West Wycombe Park 4 June 2017

Now this is a house with a very interesting social history. It may look familiar - here's a list of tv shows and movies shot here - Cranford, Little Dorritt, Downton Abbey, Sense & Sensibility, An Ideal Husband, The Importance of Being Ernest, Pride & Prejudice & Zombies among many others. It's been owned by the Dashwood family since 1740, was given to the National Trust in 1943, but is still lived in by the Dashwood family to the present day. The house and grounds are only open to the public during the summer months.

The Dashwood family originally owned the estate, the village of West Wycombe and the notorious Hellfire Caves -  deep underground, these caves were dug by hand in the 18th century, with links to the notorious Hellfire Club. Shenanigans happened there! Sir Francis Dashwood was a founding member for the Society of Dilettanti.

Above the caves is the Mausoleum where the hearts of Associates of the Hellfire Club were entombed - that's quite a price to pay. The deceased Dashwoods themselves however, are buried in the vault below the church.

Nowadays, more prosaic activities take place - cricket, music concerts, afternoon tea ...

Sir Edward Dashwood, the present incumbent, is also the Premier Baronet of Great Britain. Posh people ...

Who knew how to party - the lake was completely man made and during the 1700s a Spanish Galleon was brought overland from the Thames in Maidenhead and kept on the lake to stage mock naval battles for the amusement of the guests. Now that must have been fun!

The park is a perfectly preserved rococo landscape garden, complete with statues and temples inspired by Classical Greek and Italian Architecture.

The Temple of Apollo - later used for cock fighting (and also to screen the domestic service wing from the main house).

At the end of a tree lined avenue is an equestrian sculpture - very impressive!

Up close though, it's a fibreglass prop found at Pinewood Studio by the 11th Baronet who paid for it with 12 bottles of champagne. How funny. The local authorities weren't amused but even legal proceedings weren't successful in getting it removed. It's quite a distance up a long hill, so probably not seen close up by many. He must have chuckled every time he looked up the vista from the house.

There was a jazz concert at the house this afternoon and though the house was open to the public, there were just too many people inside, so I didn't linger and just headed out into the gardens.

Temple of the Four Winds

The Temple of Music on the island in the lake.

The view from the other side ..

Then out of the park and into the village in search of tea. 

And look what I found - Boerewors! Not what you would expect in the quaintest village in Buckinghamshire. South Africans are everywhere!

Ditchling Beacon 29 May 2017

Up relatively early on a Sunday morning, knowing I had to drive back on the M23/M25/M4 - you could hardly get a more challenging set highways if you tried - I persuaded Dayne to come for a walk with me.

At 248 metres, Ditchling Beacon is the third highest point on the South Downs and a special place for a walk. You can see for miles. There is only one road up and you are almost certainly going to get stuck behind cyclists - only thing you can do is relax and enjoy the view.

Hidden below the more famous Ditchling Beacon is the village of Ditchling. It's very quaint and worth a visit, as well as the  couple of vineyards close by to try out.

Also, a windmill ..

 

But up at the top there is just miles and miles to stride out on. Choose your route ...

Shanks pony or real pony

Lots of sheep and such sweet lambs this time.  The first time I was here there were some really strange cattle with impressive horns. Not today though.

Brighton off in the distance

One of these days when I don't have to drive anywhere, I'll keep on walking here. For such a small, crowded island, there is a lot of open space ..

The Ramblers are so active in keeping paths open and accessible - absolutely worth the annual membership fee.

Being spied on here.

And then it was time to turn around and head on home.

Buchan Country Park 4 June 2017 - taking Bobby for a walk

There are so many places like this around, usually known well by locals but overshadowed by the bigger well known places of interest. It really does take visiting an area often or actually living there to find these hidden gems. Buchan Country Park qualifies.

Part of the park was owned by Lord Erskine who named the estate after his father - the Earl of Buchan. For South Africans, it's not pronounced like the Cederberg plant, Buchu, but rather 'buckan'. The area around Douster and Island Ponds was owned in Victorian times by a French businessman - Phillipe Saillard. 69 Hectares, just outside of Crawley, it's owned and managed by the West Sussex County Council.

Perfect for an afternoon walk.

Isn't this an entirely appropriate gate for the setting?

Meet Bobby. Isn't he the cutest dog?  He belongs to Judy, Dayne's mother-in-law, and we borrowed him for the afternoon. He is also a South African expat.

Down to the pond, with it's quaint stone boathouse.

And the Douster Pond, home to 21 recorded species of dragonfly - making it a Site of Special Scientific Interest.

Into the woods ...

Where Bobby was able to connect up with many other canines just by sniffing the Doggy meeting post. Very exciting. Not forgetting to add his mark either.

I love the wooden sculptures sprinkled all around the park and particularly this bench.

Bluebells. I suppose technically it is still spring.

Doggy Dip! Bobby just plonked down into the water without hesitation and it was quite difficult to persuade him to move. Those little legs get tired.

But almost done now, just around another pond

past a totem pole

and that was it.

Cheers to the squirrel.