Angelsey Abbey

We visited our friends, Dawn and Richard, in Northamptonshire.  A beautiful area, with rolling hills, picturesque villages and tall spires on the churches.   They also have a beautiful garden, and a light and airy conservatory.   It is such a delight to sit in the warmth of the conservatory and look out at the abundant bird life in the trees.

Dawn and Richard took us to visit Angelsey Abbey, which is in the adjoining county of Cambridgeshire, where we spent a very enjoyable day exploring the gardens, house and mill.

Angelsey Abbey was formerly a priory, then a country house.  The house was bought by Lord Fairhaven in 1926, who made extensive improvements to the interior of the house.   It was fascinating to see the rooms, and furnishings, and the extensive art collection, which have been left, more or less, as they were when Lord Fairhaven died in 1966 and left the abbey to the National Trust.

The extensive landscaped gardens were beautiful, which plenty of interest.   Apparently a visit in early spring is a must, when the snowdrops are out.     However we were quite taken with the variety of trees, flowers and different garden areas when we visited ten days ago.

Walter, Richard and Dawn taking a breather on one of the paths.

The bark on the tree, in the photograph below, was fascinating as it was a dark red and polished smooth where people had rubbed their hands on the branches.

A beautiful copse of Himalayan White Birch.

Bottisham Lode, a waterway that once connected with the River Cam.

Lode Watermill, was mentioned in the Doomsday survey in 1086, although the present mill was probably built in the 18th century.   This mill has been used to mill corn and then converted to grind cement which was a mixture of clay and lime or natural chalk.  The mill has now been restored to mill corn.

I climbed up steep ladders to the third floor, not an easy task.   When the wheel started to turn it was like being in an earthquake.  A fascinating place.

The Herbaceous Border with the a statue of the Saxon God Tiw in the centre.   There was a variety of flowering plants, which gave off their best display in July.

The Dahlia Garden, set out elegantly in three colours.

The Rose Garden with its lead statues of Apollo and Diana, and a bronze copy of the statue of Donatello's David.   There was a very interesting wind vane on the roof of the buildings, but my photo was too blurry to include in this blog.  The wind vane was made in the shape of a viking ship.

There were also other parts of the garden which we did not visit, such as the garden of statues, wildflower gardens, and other general walks.  The new restaurant/cafe was also a very pleasant place in which to drink coffee and eat lunch.

We spent a lovely weekend with Dawn and Richard, and we were very sad to say goodbye on Sunday afternoon and return home.

Stately homes plus a birthday celebration

The photos below seem to have been taken so long ago, and they were too.  More than six weeks ago.   We had such a lovely time, when Jackie and Sue visited us, although the time went by too fast.   And now it is all a very happy memory of their visit.

Walter and Jackie.   A very comfortable park bench.

Knole, the magnificent stately home of the Sackville family, now a National Trust property.

Many of the rooms and furniture were being restored so we had a limited tour of the house.   However, what we saw was very remarkable.   The view of the house was taken from the Gatehouse Tower opposite the house.  The tower has recently been opened and shows the rooms, including furniture and photos, of Edward Sackville-West, 5th Baron Sackville, who lived here between 1926 and 1940.  

I am always fascinated by the lead trough in the courtyard of the house.   A very flash horse trough, one might think.   But no, it was used to keep fresh fish in, before the age of ice and refrigerators.   Fascinating.

Another stately home, Chartwell, the country home of Winston Churchill.   Jackie and I arrived right on opening time, in order to beat the crowds, but in fact by the time we left at midday there were still no crowds.   Most unusual.   It was lovely to wander around the beautiful gardens, and admire the inside of the house, quietly.

Another bench, and a wonderful view over the rolling hills, woodland and fields of the Weald.   Such beautiful countryside.

The comfortable and friendly home of Charles Darwin, called Down House.   He lived here with his wife and many children, for forty years, so it was very much a family home.   It was on this property that he worked on his theories of evolution, and set up many experiments in the garden.    

Eltham Palace, the Art Deco home of the Coulthards.  The palace, once the home of Bishops and Kings, fell into ruins.   The great hall was all that remained when Stephen and Virginia Coulthard acquired the leasehold in 1933.   They restored the great hall and built an elaborate house beside it.  The interior of the house has been built and furnished in Art Deco style.  

A visit to Sissinghurst Castle, once the home of Harold Nicolson and Vita Sackville-West, the daughter of the third Baron of Knole       Both Harold and Vita were writers and garden designers, and lead quite an alternative life, to say the least, in the many separate buildings in Sissinghurst.   Together they designed and built the world famous garden around the buildings.

Jackie and Sue standing in front of one of flower beds, and ready to do the tour of the garden.   A gloriously sunny day.

While Sue and I climbed the many steps to the top of the tower, Jackie and Walter had a well earned rest on a comfortable bench.  

And finally a visit to Ightham Mote, a 14th century moated manor house, which has been restored in keeping with the different owners over the last seven centuries.

The current exhibition at Ightham Mote, based around John Singer Sargent's painting 'A Game of Bowls', which is on loan from a private collection in the USA. It shows Ightham Mote in 1889, when Americans, Queen Palmer and her daughter lived in the house.

The three of us hiding behind the silhouettes of the people in the painting.   A game of bowls perhaps.    Or a game of hide and seek.  That posh handbag of mine looks a trifle bizarre.

A picnic in the grounds of Ightham Mote.   I know I look as if I have a thick puffer jacket on, but it is actually a very thin jacket, just puffed up due to the way I am sitting on the seat.  It was quite a pleasant and warm spot.   Great picnic lunch too.

A day in London, walking along the South Bank.   A birthday outing for me, with Walter, Jackie and Sue.   Such a special occasion.   

And now Jackie and Sue have returned to Australia, after fantastic trips and many experiences.    They both, on their separate holidays, visited many places in Europe, Ireland the Britain.   And we were so fortunate to hear all about their travels when they visited us.    Such an amazing time.  

A visit to two seaside towns - Deal and Southend

During the first two weeks in June we were so fortunate to have two friends come to stay with us, Jackie for two weeks and Sue for five days. Such a lovely time, with plenty of eating and talking, plus a few glasses of wine, and some trips around the south east of England.

Jackie and Walter having a rest on a comfortable bench.

Our first trip out was to Deal, as one of Jackie's relatives lived there many, many years ago.   Jackie organised a very comprehensive family tree, plus written a book about her grandfather who travelled from Ireland to New Zealand.   A man with a very interesting history.

First stop was Walmer Castle,  which was a Tudor Fortress that later became a residence of many well known names, such as the Duke of Wellington.   It is now home to the Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports and managed by English Heritage.   We would have liked to visit the castle but our destination was Deal.

We did walk onto the shingle beach, and took photos of the seemingly never ending and deserted stretches of stones.   All looking very gloomy in the sea mist.

We then drove a few miles along the coast to Deal.  Before I forget, the Cinque Ports, which lie at the eastern end of the English Channel, were once used for military and trade purposes.

Deal is a charming town, well maintained and full of financially comfortable retirees.    As soon as we arrived we commented on how lovely the area was, and questioned as to why have we not come here more often.  

After eating our sandwiches in the car, in the railway station car park, with a great view of the supermarket car park next door, we went forth to explore the town.   We were also aiming to have a cup of coffee and perhaps a cake at one of the little cafes we noticed as we drove around looking for a car park.

The small boutique butcher's shop, where we bought some delicious sausages for dinner.  Pork sausages of course.

Deal was a former fishing, mining and garrison town, and now a seaside town, but without the assortment of games arcades and neon signs.   Perhaps they were there too, but not in the seafront area we walked along.

The pier, casting gloomy shadows in the water.

Two very affectionate seagulls?  Kissing? When I walked passed them I could see they were centimetres apart, and just happened to be on the same rock facing each other.  Perhaps they were a couple.  I would like to think so.   I can never get over the huge size of seagulls in Britain, and they are also very noisy.

There were people on the beach too, but alas not in the water.   Now I wonder where these two people disappeared to?

There were lots and lots of quaint buildings in Deal.   The building on the left had been turned into a small museum.

Small fishing boats pulled onto the shingle beach, nothing changes.

The Timeball Tower, established in 1855; previously used as a Semaphore Tower.   Now it is a museum of time and communication.    The timeball on the top of the tower was lowered at the same time everyday, precisely at 1 p.m., to let the ships in the channel know what time it was.  The ball was triggered by an electric signal directly from the Royal Observatory.

We also made a trip to Southend-on-Sea, a revamped holiday resort.   It had its heyday in the late 1800s and early 1900s but after the 1960s went into decline, like many holiday towns in England, due to people wanting to travel out of the country for their holidays.   So sad really as these seaside towns were very unique to this country.

However Southend is now bustling.   There is a huge pleasure park on the seafront, wide footpaths on either side of the stteet by the beach, plenty of seating, cafes, pubs, amusement arcades, good car parks, good quality paving everywhere and on a sunny day plenty of people enjoying themselves.

We had a purpose in travelling to Southend, as Jackie wished to see the buildings where her grandmother worked in the early 1900s.    On one of the streets we tried to imagine how it would have looked more than 100 years ago. And it would appear that many of the buildings had hardly been changed at all.   The building in question, had a doctor's surgery when Jackie's grandmother worked there, and now there was a shop underneath.    The rest of the building looked very original.   Fascinating.

I did not realise that the tide went out so far, which left very unattractive mud flats.   There were many people walking beside the water line, quite a distance out.  I hope they realised that when the tide turned the water would come rushing in quickly

Southend has the world's longest pleasure pier, and best to take the small train out to the end of it.  A long way to walk.

The high street is now traffic free, which makes shopping so much easier.

Fish and chips for lunch.   Yum.   All eaten while sitting on a bench in the sunshine.

We also drove through Sandwich after leaving Deal, and were impressed with the beautiful old streets and houses.   A definite return visit to Deal and Sandwich this summer.

Finally a blog

It has been two months since I wrote my last blog, and life has been fairly busy with lots of photographs taken and experiences to share.   But my problem has been lack of motivation to put 'pen to paper'.   An expression not applicable to touch typing on a laptop, I know.   No arduous and slow writing, using a pen or pencil, and getting writer's cramp as a result.   Or making heaps of mistakes due to the brain working faster than the pen.    

My lack of motivation has been due to too much reading, from a wide range of sources, and too much thinking and talking about the current problems in Britain.   Not a good idea.   It would be so much easier and less unsettling to sit in our lovely garden, surrounded by friendly neighbours and beautiful woodland where one meets equally friendly dog walkers.   And not to mention all our lovely friends.   Thinking and worrying about  the situation in Britain, is perhaps a futile exercise really.

Sadly the country will soon be no longer Great Britain, but just plain old Britain.   There are no colonies anymore, thank goodness as it was not fun for the people living in those colonies.   And in the not too distant future Britain will no longer be part of the huge, influential and powerful European Union.  The greatness will certainly be gone.

Britain, unless there is a miracle, will be just an island and a half sitting on the outskirts of the European land mass.  And it could be a very poor country. 

Aah yes, people may say, but Britain has a very strong economy, but will that be so without powerful allies across the narrow channel.    And I read that in Britain productivity is down, austerity measures will continue, in order to pay off past debts, a large proportion of people are poor, and the welfare system has been cut back, wages have stagnated, and the rising cost of goods will hit us all.  

And one does not even want to think about the amount of money the Conservative Government has spent on what can only be described as foolish follies.   Alliteration there.  The referendum last year, called by David Cameron, to appease the right wing element in his party, and built on lies and no strategies. has resulted in money being poured into half baked plans in order to carry through 'the wishes of the people'.  Well 52% of the people  that voted to leave the European Union.  And on top of it all Theresa May called an election in June, which has backfired, so now she has lost her majority in parliament, and has had to join forces with an ultra conservative party in Northern Island.    And so the money pours out.  

The country has suffered four terrible tragedies, three terrorist attacks and the tragic fire in a tower block.    Grenfell Towers is turning out to epitomise the lack of spending on public housing, over many decades.   Plus an attitude of our leaders towards people they consider to be not worth thinking about.   Quite alarming really.

I must not forget the 3 million Europeans who live in Britain, Walter being one of them, who have made their homes here.   People from all walks of life.   The so called 'immigrants'.   At the moment I do not think any of them feel particularly welcome.

    I always loved living here because it was a vibrant and diverse country, but perhaps I may have been looking at it all through rose tinted glasses, and it was all not as it seemed.    

 But back to more mundane and essentially more enjoyable events in our lives.

We celebrated 50 years of married life on the 6th May.    Just where the time has gone to, I do not know.    It seems like yesterday that we exchanged our vows in Benalla, Australia, but we have certainly covered a lot of ground since then.   We have had many house moves, lived in three countries and changed careers.  And our family has increased considerably with four children, plus their spouses and nine grandchildren.    We are very proud of them all.    And of each other too.

Many happy memories.

The bluebells in Joydens Wood were amazing this year.   Such a glorious haze of blue in the dappled shade of new leaves on the trees.

My poor rhubarb.   When I returned from our trip in April, I found brown and withered plants, due to lack of rain.   Disaster.   A few days after this photo was taken the leaves and stalks withered away completely and there was nothing to be seen but brown earth.   But I sprinkled organic chicken fertiliser everywhere, and then heaped fresh compost on top, and watered the patch everyday for the past two months and now I have plenty of healthy leaves.   I think I will avoid picking the stalks though and just leave the rhubarb to recover.

I have spent lots of time with this lovely dog, Bobbi.   A great walking companion.

Bobbi looking out for squirrels.

A new hairstyle, courtesy of Lucy.

Bobbi loves the sunshine, and will lie in most uncomfortable positions.   I know she looks as if she is dead in this photograph, but she is definitely alive and enjoying the sunshine.

We drove to Bristol to visit the Australia exhibition.  Steve, Emma, Jackson and Isabel plus Rachel, Elliot and Emily also joined us.  We stayed in the Premier Inn and had a really great breakfast together.   After a drive around and through Bristol, following Emma and Steve, we finally arrived at the venue for the exhibition.

A sign advertising homes in Nelson, New Zealand.   For all the New Zealand readers.

Walter bought a new tablet for himself, although in the photograph below it looks more like a large telephone.   I think Walter has a very large hand.   He is very happy with his new acquisition.

Emma and Steve took part in a triathlon at Crystal Palace, in order to raise money for Emma's school.  A very exciting event, with hundreds of competitors, not all part of the fund raising event.   I think there were about ten people from Emma's school who were on the fundraising team.

The trouble we had was trying to find Emma and Steve among the competitors in the pool, as most people wore black swim wear.

Steve swimming in the second lane.

I think we saw Emma riding her bike.

Finally finished.  A great feat.

Scott and Lucy visited us, sadly though, as their other grandmother passed away unexpectedly and they came back for her funeral.

An opportunity presented itself to also have Jackson and Isabel to stay.   So of course we played a game of Uno, for old times sake.

They all look a little glum in the photograph below, but they were having a good time.  It is definitely not fashionable to smile when the camera comes out.

My favourite part of the woods, the Faesten Dik (a Saxon fortification). The colour of the trees changes during the seasons, from the summer deep green to the spring light green to the brown of autumn and the starkness of winter.    It is also changes colour during the day, depending on the position of the sun.   A beautiful area.

An early morning view of the pond which is on the property beside the woods.

The gift bag from the Pet Crematorium, not to be reused to hold a gift for someone else as the name of the crematorium is written on the outside of the bag.   The box beside the bag contains Jezzie's ashes which we buried in the woods, near her favourite place.

The area were Jezzie's ashes are buried.  A very beautiful and peaceful area of the woods.

And now that the motivation to write has returned, I will continue with a few more blogs during the next week.   Good to be back.