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Published: November 4th 2008
Kelvden Hatch
Ready to enter the Secret Byunker via the farm cottage.Kelvden Hatch.
A couple of weeks after we arrived we drove down to Essex following Liz etc to visit the Nuclear Bunker. We found it a little amusing that there were road-signs pointing to the “Secret Bunker” but of course the thing has been de-activated and opened to the public for some time now - no secret after all. It had been built during the build up to the Cold War and was to be used in the event of Nuclear Attack. With its thousands of tons of concrete and thick walls it could withstand anything short of a direct hit and house 600 people in fall-out conditions for 3 months. Complete with generators, air conditioning, filters, kitchens, hospital etc and a huge communications network it was a small underground town where selected key members of the government, military and civil service would run the country until the radiation had hopefully dropped to safe levels before they emerged to rebuild what was left of the nation. It was never put to the test.
The land for the bunker had been acquired from the Farmer to build the complex and when it was finished the whole thing was covered over and the
Kelvden Hatch
Leaving the Bunker via the new exit which had to be cut through the 4 ft thick wall before they could let tourists in. entrance disguised in a farm cottage - all that was visible from above. After it had been de-commissioned it was eventually given back to the farmer (though not without a struggle) and is now run by a private trust as a tourist attraction - which is a pity in some ways as there is little money to preserve and renovate the bunker and the whole thing has a very run-down and neglected air. Very interesting though.
On the way home we split from the others to look at a very old wooden church which was nearby so had no-one to follow on the motorway - I went sailing past a turnoff and onto the wrong motorway before I knew it. Oh well - find the next exit and work out how to get back on the right road - again!! It is worth noting that this is a regular feature of our travels and we have now learnt to not get fussed by it as even the most experienced UK driver can take a wrong turn at times - and have to find their way back.
London.
We ventured to London on a Sunday to visit Faith for the day
Coton Manor
Liz in the extensive and beautifully maintained gardens. - it was our first long-distance adventure in our car without following someone else so was a steep learning curve. We had our road atlas and the London A-Z . . . but . . . where we left the M1 was not quite on the A-Z so we were lost very quickly. Happily we managed to keep heading in the right direction and found the house without too much of a detour. While they do live in “London” it is actually Middlesex but as it is inside the M25 it is considered to be London. We went to the local village to see some of the St Georges Day celebrations - including the wheelbarrow race which was run via several pubs (including several pints of course) and finishing in the car park. Once again we chatted a lot and generally just caught up for a few hours before driving ourselves back - once again via a couple of wrong turnings and detours.
Heathrow.
We were to make a few trips to Heathrow - including an extra one supposedly to pick up Liz and Phil etc when we got their date of return a day early. Damn that
International Date Thingy when flights leave Canada on a Saturday and land in UK on a Sunday!!! However - we called it a practice run and got it right the next day :-)
Stanstead and Luton.
We have had two overseas trips so far - but more about them in another Blog! Flying EasyJet has been the most convenient and that has meant flying to/from either Luton or Stanstead - both within easy striking distance of where we are. We had to have someone take and collect us for one trip as we left from one and arrived at the other, but the next trip we were able to leave our car in long-term parking and drive ourselves - but we were not impressed with the covering of ice we found on the car when we arrived back at 2.30am!!!
Coton Manor.
Coton Manor is a Stately Home which is still in private ownership and is in a quite isolated area. Liz and Wendy visited in the spring to see the 5 acres of woodlands and bluebells. Absolutely fantastic and with the rest of the wild flower meadow and gardens well worth the effort. There are quite a
Blenheim Palace
Hmmm. Didn't notice the "Keep off the Grass" sign. few bluebells in the woods behind the house but unfortunately invaders of the Spanish variety are infiltrating and people are not happy - note that this is a nation-wide problem, not just here. A lighter moment was provided when Liz had to rescue a duck which had its head stuck in a rock at the edge of a pool - no harm to the duck and the incident duly reported to one of the gardeners.
Leicester.
We visited Leicester very early in our stay - not that there was anything to really grab our attention there but Mel’s Dad was visiting his old Mum and it was too good an opportunity to miss. We borrowed a car and drove there one morning, managing to not get lost (much) and it was nice to join Clive and his sister for a few hours. It was very telling that Clive would not drive while he was there - he said the roads had changed so much he wouldn’t be able to find his way around so takes the bus instead or walks!! We went to a local Tea Rooms for lunch (how very English) then we went for a short walk
Blenhein Palace
You can just make out Ian sitting on the wall. in Bradgate Park and watched children fishing for minnows in the stream - brought back memories for Clive of when he used to take Mel fishing in the same stream.
Blenheim Palace.
One day while the others were away in Canada we arranged to meet Faith on a Sunday “about half way for each of us” and she suggested the village of Woodstock in Oxford which is home to Blenheim Palace. We met in the village and were a little surprised (and disappointed) to find not one Pub which was serving a light meal - we could have had any number of Sunday Roasts with all of the trimmings for £6.00 but not a plate of sandwiches to be found. So we went to the Palace and had a coffee and a sandwich in one of the Cafés before we went exploring.
What a fantastic place - the Palace that is. Built in the early 1700’s it was a gift from a grateful Nation to the Duke of Marlborough who defeated the French at the Battle of Marlborough in 1704. It has been preserved much as it was when built, with huge sculptured grounds almost as far as
Banbury Cross
Yes, she does exist! the eye can see - including the village which was part of the deal and originally housed the workers who serviced the Palace. The Churchill family still live there and it was the birthplace of Winston of the “We shall fight them on the beaches etc” fame - his grandfather was the Duke of the day but his father was not the eldest son so the line of succession split away there. We spent the extra money to include a tour inside the palace and it was well worth it - the family still live there and parts are hired out for such occasions as weddings (if you need to ask how much then I guess you can’t afford it!). There is even a separate Chapel used for family services and a full sized organ at the end of the Library - which was being played for our entertainment as we went through. The rooms were fabulous and the automated audio-visual tour took us from room to room where the history of the palace and family were explained through the eyes of one of the original Ladies-in-Waiting - very well done and not tacky at all - even if the
pulling back of curtains to reveal the door opening into the next room was a bit spooky at first.
On the way home we detoured to Banbury to see the Cross and the fine lady upon her white horse - she is indeed there right by the cross so we have the photo. On the way down in the morning we had noted the return half of the road was closed by road-works so we took an alternative route - and - yes! You guessed it! We got lost again and ended up going home via the scenic route!! But it was a GREAT day.
Lyveden New Bield.
Built between about 1595/1605 this building was never completed - the owner died and work stopped. The building survived in part because of the isolated situation and partly because of the quality of the stonework - the stones were close fitted and with no mortar to be eroded by frost and weather the structure is still sound. There was no roof, windows or floors and it is rumoured that the grand staircase was removed and is now part of a nearby house (believe it or not!!). There had been extensive work
Lyveden New Beild
Photo of a postcard - really impressive for 400 years old and not having been looked after at all. on the surrounding grounds and a lot of the gardens have been restored as they would have appeared in Elizabethan times - even to the planting of long forgotten varieties of fruit trees in the orchard. It was very interesting that the architectural style of the stones and especially the windows is very much like where we are living in the Hall, the earlier parts of which were built some 50 years later.
There are several reasons for the non-completion of the house - the family was staunchly Catholic in a time when all things Catholic were being destroyed. It was also rumoured that one of the sons was implicated in the Gunpowder Plot (with Guy Fawkes among others) so I guess that was political suicide as well. And they probably ran out of money. We spent a couple of hours wandering around and found it was well worth the visit - owned by the National Trust we had free entry courtesy of our NZ Historic Places Trust membership.
Bourneville and Coventry.
While Wendy’s brother Rod was here for a few days we took him to Bourneville village to visit the Cadbury Chocolate Factory. We could only book an
early tour which suited us just fine (see the photo of when we came out after the tour) - we got up early and braved the commuter traffic around the south of Birmingham, getting to the car-park in time for a leisurely cuppa and sandwich before the Tour. While I was manoeuvring through the heavy traffic, moving from one Motorway to another, trying to pick the right lane and with Wendy and Rod chatting away about the best way to get from the Albany Bus Station to Torbay I had a sudden thought - I am in the car with two professional Bus Drivers - so why am I doing the driving?? There was never any answer to that one so I just kept driving.
The tour of the factory was fascinating - from the first importing of cocoa and setting up of places to sit and drink hot chocolate (the Cadbury family were Quakers and were promoting chocolate as an alternative to alcohol) to the way chocolate is now made and distributed. At each section of the tour we were given small packs of chocolate which we kept for later but Rod opened his straight away for immediate consumption
Cadbury World - Crowd
This was why we aere very happy to have gone through early - the computers had broken down and it was chaos. - shared with us of course which was probably why we were able to save ours ’till later
We stopped at Coventry on the way home - Park and Ride to the City Centre - and visited the two cathedrals. The “Old” cathedral was all but destroyed by Luftwaffe bombs in 1940, with only walls and one tower remaining. We were most impressed by the peacefulness and weathered grandeur of the bombed part and thought the stained glasswork in the new building next door was impressive but that overall it was a gloomy building - possibly not helped by the lack of sun shining through the glass. To one side was a small room given over to reflection on the effects of the atom bomb at Hiroshima. Some very graphic artwork and a sculpture made from paper cranes. Well worth the visit.
Cambridge.
When Gunnhild made a flying visit to us for one night we took her back to Cambridge where we met her brother - he had taken his degree there and now lives and works there as a computer programmer. He gave us a lightning tour of the city centre and our impressions were bicycles, narrow cobbled
Coventry Cathedral
Another photo of a photo so not too clear - but very impressive none-the-less. streets, punting on the river, beautiful parks and lots of University Faculties in fantastic old buildings. We had a nice Curry meal together before setting out for the 1 hour journey home. We will definitely be back for a closer look.
Foxton Locks.
Whenever we have visitors we try and take them to experience this very English scene - walking along the tow-path, looking at the Narrow Boats moored and motoring serenely along the canal and, of course, watching the workings of the Locks. Foxton Locks are the largest staircase lock set on the English canal system - there are two sets each of 5 locks. Staircase locks differ from ordinary locks in that each links directly to the next ie the bottom gate of one lock is the top gate of the next one down. There is a small holding pond between the two sets to allow those boats going the other way to pass - there would be a huge delay if a group of boats had to do the whole ten locks before any could come the other way.
In the late 19th century an inclined plane was built to bypass the locks and it
Midpoint in Flore Walk
And my first Pub pint - after 7 weeks!! opened to great fanfare in the early 20th century - there were 2 tanks or caissons, each capable of holding 2 narrow-boats side by side or one wider barge. The caissons were full of water, and so balanced each other, needing only a small engine to push them up or down on the railway tracks on the incline. However - the plane proved to not be economical to operate - partly because other parts of the canal were not widened to allow the wider barges to operate and the Canal system as a whole came up against great competition from the railways resulting in the machinery being dismantled and sold for scrap in 1927. There is a project underway to recreate the Inclined Plane which will make the area even more attractive to the crowds of Gongoozlers who gather there every weekend to watch the goings on.
Flore.
40 minutes drive away is the charming village of Flore - not actually noted for anything special but it is the starting point of a nice 2 hour walk we sometimes do. It takes us past some fields with Llamas, donkeys and horses, alongside the Grand Union Canal for a
Church on Flore Walk
The sign said to please not touch the bell-pulls - and she wasn't! However, about 3 seconds after this photo was taken the church clock struck 3 - and poor Wendy nearly jumped out of her skin. mile or so then through a nearby village with a large Green, a pub and nice church. On the way back we pass through fields of wheat, past an old watermill being restored into something which looks interesting, through fields with horses and cows (and steers - much to Wendy’s consternation), through a gate to nowhere and through a short lane with walls topped with a little thatched roof (made of wattle and daub - which is clay and straw or sticks - they need the roof for protection) before leading through a narrow lane back to the car park. It makes a nice afternoon out in spring or autumn (but too crowded in summer!) and is just the sort of thing which will make Rosemary VERY homesick :-(
Jazz Festival.
On a Saturday evening in the summer there is a Jazz Festival at a nearby village - held in a local reserve. It has evolved into a bit of a social occasion - apart from the Jazz - as everyone arrives early and sets up for a picnic supper. Over the years the “picnics” have become more and more elaborate and there is the air of an
The Gate to Nowhere
The gate-replacement programme is obviously a little ahead of the farmer's fencing programme. informal competition as to who can outdo whom!! We thought we were quite well set up (there were 6 of us) with our folding chairs (with drink holder pockets!) and our blanket in the middle with our picnic set out, complete with beers, soft drinks and bubbly. While we were enjoying our supper (we had all brought something nice to share) we looked around and found we were about middle-of-the-road as far as picnics went. Some folk were sitting on blankets with their plastic cups of beer from the beer tent to go with their fast food from the fast food tent but there were many with tables to sit around, champagne in ice buckets, umbrellas to keep out the sun (which wasn’t much of a problem actually as it was as cold as charity and I was mighty glad I had put on my long-johns and taken a nice thick coat!!) and some even with candelabra to put a sparkle on their performance. It was a most interesting spectacle and well worth the effort just to be part of it.
The Jazz was pretty good too. And the fireworks at the end.
Game Fair.
We once
again visited the grounds of Blenheim Palace when we went with Liz and Phil to the annual Game Fair - although such is the scale of the place that we never once even caught sight of the Palace!! The Game Fair is the Expo of everything to do with “Country Life” - and more. We arrived early and started at one end - after 5 hours we had had enough and still only seen about a third of it - the array was amazing. There was furniture and animal bronzes from the factory we had visited in Thailand - from full sized bronze horses, matching pairs of lions for the front gate-posts and garden furniture of every style, size and price. There were falcons to keep birds off rubbish dumps and airfields, ferrets to keep the rabbits under control, and dogs - and more dogs. Not only the ones on display (some tents devoted to just one breed) as well as obedience displays and competitions but every second person seemed to have brought their dog with them - it was that sort of show.
I walked right past the fishing gear but was amazed at the shotguns - there must
Duck Race
Persuading the ducks to move in the right direction - they were supposed to be going to the left. have been 50 stalls displaying firearms and while the vast majority were of the traditional 12 gauge type, there was still a good variety of smaller shotguns and rifles - even down to some air-rifles. Then there was the live firing range - about 20 stands where you could pay your money and fire at clay targets - from the traditional send-them-up-in-the-air-in-pairs-and-try-to-shoot-them-down to more a unusual “rabbit shoot” where the targets were shot at while they were rolling and bouncing across the ground in front of the shooter. Great fun!
Thanks to Phil’s membership of some country life association (not sure what it was and I’m sure it doesn’t really matter!) we enjoyed Pannini and Pimms in the Sotherby’s tent before inspecting a rather expensive barbeque and a wood fired central heating system. You will note that I looked at as much of the technical stuff as I could but Wendy enjoyed people-watching - a full cross section of society from guys in shorts and flip-flops carrying their shirts over their shoulders (it was a scorching hot day) to the obviously more upper class in their flannels, jackets and ties - and lots of ladies of indeterminate age in tweed suits and sensible shoes with their dogs.
By about 1 o’clock it was very hot and the girls were ready to leave so we made an early exit. On the way home we found a small village a little off the main road where we found a nice village green to have our lunch - complete with a cricket match so it was a perfect way to round off our English Country Experience. Phil was a glutton for punishment and went back the next day for another 6 hours!!
Pocket Park Duck Race.
Another annual summer activity, the Duck Race is a fundraising and community event held in a Pocket Park in the local village - pocket parks are smaller and so not suitable for cricket etc. Phil went early to help put up the Marquees (for the duck-selling, raffles, cake-stalls, Rock’n’Roll Band, Hamburger fry-up, beer tent etc) and I had a call about 9am to see if I could help for a couple of hours as they were short of helpers. I walked down (about 20 minutes) and apart from coming home for a bite of lunch, we were there until 7.30pm!
We were fighting a strong wind which was trying to carry the tents away and soft ground which did not have a very good grip on the Guy pegs - by the end of the day I was very tired of banging them back in with the sledge hammer. And of course, we were short of people. Anyway, we got all of them up - although at one stage when we stopped for a coffee and bacon buttie the wind caught the tent and threatened to carry it away again. The main casualty here was Phil’s buttie which he put down while he secured a corner - Sam’s dog couldn’t resist and ate it! Of course they all had to be taken down a few hours later, packed up, taken back to the scout den and put away which was why we didn’t finish until late.
The duck race itself was very interesting. Apparently publicity before the first race a few years ago drew the irate attention of a local animal rights group who were very upset at the distress which was to be caused to the poor ducks - until they were reassured that the yellow plastic bath-ducks were in no danger at all. The ducks are “sold” for a pound each and at the start of the race they are released into the river which runs through the park and float serenely downstream until the winner goes over the weir at the other end. Which usually works - but not this time. The wind was so strong that they were all in danger of being blown upstream instead of towards the weir until they were herded in the right direction by a Race Marshal in a kayak.
Despite the wind it was a great day and lots of people turned up to support the local charities - and have a hamburger and beer in the sun. Looking forward to next year when I will try and not be home when the Marquees are being put up!!
That’s all for this time folks - next instalment will be our weekend in Yorkshire, week in Portsmouth and few days in the Lake District.
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Hanna
non-member comment
Beautiful photos
Mum must be loving this - the photos look just like the places you would enjoy.. I cracked up laughing when i read that thing about the church bells, when they started ringing. I can just picture what happened :) im jealous of all your trips and travelling! :-)