In the Footsteps of Henry!

Today was a continuation of our journey through Hampshire. Our main place visited was The Vyne, a Tudor era estate, visited often by Henry VIII and his entourage. The large Tudor building was altered significantly during Cromwellian times, and,  what we see today is from these times. 

The Vyne on a dull afternoon.

Clock tower. 

Earlier this morning we had the first rain for quite a long time. Even though the countryside is still green there is some evidence that this rain is desperately needed. 

This part of England is delightful. Small villages that are well endowed  with heritage buildings and equally populated with very upmarket homes. 

The Vyne is an interesting heritage property, what you see is how it was after 300 years in the one family. It is a very homely and liveable old house, even with the last inhabitant saying she was never warm until she moved to a more modern home! 

The Palladian interior of The Vyne. 

A very stylish drawing room. 

The Silvianus Ring, found on the property near The Vyne. This 400AD ring is of Roman  origin and is linked to a curse found on a tablet a hundred years after the ring being found. The mystery was deciphered by J.R.R.Tolkien  - and it could have inspired the One Ring in the Hobbit and Lord  of the Rings! 

Marble statues that once graced the gardens. These represent the four seasons. 

More of the palladium interior - the main staircase. 

A very special dahlia garden. 

More dahlias. 

During our visit here the heavens opened up and we experienced a very serious downfall. 

Later we drove onto the lovely village of Whitchurch for our overnight stop. 

Popular pub in Whitchurch. 

And, another!

Extra photos:

Great garden displays. 

Classic Roman!

Another Garden Day!

Today we thought we would wander down to West Green to visit the highly regarded gardens. And, so we did! 

Still great late summer displays around the garden. 

What a pleasant overnight stop by the lock. 

Hilton trying to get a glimpse of the lock action. 

Another slow morning - must be slowing down as we get to the end of our trip! We left for a gentle drive into Hampshire on our way to West Green Gardens. Even though we have been there before it was interesting to revisit but at the end of summer rather than at the beginning, as we did previously. 

We saw this magnificent setting for a house on our drive through Hampshire. 

At West Green Gardens even the decor blended in. 

Tea garden with the topiary teapot in the background. 

West Green Gardens was still an outstanding garden but not with the same impact that it has in full flight of summer. Many of the plants were past their best with seeding and dying off evident in large parts of the garden. What seemed to be noticeable was that it appeared to be very dry in places. Rain, believe it or not, has been scarce of late but it's about to happen in a big way and of course all weekend!!

Just love these circular gateways. 

Even spotted some wildlife!

Other views. 

Just the same, many late blooming summer plants were in flower offering the visitors a beautiful display. We spent a good deal of time there enjoying the ambiance of the surroundings. 

A late hollyhock flower. 

And a wild sunflower! 

We have come to the conclusion that there aren't too many parts of England where noise pollution doesn't impact ones daily life. You can either here the hum of a distant motorway, the sound of an aircraft overhead or close by local traffic. It may be like that in many places but it seems a little more evident in the UK. 

To add to the noise, we drove on further into Hampshire to Fleet where we needed to restock some basic supplies. Another quaint English town with plenty of activity. 

Keeping with the flowery day - a pub in Fleet decked out with flower baskets!

And a colourful street display. 

After this we continued on a few kilometres to Crookham for our overnight on the banks of the Basingstoke Canal. 

The Basingstoke Canal and Hilton. 

Greys Court

A relatively early start to the day - away before 8.30am. Called into High Wycombe for some supplies before driving on to spend the day at the very lovely Greys Court. 

Many of the gardens are located within the old castle walls. 

Set in the Chilterns this old Tudor house has been lovingly kept "alive" over the years by very dedicated owners and The National Trust. 

The Tudor Greys Court from the old defensive walls. 

The first building on the site was a Norman castle built by the Norman Knight de Grey. The de Grey family occupied this site for over 400 years. Not much is left of the castle today with the main house built in Tudor times, with alterations continuing into the 20th century. 

The old castle tower now defends the beautiful gardens below it. 

Many lovely garden areas. 

The 125 year old Wisteria vine/tree. 

Another assortment of garden views. 

The gardens are magnificent and the house is one that has a very much lived in feel about it. 

The 16th century Donkey Wheel which lifted buckets full of water from the well 200 feet deep. The poor old donkeys did shifts in this walking wheel!

We later drove  in to Tyle Mill Lock for our overnight stop.  When arriving at the lock we found that the lock bridge was jammed in the open position! It was quite some time before lock personnel arrived and put the embarrassed lady canal boater out of her misery.  

This morning's drive through Henley-on-Thames gave us some lovely views up and down the river. 

West Wycombe Park

Cookham is always a great place to stop over. A leisurely morning with a few house keeping chores before wandering to the village. Chilled out for most of the morning, then lunch. 

The Music Temple on an island in the landscape at West Wycombe Park. A stunning garden item in the tradition of Capability Brown. 

After lunch we headed off to West Wycombe House and Park. We driven passed this old estate many times but never seemed to make it through the gates. So today was the day! 

An estate, like many others, that was a tale of one generation making the money, the next enjoying it and the next loosing it!  Well, something like that. But, here the family still resides after 300 years!

Three views of West Wycombe House. 

The park that the house sits in is vast and also very well laid out. A most enjoyable walk around the property. We visited the house on a guided tour. No photos were permitted because it was still being lived in. It was an interesting assortment of rooms built and decorated in the Italian Palladian style. 

Smaller buildings form part of the parkland at West Wycombe. 

Some interesting bridges connecting various parts of the parklands. 

A spikey bridge - not the best place to perch!

We later drove on to Great Missenden, being sent up a series of very narrow roads by Tom - and not the first time either! Great Missenden was our overnight stop. 

Not an easy road to pass anyone on!

Neolithic Britain

Last day with Maddie today. So, working our way back in a London direction, the Neolithic sites of Silbury Hill and Avebury Stone Circle were an obvious destination.

Avebury Circle. It's falling the other way!

After an interesting night on Westbury Hill, near the Iron Age Fort and the Westbury Whitehorse,  we set off for Avebury Circle and Silbury Hill. As we have come to expect, not all things go smoothly, and sure enough at Devizes an accident had closed roads which meant an extra 40 minutes added to our journey. Today time was important too! Not only time but also we had to negotiate very narrow country roads in the detour. This is also Whitehorse country - we passed another two carved out on the hills as we drove by. 

We didn't arrive at Silbury Hill until about midday. Had a coffee, checked out the Neolithic mound that has had folk scratching their heads for the last 2000 years as to its purpose . Even the Romans hadn't worked out what it was, and just built a road straight past the site! Clever folk today don't really have a clue as to its significance either except that it is somehow connected with the other Neolithic sites in the surrounding area. Testing has placed the building of the mound to be around 2500 BC and taking the equivalent of 500 men 15 years to build! It is the highest Neolithic structure in Europe. 

The fascinating Silbury Hill. 

A short way up the road is Avebury. It is surrounded by the giant stone circle and mounds. This also is part of the puzzle that surrounds all these monuments. It is though,  a great place to get out and stretch ones legs by walking the perimeter of the stone circle. Later we checked out the museum outlining the timeline of the sites. 

The mysterious giant stones of Avebury Circle. 

Forget the past, was this the real reason for the Neolithic stones?

Stoned! No, just a happy snap. 

More of the stone circle. 

Later we visited Avebury Manor and fabulous garden. An interesting presentation - each room depicted a different time period linked to each of the owners. 

A very colourful garden at Avebury Manor. 

The Manor House. 

The Colonel enjoying lunch at the Avebury Manor!

 

Later we enjoyed a lovely lunch before heading off to Reading to drop Maddie at the train for her trip back to London. Always a sad time when she leaves.

We then traveled on to Cookham, one of our favourite villages in England, for our overnight stop by the Thames. 

Extras:

Snap!

 

Why did Madeleine find this so funny!!