Wednesday 28^th May                   LEIGHTON  BUZZARD  -  AUDLEY END HOUSE  -  HALSTEAD

 Robyn writes: Today we go to Halstead, ancestral home of the Bowles family! (My grandfather, Pa, was Frank Charles Bowles. His grandfather Richard Bowles and back to my 5 times great grandfathers all lived in Halstead.)

However, the day started in Glen’s flat in Leighton Buzzard, as we got ourselves organised to pack our overnight bags, bid Glen farewell as he set out for work, and finally get underway ourselves. We’ve been frustrated by trying to navigate and plan routes only on the phone, or small pages in the National Trust / English Heritage books, so popped into Tesco’s on our way out of town. No maps there, but the nice lady in the service station told us that she had seen the map books in the garden centre near Dunstable. We checked, and it was only about 20 minutes away and in the right direction, so off we set!

Poplar’s Garden Centre is HUGE – most of it is undercover (thank you, British weather) and we quickly found the map books, the most recent version of the one we had in 2014, for only 6 pounds. That is amazingly cheap, compared to what we paid for the old one! They also had a lovely café, so we had morning tea there, and set off again.

                                                   Poplar's Garden Centre

We decided to use our English Heritage membership and call in to Audley End House, which is in Essex and on our way. It was getting quite overcast by the time we got there, but much warmer today at around 18 degrees. We walked down the hill to the entrance, and of course didn’t have to pay. Tickets are 24 pounds each so that’s about $100AUD saved straight up!

Audley House was built by the Earls of Essex and dates back to 1603, on the site of an old priory destroyed in the reformation (of course). It was expanded over the centuries and was huge at its most prominent – more than twice the size of what remains now. The furnishings are glorious, and it is stuffed with paintings galore by famous artists, and of the great and good from the 1500s on. A truly remarkable house. We explored the various floors and the servants’ quarters, then went down into the garden. Of course, it began to rain. I was quite hungry by this time so we headed into the café, in the old servants’ dining rooms, and had carrot and coriander soup of the day. (Quite spicy.) Then we headed back up the hill in the rain to the car – my travel umbrella is certainly getting a workout!

                                                  Lex in the haha (ditch to keep out animals)

                                                        The Great Hall was amazing

                                                        Front of the house

                                              The walls were lined with works by famous artists

                                                           That's a Rembrandt over the door!

It was about an hour from there into Halstead – over the usual navigating winding, wet, narrow roads; with cars and trucks hurtling towards us where there was no room to pass. Travel is certainly exciting in the UK! I have developed a rule of thumb for roads like this to calculate how long it will take: multiply the miles by 2, then add a bit. So, to travel 5 miles will generally take you about 12 or 13 minutes……. We went through some breathtakingly pretty little villages that no-one’s ever heard of, but finally got to Halstead about 2.40. It then took us at least 20 minutes to find the museum, scratching our heads over the GPS insisting that we were there (we clearly weren’t), and navigating tiny lanes clogged with cars. Anyway we finally found it, parked, and went in.

Two retired blokes, John and Jim, were on duty, and were very pleased to see me arrive (I livened up an otherwise boring Wednesday afternoon, apparently!) They were thrilled to hear I was a descendant of locals, and that I’d come all the way from Australia, so they plunged into researching the Bowles family back over the years in town. I now have photos and maps, and lots of information to sift through before I can share it with all my Bowles rellies. Lex had gone for a walk while I hit the family history, and he returned when the museum shut at 4. Then Jim was good enough to take us both over to St Andrew’s church, across the road, and he gave us a tour. The man is an absolute font of knowledge. Speaking of fonts, I was thrilled to see the font where all of the Bowles family were christened over centuries. There are no Bowles headstones in the cemetery, unfortunately.

                                                      St Andrew's Church, Halstead

                                                   The font dates back to the 1400s, it's believed

                                                    Some of Halstead's medieval great and good

After we bade Jim farewell, we went and booked into our hotel further up the hill, the Dog Inn. Richard, our host, was very welcoming. Then we went for a walk down the hill and into the town and High Street. I found the site of the house my GGG Grandfather and his family lived in, and then the actual house where they lived after he retired. It’s a lovely little town; we really liked it.

                                                      Queen Victoria Golden Jubilee memorial

                               My GGG Grandfather Richard Bowles lived in the white house.

                                                            (Lavender Cottage)

                                                       We stayed at the Dog Inn

                                                         A glorious meal at Shiish!

                                                        Doors were shorter in the olden days!

Afterwards, we went back to the hotel and had a drink in the bar before getting changed and heading out to eat – Richard and the locals in the bar had recommended the local Turkish restaurant, Shiish. It was so good! We’d been warned not to order too much, so just ordered a meal each. The nice young bloke who was waiting on us seemed worried that we wouldn’t be adequately nourished, so he brought us complementary bread. Then after we’d finished as much of our (huge) meals as we could manage, he brought us a free dessert of semolina cake as well! We finally rolled out of the restaurant absolutely stuffed to the brim, and somehow made it back to the hotel.

It was yet another early night, as we were so tired. As I type this, it’s ten past 9, and still quite light outside.

 

Tuesday, 27^th May                                LEIGHTON  BUZZARD  -  OXFORD  -  ABINGDON

Robyn writes:  The weather was bright and sunny when we woke up this morning at about 5 (after crashing out last night at about 9). Alas, it didn’t stay that way for very long – by 8 o’clock, it was very overcast, and the rain started soon afterwards. Glen was heading back to work after the Bank Holiday weekend, and Lex and I decided to travel to the southwest. I wanted to go and have a wander among the ‘dreaming spires’ of Oxford one more time, and he wanted to visit the village of Abingdon, a little further beyond Oxford.

The rain was really setting in by the time we were halfway there; unfortunately, today the Met got the forecast absolutely right! He dropped me off at Thornhill Park & Ride around 10.30. Fortunately, it’s a big bus interchange (you can get buses into Heathrow and London from there), so has a large, warm terminal to wait in. I worked out which stop my bus would leave from, and waited near there. Strangely, in the end, it parked and left from around the back of the building, but I think everyone else who was waiting for it saw it there! I went up onto the top deck, and enjoyed the ride into the centre of Oxford. We went past a lot of student accommodation ( well, it is known as a university city).

The bus dropped me in the city centre around 11.10. Still raining! My little travel umbrella and new rain jacket have both got a workout today. With the temperature hovering around 13 degrees, so did my puffy Macpac jacket. We’d spent two days in Oxford in 2014, and it took me a little while to reacquaint myself with the layout. Lots of winding streets and lanes! I found the Radcliffe Camera, and revisited the Vaults & Garden Café at the University Church for lunch. It was warm and noisy and blissfully dry. I had a tasty Oxford Cheese Rarebit and salad, and the best cup of tea I’ve had in ages for lunch – 12 pounds, which I thought was not too bad.

                                                 One of the many Oxford Colleges

                                                          Radcliffe Camera

                                                          Vaults restaurant at St Mary's 

                                                         Some great souvenir shops!

Fortified by lunch, I headed out again into the rain, and went to the Ashmolean Museum, which we’d also visited in 2014, but as it’s so big, I’d only seen bits of it. Admission there is free. This time I went to the Egyptian galleries, and the huge European Painting section. I enjoyed wandering around until it was time to head past more Oxford landmarks for the bus back to the Park & Ride, as I’d arranged to meet Lex there at 2.30. This took much longer than the ride into the city, as we wound our way back through the CBD, and stopped at every stop along the way. Still, I was right in the front seat at the top of the bus, so I had an excellent view. It was a very damp day in the dreaming spires, but I did enjoy seeing it all again.

                                                The Randolph Hotel (it has a Morse Bar!)

                                                           The Ashmolean Museum

                                                          Martyrs' Memorial

                         Commemorates 3 Protestant clerics who were burned at the stake by Mary 1.

                                                       St Michael's Church, Saxon tower

Lex was waiting in the terminal when I finally got there, and we headed for Leighton Buzzard; it was really too wet to want to stop anywhere along the way. (That’s British weather for you!) After a cuppa, I popped over to Morrisons to get some Lincolnshire sausages for tea (very tasty with onion gravy.) Also some British strawberries and yoghurt for dessert. The strawberries here at the moment are absolutely perfect, and somehow much sweeter, softer and more luscious than the Australian ones. Once again by about 9 o’clock we were falling asleep; hopefully now we’re a week into the trip, the jet lag is just about done.

Lex writes: After dropping Robyn at the Oxford, I headed for Abingdon. The drive there was OK, but when I got there, I could not find a park. I found one just on the edge of town. Payment was by card, and reasonable at £2 for three hours. The short walk to the centre of town took me over the Thames, including an island in the middle of the river. On that island was the Nag’s Head pub.

So very cute.

I walked on, to the centre of town and the Abingdon County Hall Museum.

                                                          Abingdon Hall County Museum

It was quite impressive for a small place. There were lots of dinosaur fossils (Plesiosaurs included), and displays of historical objects from Mesolithic (flints) to modern times (think canal boats). It was very interesting and well presented and explained. No inside photography was allowed. However, I got a photo of the town from the top landing – which was probably a lantern originally.

                                                               Abingdon town

From the museum, I strolled across to Parsons Bakery and bought a pastie and a coffee- for under £5. Cheap. Pasties are popular around this area; they are large and quite filling. Eating and drinking, I walked along the street back to the car. Then the rain drained all excitement from the day as I drove back to Oxford Park & Ride. Robyn arrived soon after I did, and we headed for home. The journey involved driving through some small, and pretty villages, usually at 20mph. Miles per hour – I am still getting used to that speed limit.

Till tomorrow then….

 

 

 

Hughenden and Stowe in Buckinghamshire

Lex Writes: Today the mighty Mercedes hire car took us to Hughenden. Our destination was the house of Benjamin Disraeli- now maintained by The National Trust. Before we got to the place however, we chanced upon the churchyard where he is buried. The church is named St Michael and All Angels. Because Disraeli was a Jew, he had to be buried outside the church. His family plot is well maintained though. The church was open so we had a look around inside.

Then we headed up to the house itself. But first - morning tea. A gorgeous little robin joined us.

Disraeli lived in Hughenden Manor with his wife while he was Prime Minister in 1868, and 1874-1880. It was his wife who had the money. He could not have lived as he did without her. She actually didn't come from money, but her first husband was wealthy, and had the grace to die young.

Here is the house from the back. The bare patch is a garden bed waiting to be replanted with spring flowers.

                                                          The church and family burial plot

Queen Victoria was a good friend of Disraeli's. She dined at Hughenden. The chair at right was actually cut down in size so her feet could touch the ground!

                                                                Library

We toured two levels of the house- the top floor being off limits.

As is usual for a historic house, the furniture was beautiful, and the art was magnificent. The walls were covered with portraits of family members, and contemporaries of Disraeli. Earls, counts, ministers of the government were all there. A standout was the portrait of Queen Victoria, larger than life, in the dining room. Disraeli and Victoria were good friends, especially after Prince Albert died. There were personal objects too – like Mary Jane’s wedding ring. It was a simple gold band- nothing fancy. I think they were both pretty down-to-earth people.

 The library was impressive, having complete sets of books on many political, social, philosophical and classical subjects. All books looked worthy and important, and no one could have read them all in a hundred years. The man was serious about all that stuff: I suppose it was his job.

Of course, the property included several acres of woodland and garden. Here is Glen Wilson standing in one of the pathways.

After we had our fill of Disraeli history, we headed off to Stowe House. Actually, to the National Trust café at Hughenden Manor for lunch: but then to Stowe House. Actually, we walked for a mile or more of planned, landscaped fields, studded with follies, temples ornate bridges, monuments and towers before reaching the house. There are 54 points of interest (follies, temples, bridges, monuments, spires etc) shown on the guide map.

 

 The grounds were beautifully kept, and the installations impressive. The famous gardener Capability Brown was responsible for a lot of the landscaping.

 

The house itself was much bigger than unbelievable. The picture does not do it justice.

The place is now a school!

 As the day wore on, we got cold and tired. So we put the navigator on, and took the windiest, most confused path home that anyone could devise! According to Glen, we could have been home in half the time. Nevertheless, everybody is now home, warm and dry. Bring on tomorrow!

 

Sunday 25^th May                               LEIGHTON  BUZZARD   -   SILVERSTONE

Robyn writes:  The jet lag is improving, finally – we were awake a bit in the middle of the night, but managed to sleep until nearly 6, which is a vast improvement!

Lex, of course, had to get himself organised to leave early, and decided to walk to the station. I’d decided on a ‘down day’ here in Leighton Buzzard to catch up on washing, fix the unholy mess that was my port, and bring the blog up to date. I started with a very sociable video chat to Danny, Cait and Mikeal as Danny ate his dinner, and told me all about his day. Then Mum rang, and finally Sandy for a chat. The roaming pack is excellent; it’s so good to stay in touch with family and friends. Finally, by about 11 the washing was all hung out around the flat (no outside clothes lines in a top floor flat!) and Glen and I set out for a walk downtown. Leighton Buzzard is a very old town; it was listed in the Doomsday Book. The Market Cross in the town square is beautiful. We also saw the home of Mary Norton, writer of the ‘Borrower’ books (a childhood favourite of mine). We popped into a couple of op shops for a browse, and I found two books to take on our travels.

                                                   Market square at Leighton Buzzard

                                                               Mary Norton's house

We also went into Waitrose, which is in the town centre. It had some lovely food offerings, which we got for the next two night’s meals. There is a wide range of supermarkets here, unlike Australia. You’ve got your really budget ones, like Aldi, Lidl and Asda. They have a wide range of goods from all over, and rarely have the name brand items. Then there’s the middle range, like Morrison’s and Tesco’s, Waitrose is slightly more upper class and at the very top is the luxurious and expensive Marks & Spencer’s! From prices in the supermarkets I’ve seen, Morrison’s and Tesco’s are pretty much equivalent to Coles and Woollies. But it’s always fascinating to see and try new foods here. Two favourites of mine so far have been Morrison’s delicious Chicken & Bacon sandwich filling (already mixed in mayo) and Waitrose’s potato and onion rosti which Glen and I had for lunch yesterday – yum! Tomorrow night we are having the 12 pound ($24AUD) Waitrose Indian takeaway which has 2 curries, 2 naans, rice and Indian pastries.

Anyway, this is not a food blog – we wandered home with our goodies, had lunch, and then I finally got the blog updated. Just before three, we went for a walk to the local steam railway station – as it’s a bank holiday, they had the trains running, so we went up to see the engines steaming up and leaving the station. We filmed the event for Danny, who is currently obsessed with trains! We had a cuppa in the café there and headed home. 

                                                Doll and Gertrude, the steam engines

                                              I love the Laburnum trees in the UK in flower!

I was so tired that I decided I’d have to risk a nap, so I set the alarm and had a refreshing half hour sleep, which made me feel quite human again. I tackled the repack of my port and brought it under control (have put the ‘summer’ clothes away in the top compartment – looking at the long-range forecast, I doubt I’m going to need them any time soon). Sad.

Lex got home around 7, and Glen had cooked tea to nicely time with his arrival. Once again, tiredness overwhelmed, and we were in bed by 8.30.

Lex writes: After the early rising mentioned above, I got myself ready to travel to Silverstone. The UK MotoGP is there today. First up was a 25 minute walk to the train station, then find the correct platform. I asked a lady who was waiting, and she asked me back- for now? Yes I was on the right platform, but later in the day the train stops at a different platform, welcome to British Rail. Also, I did find an information panel (electronic) which showed me the timetable and platform information. It was on a short stand beside the shelter and was not obvious to the casual observer. This set the tone for the day.

The train took me from Leighton Buzzard to Milton Keynes, where a shuttle bus would take me to the circuit. An American couple were standing in the bus waiting area, near a sign that said “All pickups from zone Z”. We were in zone Y. There was a bus just nearby, with nothing on the display at the front- blank. She started walking toward it, but I said, “that can’t be it”. As we got on board I said, by way of apology- “How wrong can you be?”

A Greek man sat next to me, and with his daughter, chatted on and off until we reached the circuit. The atmosphere on the bus was convivial for the half-hour journey. Credit to the bus driver who drove the bus through buildings that just about had to breathe in and lean back to let the bus pass. Yes the little shortcut lanes were narrow!

On arriving at the circuit, we had our bags “searched” by a man who only just peered into my open backpack before waiving me through. The grandstand at Becketts corner was over a kilometre’s walk from the entrance, but I finally made it to seat T280 in the stand. It was then I really felt the English weather. Down below in the sun and out of the wind, people were wearing jackets unzipped. Where I sat, all the clothes I wore weren’t up to the job. The wind made me shiver, even though I was holding my backpack in front of me for protection.

Anyway, there was a race- three actually. Moto 2 was first – our view from the grandstand was quite good. We could see 4 corners and half of the back straight. All three races were exciting and everybody was impressed.

I even saw Marc Maquez fall off and slide down a run-off area for about 70 metres. He remounted, and a separate incident caused a stoppage. Marc was back on the grid to restart the race when it resumed. His Brother Alex had also crashed (on the first lap) and he too took his place for the restart. Marc made the podium in third place, with Honda hero Johan Zarco in second. Marco Bezzecchi won, but only after Fabio Quartararo’s bike developed a fault while he was leading by “miles”. Overall, a great MotoGP race.

During the breaks, everyone lined up first for the toilet, then for the bar (beer only), then the food vans. The catering was awful and expensive, and there was not enough of it. The food line was more than 30 metres long at one stage. The line was still there when the next race began!

After the event, I retraced my journey as far as Milton Keynes train station. Then I got on the “London Euston” train. I was only going two stops anyway – NO I WASN’T. The train I got on was express to London Euston station. After I got there, I turned around and came back, arriving at 18:45. The walk home was slightly uncomfortable. My boots were disintegrating, and the heels were coming off. Nevertheless, I made it home just after 7:00, a bit tired and looking for dinner.

As soon as I reasonably could, I went to bed and slept very well for the first time since arriving in England. The jet lag must be gone. Looking forward to tomorrow!

 

 

Saturday 24^th May                                    LEIGHTON  BUZZARD  -  LEICESTER

Robyn writes: Alas, jet lag continues to dog us – several periods of wakefulness in the night, though not quite as bad as the last few nights. Unfortunately, at about half past 4, Lex decided he might as well get up and read, and that was it for his night’s sleep. I managed to drop off again and woke a bit before 7 feeling decidedly more human, at least.

We decided that our major outing for the day should be to Stoneywell, an Arts & Crafts period house near Leicester. Carol then reminded us about Richard 111, who I’m currently reading a book about, so Leicester Cathedral was promptly put on the ‘to do’ list for the day!

We set off a bit after 9. The weather forecast said rain periods, and it was certainly very overcast, so we had jackets, umbrellas etc at the ready. In the end it didn’t rain more than a few sprinkles all day! We took the M1 most of the way and went straight to Stoneywell. We hadn’t booked (it’s a bank holiday weekend here; our bad) but they kindly let us in anyway. It’s a gorgeous house, built in 1899 for a rich Leicester manufacturing family to use as their summer residence (and get away from all the nasty smog and pollution in the city that they had helped to create….) It remained in the same family right up until this century, when the National Trust took it on. The last remaining family member who lived there is now 100, and still likes to pop in occasionally! They have a tea room there in the old shed, so we all had scones for morning tea. Mine was that British delight, the cream tea, which means scone, jam and clotted cream (yum!) with a cuppa. So much nicer than the horrid canned fake cream that is so common in Australia’s cafes now.

Cream tea - yum!

                                                        Stoneywell, near Leicester

 Then we strolled down the hill to the house itself. The tour was really interesting, and it was lovely to see the way they lived, and the Arts & Crafts furniture which is all original and still in the house. The house was built without foundations, and just follows the contours of the rocky outcrop it’s built on, so there is hardly a straight line or right angle in the place. Some very quirky staircases! The gardens are beautiful too, and we had an enjoyable stroll through some of the grounds. The bluebells are almost finished, but I was lucky enough to find a few remaining. It was a lovely way to spend a few hours, and as we are now National Trust members, it cost us nothing.

                                                                    Bluebells!

                                             And so many beautiful spring flowering plants

                                                             The old well house

From there, we headed into one of the Park & Rides just outside Leicester. For the princely sum of 4 pounds ($8AUD) we were able to leave the car and take an electric shuttle bus into the city and back. Wonderful value. We were soon deposited right in the city centre, and went looking first for lunch. We chanced upon a chicken place, Slim Chickens, which was pretty much a cross between KFC and Carl’s Junior. Their ‘chicken sandwiches’ were, in fact, burgers! Fast food has gotten REALLY expensive here over the last few years; our three meals cost around $60AUD. Thank heavens we are mostly self catering here, as groceries from what I’ve seen are either pretty much the same as Australia or quite a bit cheaper.

Our next stop was Leicester Cathedral. We walked in (having given them a donation) to two very unexpected things in a British cathedral: a loud noise of children playing, and a massive, inflatable planet Mars occupying the entire centre of the cathedral! It turned out that (this being half term and a bank holiday weekend), the cathedral was home to ‘Mars and Peace’; a huge art installation with lots of children’s play equipment. A good time was certainly being had by all.

                                           Yes, that's the planet Mars, in Leicester Cathedral

My first stop (apart from admiring wayward planets) was a visit to the tomb of King Richard 111. For those who aren’t familiar with the story, Richard, of the house of York, was killed in battle by the soldiers of Henry Tudor (house of Lancaster) at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485. Henry had himself crowned king on the battlefield, and shortly after cannily married Richard’s niece, Elizabeth of York, thus uniting the families, bringing an end to the Wars of the Roses, and beginning the Tudor dynasty. Poor Richard was stripped naked, slung on the back of a horse and carted into town, where his body was displayed so that there should be no doubt he was dead. He was then buried in a nearby Franciscan Priory. During the reformation, the priory was of course disbanded, and a grand gentleman’s house was built on the grounds. The priory fell into ruins over the centuries, so did the house, and all that remained by last century was the legend that Richard was buried in the council car park!

Enter Philipa Langley, a very determined woman, who raised enough money early this century to fund an archaeological dig on the site. Amazingly, on the very first day of the dig in 2012, they unearthed a skeleton – with clear signs of scoliosis (he was known as ‘the hunchback’ by his enemies), and with several obvious battle wounds visible. They had indeed found Richard 111! DNA testing with known relatives confirmed this, and a few years later, he was buried in Leicester Cathedral, where he has become the biggest tourist attraction the city has ever known. His tomb is not at all medieval – it’s very plain, and made of limestone from York on the top (he was Richard of York) and Ireland on the base (he was Lord Lieutenant of Ireland). After we’d finished looking around the cathedral, we also visited the nearby complex which has lots of displays telling his story, about the dig, and incorporates the dig site, which they preserved.

                                                  The Yorkshire limestone is full of fossils!

                                                    Richard 111 information centre and statue

                    I was tempted by a range of Richard throw cushions but decided I couldn't get them home!

                                                     Yes, that's scoliosis. A replica of the skeleton.

                                                                 Leicester Cathedral

By about 4 we were rather weary, so headed back home along the M1 (a bit over an hour). I popped over to Morrison’s next door to get some things for tea (British pork steaks), and happily cooked it all up. Glen and I watched episode one of Good Omens Part 2, while Lex got an early night. It was a huge day!