Gunnersbury House

October 16th, 2022 was a Sunday and it dawned a gorgeous sunny day, so we decided we should do something and go out. My first idea was to go to Syon House, but Wendy persuaded me that it was too big, and the disabled car park seems too far from the house, so I thought again and decided to explore Gunnersbury House and Park which Wendy had not heard of, But I was aware that HADAS had been there to help out and I wanted to explore. It is a fine Georgian house just off the Great West Road and the North Circular, and it had been the home of the Rothschilds.

The Rothschilds were keen on botany and natural history, so they laid out a magnificent garden with exotic trees imported from different parts of the world as can be seen on the left. In the centre of the photo, a fountain can just be seen, while to the right a Grecian temple just peeps through the trees.

The Long Gallery

This is the finest room in the house. It faces south and over the gardens, with magnificent views and has a fine painting in the ceiling.

And although the Rothschilds were the most distinguished owners of the house, they did not build it. The original house was built in 1663 as a Palladian mansion, and it was here that Princess Amelia, the daughter of George II lived from 1761 to her death in 1786.

However, in 1801 it was pulled down by John Morley, who proposed to sell the whole estate in 13 lots for houses. However, Alexander Copland bought 12 of the lots, and built a Large Mansion, which is the house we see today. Shortly afterwards the remaining lot was bought by Alexander Morrison, who built the Small Mansion which has still not been fully restored and is under scaffolding.

However, in 1834. It was bought by Nathan Mayer Rothschild and remained in the Rothschild family for the rest of the century

Drawing Room and Conservatory

This is the another fine room, adjacent to the Long Gallery, looking south over the garden. At the far end behind the doors is a conservatory which was built by the Rothschilds and had curved panes of glass of which they were very proud. It is a pity there is no furniture – it makes it look very bare.

The Rothschilds were a very extended family which was one of the secrets of their success. They were founded in the 1760s by Mayer Amschel Rothschild in Frankfurt who had 5 sons who settled around Europe, and the London Rothschilds became very successful. The Gunnersbury estate was bought by Nathan Mayer Rothschild in 1835, but he died soon after and the house was mainly occupied by one of the junior branches of the family, headed by Leopold, who was a nephew but who nevertheless eventually became head of the bank, though I think he was more interested in horseracing than in banking.

The kitchens

The Rothchilds were great entertainers, so the kitchens had a major role in the running of the house and have been lavishly restored, This is the main kitchen with the main range to the left and a brand-new and very early gas stove at the far end, put in in the 1860s.

The current ownership of Gunnersbury is unusual. On Leopold’s death in the 1920s, his widow decided to sell the estate, but she wanted it to be kept as a park. The estate lies within Brentford Borough Council, but Brentford had a reputation for selling land for housing, so it was sold to Ealing Borough Council, which is adjacent. Ealing was joined by Acton which has now become part of Hounslow, who hold it jointly. It was opened with great ceremony by Neville Chamberlain, the Minister for Housing in 1926.

The gas stove

In the 1860s a gas stove was installed – the height of modernity. The great advantage was that when the great stew pots as seen on the left had finished their cooking, they could be left on the stove, whereas before they had to be removed from the flames – and they were very heavy.

In the late 20th century, the Gunnersbury estate became rundown as it was a drain on the Boroughs’ finances, so they applied to the Lottery fund and received a grant of £50 million, as a result of which the Large Mansion has been restored and looks very spick and span though sadly it lacks furniture. The grounds have also been restored, though work is still in progress.

When we finished our visit, there was one thing we found very useful – a disabled car park very close to the house. When we arrived there were notices saying no entry to cars except for those with a blue badge and as we have a blue badge we sailed through and found the disabled car park. At the end of our visit, when we were both exhausted, we were delighted to be able to drive home so easily!

The National Archive

Local / By AndrewSelkirk

The National Archives

Who lived at 16 Clarence Road?

A visit to the National Archives

On 1 October 2022 we visited the National Archives, on a trip organised by the Kew Society and the Richmond Local History Society. I had been there before, but only in the dark, so I had not seen the grand entrance. However on this occasion, we managed to find the disabled parking at the rear. We went to the first floor where computers were set out. We took one each and set out to explore for ourselves.

The target was the census of 1921. A census is taken every 10 years, but they are kept confidential for 100 years, so the 1921 census is the latest available, as the 1931 census was bombed during the war. Wendy and I took a computer each and set to work to find out who was living in Clarence Road in 1921

Clarence Road was built in the decade before 1891, as it does not appear in the 1881 census.

Its first occupants were a German family, the Koppelows. Mr Koppelow was a German who went travelling in Ireland where he seduced a young Irish girl and married her and took her back to Germany, where she had a son Charles, who was born in Prussia. They then came to England and settled in Kew. However Mr Koppelow died, leaving his widow Esther as the mistress of 16 Clarence Road.

There was also her son, Charles, who was still at school, and also a lodger a 20-year-old French girl, Francis Schutte, studying engineering, There was also a live-in maid, Lizzie. Hobbes

Ten years later there were two old women living here, Emma Heath, aged 63, who was living on her own means, and her housekeeper Henrietta Welch, who was just two years younger. I hope they looked after each other.

There is no entry in the 1911census the records simply go from number 15 to 17. Presumably either the inhabitants were away on that particular day or the house was being sold.

In 1921 the house was being occupiers by two families, the Hoskins and the Eltons. The father Hoskin, Sydney, was a telephone fault finder, aged 48, whose wife Jessie was nine years younger and was in household duties.

They had a daughter Eileen aged 11, was born in 1910 and is registered as having been born Richmond. Does this mean that were already living in Clarence Road and just happened to be away on the day that the census was taken? There was also a son, Donald, who was nine years younger. Was he an accident?

And then there was a second family, the Eltons, all from Birmingham. The head of the family was Eliza aged 74, described as being employed in household duties. Then there was her daughter, Jessie, aged 35, who was a stenographer. And then there was a ‘visitor’, Elsie Cottrell, also from Birmingham, also aged 35, who was a bookkeeper at the Arundel hotel. She is called a ‘visitor’ but was she fact a lodger, and were the two girls, both 35, both from Birmingham, both good friends?

The house must have been crowded, with two families, seven in all. One wonders whether there was an additional building either out the back, or perhaps at the bottom of the garden on the site of the garage, with a back door leading out into Victoria Gardens? Is this perhaps where the Eltons lived?

No census was taken in 1941, because of the war, but similar information can be obtained from the National Register that was compiled on 29 September 1939 for the civilian population. This was primarily to issue identity cards which remained in force until 1951, and also for Rationing cards when rationing was introduced in January 1940. It was also to help in conscription for the forces and the direction of Labour.

Only a single person is recorded as living in 16 Clarence Road, being Florence Wright, a single lady aged 44, working as a bank clerk

The listings were all accompanied by maps – if you scrolled down to the bottom of the entry. So here is a map of our area for 1 Clarence Road.

It is interesting to see that the area between the railway and Kew Gardens was all built up, but the area on the other side of the railway was not built up at all. Though if one looks carefully, the area between Sandycombe Road and the railway was only partially built up by 1921.

Spain 2022

Family, Trips / By AndrewSelkirk

Spain 2022

La Cerradilla This year we went out to Spain in September, from the 12th to the 16th. We felt that I was no longer capable of staying at the apartment as the steps are too difficult, so we stayed at La Cerradilla, with Frank and Sheena in their spare bedroom.

We decided we should just stay for three days with a day at the beginning for arriving, and a day at the end for departure. In the event, our return journey was cancelled so we had to spend an extra two days there.

This was fortuitous in a way because the first part of the holiday was rather dull, and the second part was nice and bright, so Wendy liked the first half and I liked the second half.

Frank and Sheena were in fine form. Sheena was limping a little, as she recently had a hip replacement, and Frank is still a bit shaken up by the accident when he recently fell off his new electric bike. But they were both much fitter than we are, and we envied them being able to get around so well.

In the restaurant. I arranged with Frank that we would have our main meal at lunchtime, which in Spain is usually between two and 3 o’clock. Here you see us dining on the first day at the restaurant of the Cave of Sorbas.

It was remarkably cheap; looking at my bank account, I find I only paid £56.27p for a three course meal for the four of us, including a bottle of wine. The lunch the next day was £56.52, and though the later ones were more expensive, they were still remarkably cheap.

Seeing the windmills On the Wednesday, Frank took us to see the new windfarm situated on the mountains behind Lucainena. This was a long twisty road, for the windmills were situated on the peak of Colativa, which is the highest point of the Alhamilla mountain range that runs behind Lucainena and separates it from Nijar and the sea.

There were lots of windmills – there must have been 40 or 50 in total, but they were well placed, as it was very windy, even though it was not windy in the valley below.

Close up they are very impressive. I gather that Mount Colativa is the highest point in the Alhamilla range, more than 4,000 feet high.

Nearby was a major radar establishment. Frank says it is for air traffic control, keeping track of every aeroplane flying in southern Spain

We were getting ready to fly back on Friday when Frank discovered that our flight had been cancelled, due it appears to a strike by the French air traffic controllers.

Nevertheless, this had the advantage that the weather forecast for the next two days was fine, which suited me as I had been starved of sunshine. I went down to the swimming pool and tried to get in, but there are four ledges to descend, and I did the first three, which got me into the water up to my waist, but the fourth was too steep and I didn’t dare try it, and Frank managed to pull me out.

Meanwhile Wendy was sitting reading, looking gorgeous.

When we heard of the cancellation, we immediately got to work on Frank’s computer. EasyJet said we could book for free on any of their alternative flights. There was nothing for the next day and the only one we could find was on Sunday from Malaga, which is 200 miles east along the coast.

Frank said we should go for it, but it meant a long drive for him. We left at about 10 in the morning and got to Malaga in good time, about 4 o’clock for an 8 o’clock flight. It was a dramatic journey through mountainous countryside with numerous tunnels, but Frank drove very well.

We stopped for a coffee, but we got going very good time and we got back to Gatwick at about 10 and were home just before midnight. It had been a good holiday!

Fulham Palace

Local, Site / By AndrewSelkirk

Fulham Palace

*The East Wing of the Palace, cobbled together in the 18th and 19th centuries. It is rather underwhelming as the principal facade overlooking the lawn, but the ground floor now serves as the cafeteria*

I have been wanting to go to Fulham Palace ever since I heard a lecture on it at the Richmond Archaeological Society. Well, another lecture is coming up, so I thought I had better delay no longer, so I could appreciate what the forthcoming lecture is all about..

I had been saying that I wouldn’t go on a weekday to avoid the crowds, and that I would go on a nice sunny day. Well, I missed all the nice sunny days in the summer of 2022, and eventually with the next lecture coming up, I decided to go on a Saturday, 3^rd September 2022. It was a dull day and we coincided with a wedding, so we couldn’t see the main Tudor Court. But we saw the Museum and the Great Hall, so we still has a good visit and Wendy enjoyed it.

Fulham Palace was the home of the Bishops of London on a riverside estate acquired by Waldhere, the Bishop of London in 704. However it was rather large, and not very central to London, so in 1972 it was given up, in favour of a small house in central London just by St Paul’s, which is, after all, the Church of the Bishop of London, and it is now run by a trust.

It is in two parts. The original half is the Tudor Court, which was where the wedding was being held, so we couldn’t get in to see it. Then in the 18^th and 19^th centuries it was considered to be too old-fashioned, so new buildings were added around what became the East Court. We saw the museum rooms and the Great Hall, where Wendy identified the portraits of the various kings and queens, and we then went through the northern wing of the East Court till we came to the Drawing room, which is now the cafe. There we each had a large coffee and shared a piece of chocolate cake between us – Wendy allowed me half, despite my diabetes.

*One of the walkways in the Walled Garden*

We then walked across the lawn to the walled garden. In the 17^th century, the Bishop of London was also the head of the church in the American colonies, and Bishop Henry Compton (1675 – 1713) was a keen botanist, so he sent out Rev Banister, himself a keen botanist as a missionary and plant collector to Virginia, who sent back many plants including magnolia and box elder. In 1764 a walled garden was constructed, with an earlier Tudor gateway which I failed to photograph.

We got there just before it was closing. We saw part of it until we were chased out, and Wendy went on ahead to go to the shop to buy greetings cards and I returned to the car in the disabled car park. And so to home.

France 2022

France, Personal, Trips / By AndrewSelkirk

France 2022

Once again we went out to France, from the 10^th to the 17^th July to spend a week at the chateau.

It was a good stay, with wonderful weather – no, it was rather too hot for most of the time, though I enjoyed it. We celebrated Fiona’s birthday with a wonderful meal out and we went to the Creperie and wandered through the market on the last Saturday. Alexander came out with us, flying from Stansted and renting a car a little Fiat 500, which was very useful, particularly as Fiona and Wendy could just about squash in the back

*Here is the rather nice waiting lounge for Special Assistance at Gatwick*

Our travel arrangements however were chaotic. Thank heavens we could put Covid behind us. It died out at the beginning of the year and the lockdowns are beginning to be considered to be a bad thing. However, travel arrangements were thrown out as they had sacked too many of their staff and could not replace them, so there was chaos at the airports. We booked up in February with BA to fly from Heathrow at a good rate. However, a fortnight before we were due to fly we has an email from BA that the outward flight has been cancelled and we must re-book. This proved impossible as they created ridiculous rates in the £150 to £200 range, instead about £60. What made it worse was when I tried to reclaim the money, I found I had cancelled the whole trip, so we had to re-book out and back with easyJet. Luckily we were able to do this at a good rate, but it meant flying from Gatwick, which meant paying nearly £100 to the taxi on the way out and Uber on the way back.

We booked a mini-cab to take us out which costs just over £90 to Gatwick, but then the Special Assistance worked well – they had a splendid waiting lounge in the departure hall. The only problem was at Toulouse where I had to get down the steps to leave the plane but I managed quite easily. But then they whisked us on one of their special trains right past everyone and we got through very quickly and found that our language was waiting for us – had they treated our luggage specially?

*We arrived at Toulouse in good time and were hurried through the special assistance to the deserted arrival hall where we waited for Robert, bringing a wheelchair for me*

The only problem was that Robert had misread our arrival times and rang to say he would be half an hour or an hour late, but we found a good seat in the deserted arrivals hall until he eventually turned up with a wheel chair, and we then had a good journey back to the Chateau, though the Albi motorway was closed and we had to take the old road through the suburbs of Toulouse, which was terribly long compared to the motorway journey which only seems to be a couple of minutes

Jubilee party

Local, Personal / By AndrewSelkirk

Jubilee Party, 2022

On the 4th of July 2022, we celebrated the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee – 70 years on the throne. We had a street party. Clarence Road was closed off, there were no cars, and we dined down the middle of the road.

It was a fine day. The weather threatened to be rainy and there was some rain early morning, but then the sun came out and it was a fine day for the party – and no planes either.

Bunting was laid down the street, tables were laid down the centre – we brought out the table from the garage – and everyone prepared food.

Ian, working hard to get the tables ready

Delicious food was prepared and laid out on the central table – everyone competed to see who could bring the most tasty food

And then we feasted. Jonathan and friend dined in high style, enjoying the food

Deep conversations took place while enjoying the meal in the middle of the road

And then it was time for pudding! Here is the champion cake, in the form, of a Union Jack. It did not survive long. Adjacent to it were the strawberries – specially for me, as the only food allowed for diabetics

Photographing the cakes – a record for posterity.

John, in full flood of discussion

Fiona has captured a dog and is giving it her full treatment. She was very happy – and the children enjoyed the dog too.

Finally, the food was eaten, and it was time to relax, sitting on the wall and just talking.

It’s been a lovely afternoon and a wonderful way of celebrating the Queen who has reigned for almost as long as many of us have lived. Only the previous day we celebrated our wedding anniversary by going out for a meal and we realised that our marriage at a mere 56 years long is nowhere near as long as the Queen has reigned.

I read recently an article asking how much the celebrations cost. Well in our case, the answer is nothing – at least as far as the state is concerned. We paid for it ourselves: we all chipped in £5 which paid for the cost of closing the road (which we had to pay for) and for the bunting, but that’s about all. We provided the food, the tables, the coverings, and the good companionship.

It was wonderful meeting so many people we had only nodded to before – and the Lithuanians who live opposite. It is wonderful to live in such a friendly road, so thank you very much to those of you who bore the brunt of the organising – you did a really wonderful job. And cheers to her Majesty: let’s hope she lives just a little bit longer so we can have some more wonderful jubilees!

Andrew Selkirk

5th June 2022

Spain 2021

Leave a Comment / Family, Trips / By AndrewSelkirk

Spain 2021

*Cerradilla, Frank and Sheena’s idyllic hidey-hole in Spain The palm trees have grown, and quite change the overall appearance!*

At the end of September, (27th to 3rd Oct) we went out to Spain to visit my brother Frank and his wonderful wife Sheena. We had not been out for a couple of years since Covid, and I wanted to see them both again, and to visit their wonderful home – and to get some sun!

I wanted to go at the beginning of September, but then I was given an appointment by University College Hospital to have my pseudo-bladder inspected on September 14th, and I felt I should seize the opportunity rather than put it off. Wendy then had a lunch with her Ladies Who Lunch, and it was not until the 27th that we could get a flight . But we had a lovely visit, even though it was not quite as hot as I would have liked.

*Flying out to Almeria, seeing the vast acreage of growing sheds for all the fruit we eat.*

We went out by easyJet from Gatwick On an afternoon flight at 4.10. As we were coming in, we saw a huge acreage of sheds where they were growing the fruit that we eat here in England. However when we arrived, disaster! Frank and Sheena were not there to meet us. We had arranged to go out to Almeria and then come back from Murcia, but Frank have misunderstood and went to meet us at Murcia. It took nearly ¾ of an hour to make telephone contact, and find they were waiting for us at Murcia. . Anyway, Frank managed to arrange with one of his friends in the village to meet us and take us back to Cerradilla while he raced back from Murcia and got back just before us.

We went out for six days, and we arranged to stay at his house for the first two and the last two, but would go down to the apartment for two middle days. I borrowed Frank’s car we drove down without difficulty, and on the first day we went down to the beach at Vera. We managed to park right at the seaside end of the car park, where I undressed and walked down naked onto the beach and along past the pub, and we settled down to a good sunny spell. We went down to the water’s edge but I found that the sand was too mobile even to sit down, so I didn’t manage to get wet at all. But Wendy stripped off and it was good to see her sporting her naked body on the beach.

*Sun bathing at the apartment at Valle del Este*

Afterwards we went and did some shopping at the Consum supermarket, but we planned to have supper at the Commercial centre. However we walked round it and felt it was altogether too golf oriented so we came back and had a very nice lasagne we had bought at the Consum. The next day we had a swim in the swimming pool at the apartment and Wendy took a surreptitious photo of me wearing one of my semi-decent swimming costumes.

*Wendy enjoying the sun by the pool at Cerradilla*

We then returned to Ceradilla, where we went down to his swimming pool. We did not go in, but we had a good sun-bathing session, where I managed to get a stunning photo of Wendy, showing off her lovely legs. I think she’s wonderful for a girl of 82. We ate out several times, one for lunch at the Cuevas de las Sorbas, which was remarkably cheap at €12 each, and then in the evening at a roadside restaurant again at Sorbas.

On another evening, we had a lovely dinner prepared by Sheena, where I used my selfie stick to take a photo of all four of us.

*Spectacular view of the hilltop village of Mojacar, now said to be one of the most expensive villages in Spain*

We were still under the Covid restrictions, – we should have gone out a week later when they were over, but we had to get a test done at a chemist and Frank found one at Mojacar beach.

He drove us down and I got a spectacular photo of Mojacar on the hill. We found the pharmacy concerned where they were doing the test in an adjacent garage.

We came back on an early flight from Murcia, which is involved getting up at about 4 o’clock and then taking a two hour drive to the airport on the deserted motorway. But we had a very good trip and it was lovely to see Frank and Sheena and to have a last burst of the sun.

To : France, 2021

Ealing, 2021

Local, Site, Trips / By AndrewSelkirk

Ealing, 2021

On October 6, 2021 I visited Ealing. We had just returned from our visit to my brother in Spain, and two days after our return we had to do a Randox test for Covid. After our previous test after our visit to France, we had used a drop box in Isleworth, but this had closed and the nearest drop box was in Ealing.

In a way I quite welcomed the opportunity to do some exploring. The main thing I wanted to see was the site of Ealing Studios whose comedies I had much enjoyed, and I found they were on the route.

There was a rather splendid Victorian house which had the name Ealing Studios and displayed on the gables. I missed the turning on which it is situated, but in fact it fronted a small park so I could see it from the main road, and then on my return I could turn and park nearby and take some photographs. It was quietly grand, but on close examination it appeared that it was in the process of being turned into flats.

However down the side you could see the warehouse that were the actual studios where between the years 1947 and 1955 that the famous comedies were made, starting with Kind Hearts and Coronets and ending up with the Lady killers.

Pitzhanger Manor, as newly completed, painted by Joseph Gandy. The wing to the left is part of the original house, by George Dance. Guests are arriving by carriage from London, only an hour’s drive away, and are welcomed by Soane and his wife to the right.

However, while studying the maps I discovered that there was a grand country house adjacent called Pitzhanger Manor, so I decided to explore rather expecting that it would not be possible to park close by, but to my surprise, I discovered there was very good parking in the street just outside, so I parked the car using my blue badge and hobbled in.

*The 1939 Library on the site of the original kitchens and the replica Roman ruins.*

The first building had me puzzled, but it was an ancillary building. The main house had been bought in 1900 by Ealing Borough Council and used as a library, but in 1939 they built a proper library building which is now used as an art gallery. There are extensive grounds originally covering some 30 acres which have recently been redone as per Soane’s original design With the help of a lottery fund grant, they were also able to do up the main house.

*The grand facade of Pitzhanger Manor. Note the statues, (Caryatids) on the top of each column, very similar to those being installed by Soane at the Bank of England.*

Beyond was the house itself. It was a grand house built by the architect Sir John Soane, the builder of the Bank of England (1753 to 1837). He purchased the original house in 1804 for £4500, but then demolished most of the previous house and build his own. He intended it to be a showcase hoping to persuade his sons to become architects and to found an architectural dynasty. However, his sons disappointed him, so 10 years later he sold the house and made his townhouse in Lincoln’s Inn Fields in his principal monument, which is the day the Soane Museum.

Inside on the ground floor was the ‘Eating Room’, a very large room where he entertained with grand views over the extensive gardens. Dinner usually took place at 430 to 5 and was considered an intellectual banquet.

Here we see a view into the library, now sadly bereft of books, but note the double doors on three sides which enlarge the space. The walls are grained to look like yellow satinwood, and note the elaborate ceiling where has a star fish design which makes it look airy and summery. Curved ceilings were as a speciality of Soane and are said to have influenced the design of the red telephone boxes.

There were other rooms on several floors, of which I thought the finest was the Upper Drawing room on a upper floor. This was in fact part of the original house designed by George Dance, under whom Soane learnt his trade, and he kept a wing of the original Dance house as a reminder of his early days, but he redecorated it with Chinese style wallpaper.

I much enjoyed my visit – though it was a pity that Wendy could not be with me.

France 2021

Family, France / By AndrewSelkirk

France, 2021

*The Salon, the grand room at the centre of the Chateau*

Once again, we were able to get out to France to visit Robert’s chateau near Toulouse. We went in the third week of July, (July 19^th to 26^th), though Robert had managed to get out a week earlier, with the two older girls, but Libby and the two youngest were not able to come out till the end of our week. During the year, Covid was raging, and for long we thought we were not going to be able to get out there, but visiting was enabled just in time, though France was in an amber class so we had to take an antigen test which we did by Zoom, with a charming Indian girl from South Africa watching us doing our tests, and then sending us a form proving that we had done it and passed. So it was a lot of complication, but eventually all went well.

Fortunately the weather was good, with sun for the first half of the week and we went swimming four times. I have more or less perfected my special way of getting in and out with a chair and a low bench. I have worked out the technique as can be seen on the video that Robert took. The girls had a wonderful time and Eloise looks very good in her bikini. I spent time reading my book about The Roman Retail Revolution while Robert and the rest were tidying up around the swimming pool and getting the seats out from the store

My special technique for getting into the pool

*Leveraging me from the bench onto the edge of the pool*

*Sitting on the side of the pool, with my feet already in the water.*

*I have moved round to the long side and am going from the top step down to the second step*

*Now down on the third step, and Wendy is following me in*

These pictures are of me getting in. Now let’s see some pictures of me getting out.

I also had difficulty getting up the stairs. It was all right at the bottom and the top, but in the middle it goes round the corner, and the steps get narrow, and I became scared, and began going up on my bottom. However Robert saw me and took my arm so I could walk more in the centre, then Wendy took over and eventually Fiona became my main helper.

I took some photos in the house. I had been looking through my photos of the house, and found that though I had plenty of the living suite and the bedrooms, I didn’t have any of the entrance hall and the salon or indeed of the stairs. I managed to get some good ones, especially when they tidied up the Hall, getting it ready for Libba’s arrival, so I’ve got some of the hall looking quite smart and one of the Salon with the lid of the grand piano up.

We twice went down shopping at the Super U, once on our first day when we did quite a big shop which was needed as Robert had not yet had time to stock up fully, and then once towards the end. It’s funny, but doing a supermarket shop is quite a thrill and makes us feel we are in France.

We also dined out twice, once halfway through when we went down to the Creperie and dined out in the street. Then on our last evening when Libby and the two youngest had arrived, we went over to Giroussens with its fine view over the River Agout. Wendy had the bright idea of making it a birthday meal for Fiona, as she had not had a birthday party in London and Fiona was thrilled, especially when they brought her a candle on her pudding.

But for me the big adventure was on the Saturday when I went to the Museum. This was the day that Libby was due to arrive with the two younger children who were just breaking up from school. Their plane was due to land at 6.30 and the Museum closed at six so Robert arranged to take me down at 3 to arrive at four and have two hours in the Museum. Wendy came with me and was a great help.

However, getting it to the museum proved difficult When I went there five years ago there was a car park all round the Museum but this is now being paved over and made into a pedestrian area. To make matters worse, there were demonstrations taking place that Saturday against the government and many of the roads were blocked off. However Robert managed to get to within 400 m of the Museum and dropped us and we down a street to the great Saint Severin Basilica, and we then had to walk round the basilica to the Museum.

However, when we got there it was all worthwhile. The Roman sculptures from Chiragan are all on the first floor and we went up by the lift. They are in two halves. The nearer half shows that a number of sculptures showing the labours of Hercules in a rather florid style, then the other side of the division has the Roman Emperors.

I am convinced that they all came originally from the forum at Toulouse. In the declining days of the Roman empire, The statues of the emperors were all being neglected and some were being smashed, so the owner of the Villa at Chiragan rescued the heads and managed to take them to his Villa – the bodies had all been smashed, so it would have been possible to take them all in a couple of barges.

When we finished, there was the matter of walking back to where Robert had dropped us, some 350 m. I did the first half with considerable complaint, but the last stretch down the approach road to the basilica proved very difficult. And when I got to the end I was almost in a state of collapse. But Wendy found Robert and he backed the car down a one-way street and picked me up and I fell into the front seat absolutely exhausted.

Then on to the airport where Wendy and I stayed in the car and Robert and Eloise went out to pick up Libby and Jessica and Max. We then returned and had pizza for supper.

The next day we spent most of the morning filing in the covid forms for the return to England and in the afternoon we went down for a last swim. Then at 6.30 we had to do the medical tests that were needed for a return to England. This again was done by Zoom where we were supervised by another Indian girl not as charming as the previous one

The next day we packed in the morning got everything ready and left at about 2 o’clock. Robert drove us to the airport being in very good time and after a delay we went through special assistance, and eventually arrived in the UK, with a good flight back to London. Then we were very well looked after by the special assistance at Heathrow: the big surprise was at the passport control where I thought I would be a big delay, but they simply examined the passports very thoroughly, and then we were through. Fiona had gone on in advance all by herself, including a train journey, and had arrived in luggage control and was waiting for us with our hold luggage all collected. The special assistance was very good and took us out and waited to meet our driver and took us right out to the car. A smooth journey back, and then I then drove Fiona back to her flat. And thus to bed after a splendid holiday

Strawberry Hill

Health, Local, Site, Trips / By AndrewSelkirk

Strawberry Hill

Monday, 5 October 2020.

Today, 5th October 2020,I went for my interview for a blue badge for free parking and I had to go to Richmond town Hall, which is at Twickenham at the newly built Civic Centre. I was called at very short notice —the email came only came through on Friday. Unfortunately when I made my application, I was inveigled into a false website which charged me £60 instead of £10, but they did at least pass on the message even if rather late. I thought I would see a Doctor or at least a nurse, but in fact I saw a rather plump black lady who asked me a lot of questions in a difficult accident and wrote down the numerous answers over four pages. After about half an hour she accompanied me to the entrance and I suddenly realised it was all over. I hope she gives a good report.

But the sun was shining – if only for a few minutes, so I thought I would do a little exploring and decided to give to Strawberry Hill which was on the other side of the town. I saw it from the road, and it was amazing. I was lured in by the very nice car park, and decided I would go round.

The library at Strawberry Hill with the books framed by a mediaeval archway which swung out if you needed books at the top

It was the extravaganza of Sir Robert Walpole, but its recent history has been unfortunate. The furniture was all sold off and in the 20^th century, the whole estate was bought by St Mary’s Catholic University who built a university on the rest of the estate, but didn’t know what to do with this crumbling ruin in a corner of their estate. Eventually it was taken over by a Trust, which raised £10 million and has done a splendid restoration.

The Raphael room which originally had sketches by Raphael on the wall. But the end wall consisted of magnificent mediaeval archways.

They charge £12.50 with 10% discount from English Heritage and normally they only take parties, but I was given a private tour, and in each room, a lady took me over and gave me the tour.

The gallery, which formed the highlight of the visit to Strawberry Hill

We went round the tour devised by Walpole, keeping the best bits to the end, so we saw various parlours and I enjoyed seeing the library,. But then at the end, I came out to the splendid Gallery, a Long Room all red and gold which is a magnificent showpiece.

The fine fireplace in the special Tribune at Strawberry Hill

And then at the end was his Round Drawing Room which was his special Treasury, and the Tribune leading off with a marvellous fireplace.

Wendy was very jealous that I had been without her, but I promised to take her as soon as possible.

I realised afterwards that there are three great houses to be seen at Twickenham. There is York House, which is where I was at the civic centre, which is an annexe to York House, which is now the actual Town Hall. I must do it properly next time. Then there is Marble Hill house, which is the most classical, but is currently closed for restoration, though the park is still open. But I have now seen Strawberry Hill house, which is the finest of all!