Saturday – Back to Jolly Old England

We haven’t been in England since we left Liverpool four weeks ago, but now we are back. The drive from Kiln House in Llanstadwell to Newbury is about four hours. The drive was easy and mostly motorway. Then we diverted off the M4 approaching Newbury to find White Horse Hill, a National Trust site, mainly as a spot for our picnic lunch. We found it, but it wasn’t easy.

The chalk white horse on the hill is 4,000 years old. Actually to get a good perspective of it, you would have to be in a hot air balloon or a low flying aircraft. But it was a pleasant spot for lunch and a walk to stretch the legs.

Leaving the site we passed through the town of Lambourn in England’s race horse country. I have read about Lambourn for years in Dick (and now Felix) Francis novels. Now having seen it, I can picture it even better.

Then we drove to the outskirts of Newbury for a planned look at Sandham Memorial Chapel (another National Trust administered site just recently reopened to the public), an artistic memorial to WWI as created by Stanley Spencer. He was a highly regarded British artist who fought at a long forgotten WWI front at Salonika in then Macedonia, now Greece. The paintings took six years to complete in all, and are considered by many to be the artist’s finest achievement, drawing such praise as ‘Britain’s answer to the Sistine Chapel’. Pictures inside are not allowed. The picture below is from a BBC web site about the reopening of the chapel.

Outside is a sculpture, “Blown Away”, also affectionately known as “Sydney” after Stanley’s brother who was killed in WWI. It was created by Sioban Coppinger. Blown Away pays homage to so many brave people whose lives are altered by their time and expresses what many of us feel about memory and the passing of time.

Almost next door to Sandham Chapel is Highclere Castle, the site where Downton Abbey is filmed. To tour the castle you need to book 12-18 ahead. We had hoped to at least get a glimpse of the castle from the grounds, but it is totally closed this month for filming by the BBC.

Then we found our B&B, Bow River House, in Leckhampstead, Newbury. This is truly rural and is a working horse farm where three-day eventers are raised and trained. We are the only guests tonight in a delightful bucolic setting.

Dinner was a few miles down the road at the Fox at Peasemore.  We started with a shared baked Camembert with cranberry sauce.  Then Elaine enjoyed here fresh cod while I had a perfectly rare and delicious beef Wellington.  Sorbets and a tarte au citron for perfect for dessert.