Category: UK

Exploring Shropshire

It was a lovely day so Lady Penelope (my beloved baby Jaguar) and I went topless (well, she was topless) and we went exploring through Shropshire with no specific destination – just to see where the day took us…

Deciding to revert to GPS, I programmed in the address of the manor house and the navigation sent us on a bit of a wild goose chase…

…that ended up at a farmer’s gate!

Hmmmm, perhaps that should have been ‘wild sheep case’!

~ Bella

Glorious Tudor-era Albright-Hussey Manor

First recorded in the Doomsday book in 1292 (yes, that’s twelve ninety-two!), this amazing manor house was rebuilt in 1524…

…and when one enters a property, passes a lovely water feature, and a few horses… and walks into a beautiful building to find a ‘free wifi’ sign and help-yourself decanters on the reception desk… one knows one has reached heaven…

Of course, only the best – the Royalist Suite…

…and this is now officially my favourite bedroom in the entire world…

The yellow sign above the door asks guests to mind their heads – the door is only about 5’7″ high!

The main beam in the ceiling is about 14″ square!

This place is now my home-away-from-home when I am in this part of England.

Simply glorious!

~ Bella

Witley Court

Leaving the lovely Crown Inn, I went in search of Witley Court…

Witley Court was once of the great country houses of England, reaching its peak in the Victorian period when it was the setting for extravagant parties and royal entertainments. After a devastating fire in 1937, however, it became a spectacular ruin.

“The opulent Witley lifestyle was already a thing of the past when, on the night of 7 September 1937, the head keeper spotted flames spurting from the roof above the servants’ rooms in the south-east corner of the great house. Fanned by a strong wind, the fire spread rapidly downwards into the reception rooms on the main floor. By the next day, much of the house was a smouldering shell.” [Source: English Heritage website]

~ Bella

Bignor Roman Villa built between 190 A.D. and 290 A.D.

I went out exploring this morning in search of the Bignor Roman Villa that was built only two hundred years after Christ, and was discovered in 1811 when farmer, George Tupper hit part of the stonework with his plough.

By 1815 the remains of an impressive Roman villa had been uncovered, complete with some of the most complete and intricate mosaics in the entire country.

I found it extraordinary to think this window glass came from so long ago…

…and back to the Crown Inn for lunch before getting back to work…

~ Bella

Staying in a glorious thirteenth-century inn

Leaving dear old London town, I ventured a little south for my next stop – an inn originally built in 1285…

Welcome to the Crown Inn that was not only build over 800 years ago, but in 1552 King Edward VI visited, and so too did his elder sister, Queen Elizabeth I in 1591.

It was apparently originally built as a Rest House for monks on the pilgrimage from Winchester to Canterbury.

The dog on the left only has three legs; the dog on the right is blind and deaf.

…then climbing this staircase, I head up to my room…

~ Bella

Exploring London

It was a beautiful day, the sun was shining, so after exploring the Mews, I decided to hop on board one of those roofless tours buses and simply sit back and enjoy the sights of the city… (and it’s times like these I am ever so happy that I am a girlie-girl who wears hats – even though the weather was pleasantly cool, every now and again the sun was quite strong but I was delightfully protected under the shade of a pretty wide brim)…

Ref below… it’s a strange world, and one where more often than not I feel I simply do not belong…

…and who else would one find in London but ABRAHAM LINCOLN..??? (by the way, there is a statue of him in Edinburgh as well that I am going to go on a hunt to find one day…)

…ahhhhhh, at last… reminiscence of a slower pace of life…

There are worse ways to finish a day’s exploring…

~ Bella

Buckingham Palace Royal Mews

The current Royal Mews was built in the gardens of Buckingham Palace in 1825.

The name ‘Mews’ comes from the royal hawks that were originally kept at the King’s Mews. The word ‘mew’ means moulting, and the birds were kept in a ‘mews’ as they weren’t used for hunting whilst their feathers moulted.

The Royal Riding School, where all of Queen Victoria’s children learned to ride…

…and the next morning was delighted to see they have finished doing repairs to the clock tower…

~ Bella

Hampton Court Palace, home of King Henry VIII

After a glorious day at the Concours of Elegance, we again ventured through the magnificent gates to go and explore some of Hampton Court Palace itself…

Every house should have a chocolate room AND a chocolate kitchen…

At over 3m in diameter, the astronomical clock overlooks the inner courtyard.

It was installed in 1540 and is not simply a clock as one might think. It shows:

the hour,
the day
and the month,
it shows the phases of the moon
and its age in the month,
the signs of the zodiac,
the movement of the sun (according to pre-Copernican theory),
and, most usefully for the members of the court, who usually travelled by barge, the time of high tide at London Bridge.

This tidal information was necessary as the unembanked Thames at the time had strong currents that created rapids at low tide around the bridge.

I was explaining to Sharon that King Henry VIII is actually one of my favourite kings and I feel much understood, so was delighted when we came across this exhibition that explored the king’s early life and in particular his very loving marriage to his first wife…

Time to head home after a day full of truly beautiful vehicles, in a magnificent setting, with a lovely friend. Perfect!

…and I enter my lovely room, only to find a huge bunch of flowers waiting for me as an early happy birthday…

I feel very blessed.

~ Bella

Concours of Elegance at Hampton Court Palace, September 2019

Having arrived a little too early to check into my room here in the magnificent Rubens Hotel in London, I decided to have lunch in their glorious Old English Grill…

…and when I did arrive in my room – how heavenly!

…with a view of the Royal Mews from my window.

First thing the next morning I met up with my friend Susan and we headed off to Hampton Court Palace for the extraordinary Concours of Elegance…

Driving through the park at Hampton Court, one can easily imagine King Henry VIII riding through the grounds… Simply stunning…

We even had our own escort to take us through the maze to the Concours…

…and on the other side of those beautiful gates…….. Magnificence of motoring history!

The Concours of Elegance brings together a selection of the rarest cars from around the world – many of which will never have been seen before in the UK.

Just a man talking with a dragon…

This little girl was soooooo cute – her name is Isabelle…

I like this – the owner’s name is the wife – and the drivers – if she let’s them – are the husband and son!

Procession over, time for champagne and lunch with the owners, officials etc – VIP all the way, of course!

“honi soit qui mal y pense” – the motto of the British chivalric Order of the Garter. It is translated as “Evil be to one who evil thinks”.

…and time now to explore some of the palace…

~ Bella

Rutland Reservoir

Originally called Empingham Reservoir, the lake came into being since the late nineteenth century to provide water for an ever-increasing population. Lying near Oakham in the county of Rutland, the reservoir was completed in 1977 and is one of the largest artificial lakes in Europe.