The Wellington Tour: Masterpiece Theatre

The Wellington Tour is still nine months away and so I do not dwell on it. Much. It would be folly for me to think on the prospect of seeing England again this far ahead of our departure. So I've decided that the best thing to do is to put the Tour as far from my mind as possible. You would think it would be relatively easy to accomplish this state of enforced amnesia, but it is not. Reminders seem to be round every bend. Rory Muir's new biography of the Duke of Wellington was just published in December and so I've been reading reviews of it whilst awaiting the arrival of my own copy (oh, Joy!). And then there are the gossip items one can't help reading lately regarding the engagement of the present Duke of Wellington's granddaughter, Sofia Wellesley, to ex-guardsman and current crooner James Blunt, pictured below. Lately, one can hardly turn around without encountering the Duke of Wellington. And there was the diorama of the Duke of Wellington's funeral procession, with rolls of handcoloured pictures of all the dignitaries and their carriages, which I found recently on eBay. It looked something like a thicker Etch-A-Sketch, the pictures moved along rollers that were controlled by the two knobs beneath the glass window. Alas, I was forced to stop bidding when the price flew above four hundred dollars, more's the pity. It would have been a grand addition to my future Wellington Museum.

And then there's Masterpiece Theatre, which seems to be on a mission to remind me of the Wellington Tour on a regular basis. I watch a lot of PBS, and thus have been treated to the spate of commercials and programs running up to the premiere of the new season of Downtown Abbey. PBS has been running Season Three episodes of Downton Abbey almost non-stop. Hubby has even gotten into the spirit of things, though unwittingly.

"Hey, Hon!"
"Yeah?"
"You watching your PBS?" (Hubby watches his shows in the living room - I in the bedroom).
"No. Why?"
"That woman's on again. You know, the one who's in every British program ever made."

I switched over to our PBS channel, where I saw the Dowager Countess of Grantham on the screen. "Maggie Smith," I yelled."It's Downton Abbey. I'm going there."
"Riiight."
"Downton is really Highclere Castle and we're going there on the Wellington Tour."
"Better you than me. My good man," answered Hubby.

In fact, I'm watching The Secrets of Highclere Castle - again - as I write this.  Once more I hear that Highclere Castle costs roughly a million pounds a year to maintain. And that within it's walls is the priceless Van Dyck of Charles I, visible in the photo below.

I wonder if the family will be at breakfast when we arrive . . . . . . Once more, I'm told that in 1839 Highclere House was remodeled in the Gothic style. And that Capability Brown redesigned the landscape, which features a ruin-like folly and various temples, including the Temple of Diana, below.

In fact, the more I think on it, the more I realize that what I want to see most at Highclere are the grounds.

In the photo above, we see one of the fifty-six Cedars of Lebanon planted by the first Earl. I'm glad that Victoria and I have blocked out an entire day for our visit to Highclere, so that we'll all have the time to take it in at our leisure. You can click this think for a map of the grounds.

This will also leave us plenty of time to visit the Tea Rooms

Highclere Castle Afternoon Tea Menu Tea and Coffee A glass of Sparkling Elderflower/Champagne Selection of sandwiches that may include; Roasted Chicken and Stuffing Smoked Salmon and Horseradish Honey Baked Ham Egg and Cress Freshly Baked Scones Clotted Cream and Homemade Jam A selection of cakes: Victoria Sponge, Carrot Cake or a Coffee and Cream Cake

and, naturally, the Gift Shop. But returning to the house . . . .

I do want to see Lady Mary's bedroom . . . . . . .

where Mr. Pamuk died. 

It's part of the tour, as is the gallery along which the ladies of the house carried the body.

I know, I know - with all that's happened on Downton Abbey, why do I keep going back to that episode? Could it be because it was strangely comedic?

Of course, I'll be tuning into Downton Abbey this Sunday since I can't wait to find out what Thomas the Footman has up his sneaky sleeve this season. That should keep me from thinking about The Wellington Tour. Much.

Why not consider joining Victoria and me on our Tour?  We'd love to have you with us as we experience all the fun of Highclere Castle, as well as the exciting feast of additional sites we have planned.

The Wellington Tour - Devonshire House

No matter how many times I visit London, I always find new nuggets of historic trivia that are hugely interesting. I thought I'd do a bit of investigation recently in preparation for the St. James's Walk Victoria and I will be leading during The Wellington Tour in September, when I discovered some interesting facts.

Firstly, I did some research into Devonshire House, London home to the Dukes of Devonshire since 1697, when the 1st Duke purchased the home, then known as Berkeley House, from Lord Berkeley. You can get an idea of it's prime location on Piccadilly from Roque's map below.

The house burned down in 1733 whilst undergoing renovations, allowing the Duke to rebuild in a contemporary style better suited to entertaining on a grand scale. The prime example of such an entertainment came over a hundred years on at The Duchess of Devonshire's Ball, a fancy dress entertainment held in order to celebrate Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee on 2 July in 1897. The Duchess encouraged guests to take their inspiration for fancy dress from history, literature and mythology. Thankfully, the Duchess hired photographer James Lauder of the Lafayette Company to be on hand to photograph the 200 costumed guests in front of different backdrops over the course of the evening.

The Duchess of Devonshire as Zenobia, Queen of Palmyra

The Ladies Churchill as Watteau shepherdesses.

Princess Henry of Pless as the Queen of Sheba

Unfortunately, Devonshire House (below in 1905) was demolished in 1920, when it was sold by the 9th Duke of Devonshire in order to pay death duties. Today, an office building stands on the site.

The new bit of trivia I learned is that the gates from Devonshire House were saved and moved to the entrance of Green Park off Piccadilly. I can't tell you how many times I've walked past, and through, these gates, never realizing their history.

 

 

Another piece of London history I've walked past numerous times is the Porter's Rest above, located just down the street from the Green Park Gates as you walk towards Apsley House. As E. Beresford Chancellor tells us, there is a plaque on the object that reads "At The Suggestion Of R.A. Slaney Esq. Who For 20 Years Represented Shrewsbury In Parliament This Porter's Rest Was Erected In 1861 By The Vestry Of St. George Hanover Square For The Benefit Of Porters And Others Carrying Burdens." You can be sure we'll be pointing this piece of street furniture out to everyone on the Wellington Tour - who knew?

 

Click Here For Complete Details of The Wellington Tour

 

 



Visiting The Household Cavalry Museum

Opened in 2007 by Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, the Household Cavalry Museum is located in Horse Guards, with an entrance off the Parade. Victoria here, looking forward to another look at the HCM when the Wellington Tour visits on Saturday, September 6, 2014.  Kristine and I hope you can join us...and refer you HERE for the complete details on the itinerary, costs and the fine print. 

 

Horse Guards, Whitehall

 

 

The history of the Household Cavalry goes back at least 300 years.  Though we are most aware of these soldiers in their colorful traditional uniforms as mounted sentinels at Horse Guards, as they change the guard at Buckingham Palace, and as escorts of the Queen on grand official occasions, the members alternate between active service on armoured vehicles in the “regular army” and ceremonial duties.

A closer view; the Parade is through the central arch

  

The Museum provides the history of the Horse Guards Building, designed by William Kent and completed by John Vardy in 1755, after Kent’s death.  The Duke of Wellington, as commander in chief of the British Army in the 19^thCentury kept his office in Horse Guards until he retired shortly before his death in 1852.

 

 

Currently, two regiments make up the Household Cavalry, the Life Guards and the Blues and Royals.  Originating after the 1660 Restoration of Charles II to the throne, they provided personal Security for the monarch. Throughout the 17^th and 18^thcenturies, the cavalry fought in many wars, in Holland, in Germany, in Portugal and Spain. At the Battle of Waterloo, the regiments served bravely, capturing a French Eagle, a prized standard with far-reaching symbolic importance. It was the bloodiest battle of their history.

Museum Entrance, opening onto the Parade

 

What everyone was looking at on July 11, 2013, on the Parade

 

 

The museum also chronicles the service of the Household Cavalry regiments in the Crimean and Boer Wars, among other engagements.  In WWI, WWII, and in numerous later conflicts, the regiments performed their duties in armoured cars, in tanks, and in helicopters.

 

 

In the Museum

 

 

Ceremonial Uniforms

The horses get their due!!

 

The museum covers the choice and training of the horses, a matter of great interest to many of us who love the sleek mounts, groomed to perfection and amazingly well behaved.  Each year, the horses are named with the same initial, thus preserving the year of their arrival in the Cavalry.  As an example, from the museum guidebook, “… Invader, Imogene and India arrived in 2008 and Jubilee Jenna and Jupiter in 2009.”  After an average of six months training, the four- or five-year old “recruits” serve for another 14 to 16 years, before withdrawal to a  private stable or a retirement home.

 

The Saga of Waterloo, June 18, 1815

 

The cavalry commander at the Battle of Waterloo was Henry Paget, Earl of Uxbridge and later, 1^st Marquess of Anglesey. As the battle wound down, Paget sat on his horse beside the Duke of Wellington when a cannon shot shattered his leg.  Supposedly he said, “By God, sir, I’ve lost my leg.”  Wellington reportedly replied coolly, “By God, sir, so you have.”  After the amputation, Paget urged many improvements in the making of prosthetics for walking and riding.  He served the government and the army for another 37 years before finally passing away in 1854.  One of Paget’s artificial limbs is on display in the Museum.

For a few weeks each summer, the Household Cavalry conducts a retreat for the members and the horses at the Norfolk seashore – which is the reason that in my photographs taken in July 2013, their substitutes, members of the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery take over, wearing their black ceremonial uniforms based on those of the Hussars at the Battle of Waterloo almost 200 years ago. 

 

 

The Duke of Wellington's office as Commander-in-Chief of the British Army was above the center arch leading from Horse Guards' Whitehall façade to the parade ground.  The display photographed above depicts the final departure of the Duke from his position shortly before he died in 1852.  He was 83 years of age and had served his nation for 65 years.

 

 

 

 

The website for the Household Cavalry Museum is here.

 

Join us on The Wellington Tour!

 

http://wellingtontour.blogspot.com

 

 

 

 

 

Victoria Station and the Grosvenor Hotel

Guoman Grosvenor Hotel

The Wellington Tour, 4-14 September, 2014, will begin at the Guoman Grosvenor Hotel, 101 Buckingham Palace Road. The hotel is connected to Victoria Station, home of several rail and tube lines, plus hundreds of busses, coaches, and taxis.  It is super-convenient and appears quite lovely in its newly restored state.

Victoria Station with Grosvenor Hotel at far right

 

Map of Victoria Station neighborhood

Station and hotel at red marker

Square tan building just under words 'Green Park' is Buckingham Palace

Apsley house at the far left upper corner

 

  

The little map above shows the position of Victoria Station and the hotel, which you can see on any London map.  I can't imagine any more efficient location for almost every London attraction.

 

 

Victoria Station interior

 

Victoria Station itself is the second busiest in London (after Waterloo Station), with many rail lines to destinations in south and southeast England, including the Gatwick Express.  The Circle and District tube lines and the Victoria line stop here, and the Victoria Coach Terminal is adjacent.  The station has many shops, bars, and food sources, right at hand.  An upgrade of the facility is planned for the next few years, to include more escalators and improved accessibility.

  

Guoman Grosvenor Hotel

 

The hotel has been newly refurbished and updated, at a cost of  £20 million. The Grosvenor (not to be confused with Grosvenor House, another London hotel on Park Lane) was opened in 1862, one of the earliest of London's Victorian Railway Hotels built beside railroad stations.

 

 

 

Many of these old hotels had declined into disuse in the past decades, and the Guoman Grosvenor is not the only one to be newly redone.  I recently wrote about the St. Pancras Renaissance hotel, formerly the Midland Grand Hotel, and the Great Northern Hotel at King's Cross, both on Euston Road, here. 

 

 

Réunion Bar

 

                

In addition to meeting rooms, the bar (above), a gym, a business center, and the Grand Imperial Cantonese Restaurant, the hotel promises all 21st century amenities.  Additionally, the adjacent Victoria Station complex houses many restaurants and a shopping arcade.

 

Guoman Grosvenor Hotel

 

 

The hotel website is here.  Hope to see you on this street in September, 2014.

 

For details on the Wellington Tour, click here.

 

   

 

 

The Wellington Tour: Frogmore House...in Windsor Great Park

The Wellington Tour will visit Frogmore House on  September 13, 2014, a special treat,  for all of you can come with Kristine and me, Victoria, on our great adventure.  For all the details on the tour, click here.

Frogmore House, from the lake

For the Frogmore House website, click here.

Aerial View, House is center right

Frogmore House has served as a sort of refuge for various members of the royal family for several centuries.  The property became part of the royal holdings in the 16th century and was leased out to others. The land was acquired because it was adjacent to Windsor Great Park, though it was as marshy as its name indicates.  Several houses were built  by the Aldworth family, and the larger, known as Great Frogmore, was eventually leased to the Duke of Northumberland, (1665-1716), who was the natural son of Charles II and the Duchess of Cleveland. Eventually it was purchased for '
Queen Charlotte (1744-1818), wife of George III, in 1792.

Queen Charlotte, c. 1789-90, by Sir Thomas Lawrence

National Gallery, London

 

 

 Charlotte and her daughters often fled to Frogmore to escape from the confines of palaces and castles, to this comparatively modest house where they could enjoy a bit more relaxation.  Queen Charlotte was an avid gardener and brought a number of unusual plants to this estate. Several of the princesses painted or sketched works shown here.

 

For a brief segment of the conversation of HRH Charles, Prince of Wales with the Royal Librarian about Frogmore interiors, click here.

 

The Green Pavilion, 1817, from Pyne's Royal Residences

 

 

The Green Pavilion has been restored to its look during Queen Charlotte's lifetime.  Upon her death, Frogmore was left to her eldest unmarried daughter, Princess Augusta, though most of the furnishings were sold for the benefit of all the princesses.

 

 

The Mary Moser Room, photographer: Christopher Simon Sykes

The Royal Collection © 2009 Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

 

 

The flowered panels by artist Mary Moser (1744-1819) were commissioned by Queen Charlotte, who chose the artist's name for the room.  The unusual four-tier revolving bookstand at the right dates from this same period of time.

 

After the death of Princess Augusta in 1840, the crown repurchased the estate and Queen Victoria gave it to her mother, Victoria, Duchess of Kent, as her home. Many alterations and modernizations were made once more and the Duchess presided over the redecoration of several principal rooms.

 

The Duchess of Kent's Drawing Room, photographer: Derry Moore

The Royal Collection © 2009 Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

 

 In addition to artistic interests, reading and stitching, the ladies who enjoyed the informality of Frogmore sometimes organized theatrical programs and concerts by their friends as well as professional musicians. I suspect that after seeing the grandeur of nearby Windsor Castle, we will thoroughly understand why time at Frogmore was so precious.

 

The Colonnade

 

 All of the residents of Frogmore have enjoyed the garden, and like the rooms, re-imagination often reigned. After the Indian Mutiny, Lord Canning, Governor-General of India, presented an Indian Kiosk captured at Lucknow in 1858  to Queen Victoria who had it placed near the house.

 

 

Indian Kiosk

 

 

After the death of her mother and her husband, both in 1861, Queen Victoria often sought seclusion at Frogmore She loved the house and garden where  'all is peace and quiet and you only hear the hum of the bees, the singing of the birds'. She built a mausoleum for Prince Albert and herself on the grounds. It is rarely open to the public due to ongoing restoration projects. 

 

Though no royals have lived at Frogmore for some time, it is often used for meetings and other activities.  Below is the family portrait taken at the reception held at Frogmore after the wedding of the Queen's eldest grandson to Autumn Kelly in 2008. 

 

 

This image released by the family shows the wedding group of Peter Phillips, top center left, and his bride Autumn Kelly, top center right, at Frogmore House, Windsor Castle, England and (seated left to right front row) Prince Philip, Queen Elizabeth II, Ivy Kelly, Edith McCarthy, (standing left to right) Mark Phillips, Princess Anne, Kitty Kelly, Brian Kelly. (AP Photo/Sir Geoffrey Shakerley, HO)

 

 

 

I am looking forward to seeing this lovely house which has been so dear to many generations of the royal family.  It is open only a few days each year, so The Wellington Tour is fortunate to be eligible.

 

Consider joining us for The Wellington Tour in September 2014.

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