The trek and "great" it was....2 buses,a train and a taxi (4 hours in all...the librarian(this proves what good people they are) helped me hire a cab as they seemed to be all booked out and Lechlade,the end of the bus run, was only a tiny Cotswold village) to Kelmscott Manor in the Cotswolds was sure worth the trouble and expense (£48 for a 1 hour return train ride). It was the most beautful house I have ever been in and of course William's amazing eye for colour and talent for design made it so enticing (and familiar) and you could just tell what a great bloke he was. It was as if he, Jane and the girl's had just stepped out for a stroll..if only! His coat was even still hanging behind the door. I also managed to visit their graves in the tiny church yard just a stroll from the manor down a lane little changed in 4oo years. The house receives no government funding so is run by an army of very proper English ladies and they do a great job....the memory of that day will stay with me forever....and still 2 William Morris sites to go but they will have to wait until I get back to London after my time in the north.
Yesterday it was Henry's turn...as Marion and I went to Hampton Court Palace in Surrey....a great Tudor pile with massive English baroque additions by Christopher Wren on behalf of William and Mary.
The extensive gardens looked after by 40 gardeners and of course in full summer glory (winter by now a distant memory)...the rose garden was massive and the scent overwhelming....we hooked up with a very absorbing garden history tour and managed to observe the gardeners hard at work trimming the topiary(of which there is tons) and yes I seem to be correctly trimming my own (which now looks rather pathetic).
Dinner last night with Ben and his Australian friend Louise at a wonderful quirky restaurant in Portabello Road called First Floor (opposite the travel bookshop from that movie with Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant).. and realised yesterday that I had been walking past a Banksy on my way to the station!
Steeling myself for the onslaught of the tube today as I head to the Tower of London and it's grim history.
Hope the Julia/Tony show is not getting too silly or tedious (although without a doubt it is)....
Kath
Kathy- pics look fabulous....and I feel like I was there with you....Glad to hear you are having a good old historical romp....You must have been eating dinner in Notting Hill?
ReplyDeleteThe Tony and Julia show is getting tighter...and meaner...be glad you are not here. Muckaty meeting was a great success despite being booked around the same time as Theatre Sports, but we staunchly made it through. The Trad Owners were wonderful....more later. xxx Genie