshops on the quay were also open, and the huge Abbey Barn complex, has now become the local timber merchant.

To 1625 and back - 5 July 2009

After a fun MG treasure hunt and excellent pub lunch at Abinger Hatch, we did a little exploring in the area.

Hatchlands is a stunning house, made even more interesting by the world's largest collection of historical keyboard instruments, many associated with famous composers such as Chopin, Bach and Elgar.


South of here is the Tilling Bourne river valley system. We did a most interest tour of the Shalford Mill. The complexity of the pulleys, gears and wheels rotating from the central 30 ft solid 'tree-trunk' shaft is fascinating. Obviously a subject of great interest to the volunteer guides. They were just as passionate and fascinated by their subject as our Milton expert yesterday.

This mill is here today thanks to the fund raising efforts of the Fergusson Gang, a band of eccentric, rich yet secretive band of women who rescued the mill in the 1930s and subsequently gave it to the National Trust. This band gave three properties in all and their identities remain a secret to this day.

A mile or so upstream, are the abandoned gun-powder mills that were in use from 1625 to 1930. The area is tranquil enough now with streams, ponds and remnants of buildings, machinery and mills.

Traffic jams on the motorway home jolted us, unpleasantly, back into 2009.

Tour Guides - 4 July 2009

With friends visiting from NZ we planned a 'cute villages' tour close to London so that we could get them back to London in good time for them to make their evening appointment.

At less than 20 miles from central London, Denham is a very attractive village to start such a tour. After a walk around Denham we drove to Chalfont St Giles and visited Milton's Cottage. The entry fee is superb value simply for the narrative from the curator. We enjoyed some great repartee and banter with him as he warmed to his subject in a witty and amusing way, not at all dry and dusty like the many first editions in the display cases. At one point he warned us that we were about to “have our gasts well and truly flabbered.”

Then it was on through Old Amersham to Wendover; to enjoy 'Elevenses' at the wonderful chocolate cafe and explore the town before setting of for Startop End to show our guests a canal and watch the narrow boats traversing a lock. Canals and locks often come complete with a nearby pub and so it was that we enjoyed our lunch at a canal-side pub before our last stop at Aldbury.

The return trip was via Chesham and Beaconsfield before returning them to their hotel beside Hyde Park, Having noticed the traffic heading out of town on the A40 as we came in we decided to postpone our return journey on the A40 and strolled across Kensington and Hyde Parks, past the crowds enjoying themselves in the Diana Memorial fountain or in boats on the Serpentine.

Since we typically head out of London on summer weekends we were quite impressed at how busy these London parks were, with hundreds of couples, families and groups out playing, strolling, paddling, sunbathing or just relaxing.