THIS NEARLY WAS OURS AT HIGHCLERE CASTLE!

Because our two lovely American friends were only staying overnight, we did stay up until quite late last night chatting, but we knew we had to be up early so that we could have breakfast together and then take them to Highclere Castle, a country house, in the Jacobean style with a park designed by Capability Brown.  If you are interested in learning more about Highclere Castle, have a look here.

The 5,000 acre estate is in Hampshire, UK, 5 miles from Newbury and is the country seat of the Earl of Carnarvon, a branch of the Anglo-Welsh Herbert family.  Downton Abbey was largely filmed here and Gina and Connie were excited to be there, particularly as in view of the recent death of Queen Elizabeth II, many of the palaces they were booked to visit, are now closed as a mark of respect.

Breakfast done and dusted, we set off just after 9.30 and arrived at about 10.15 - perfect timing for their tour which started at 10.30.  However, we were disappointed to learn that we couldn't wander around the grounds nor could we meet our friends for lunch unless we paid £95 EACH!!  We quickly decided that to pay £190 to park our car, even in a famous castle car park, was a tad expensive, so we left Gina and Connie and went into Newbury to have a wander around.

Having left our friends, walking towards Highclere in the fog, top shot, we then had to find the exit - which was a very long drive - and took us much longer than it should have done, probably because we stopped once or twice on the way so that I could take some photographs!  I loved the cobwebs on the trees, the dewdrops looking as if they were little diamonds on them and I might tell you that to get these shots, I had to walk through very wet tall grass, with many stinging nettles and even more sheep poo, but a good Blipper doesn't let things like that worry her!

Apparently, the folly we saw on the way out is known as the Temple of Diana, created so that during walks around the estate one would have a quiet place to pause, reflect or perhaps contemplate the beauty of the surrounding landscape.   This particular folly was built in 1743 in the north west near Dunsmore Lake, with a good view of the lake on one side and the steep valley on the other, with many beautiful trees on the other side.

We decided to drive to Newbury where we found a pub that did a good deal for Sunday lunch, so we decided that we would treat ourselves and then, as Mr. HCB put it, "You won't have to cook tonight"!   We enjoyed our roast beef, pork and chicken together with all the accompaniments and on the way back to the car, chatted with the handsome Town Crier who was telling whoever was listening that the Proclamation regarding our new King would be given in the Market Square at 2 o'clock today.

Sadly we were not able to stay to watch and listen, as we needed to head back to Highclere Castle in time to collect Gina and Connie to take them to Didcot station so that they could catch a train back to London, but he was very happy for us to take his photograph.

As we drove up the long drive, I noticed the tree in the middle, which I hadn't seen this morning, as it was quite foggy, so Mr. HCB kindly stopped so that I could take a photograph - what a wonderful carving in the trunk of a tree that could just have been chopped down!  

We arrived just in time to see Gina and Connie walking back, with smiles on their faces and with the sun shining, which was a bonus.  They told us that they had had a wonderful time and had even shaken hands with the  Earl of Carnarvon!

All in all, a good day for all of us, - I only just remembered to take a quick selfie as we dropped them at the station and we were sad to see them both go - but hopefully one or both, and perhaps even Connie's husband, Clark, will come back next year, when things will have settled down.

“Vulgarity is no substitute for wit.”
Dowager Countess : Downton Abbey