Cliveden House, Buckinghamshire

A beautifully clear day for taking off at Heathrow. This is Cliveden House, a National Trust house not far from where I live, situated 40 metres above the Thames. The property includes 375 acres of woodland and I occasionally walk Dolly there.

Cliveden has an interesting history. It was once the home of the Astors. Nancy Astor, the American wife of Waldorf Astor, was the first woman Member of Parliament, in the days when women not yet had the vote!

In 1942 the Astors gave the house to the National Trust on condition that the family could live there as long as they wished.

In 1961 it was the location of the Profumo affair. John Profumo, the Secretary of State for War had an affair with Christine Keeler, a 19 year old model, who was also having an affair with a Soviet navel attache. This scandal almost brought down the Macmillin Government.

During the 1970s it was occupied by Stanford University in California who used it as an overseas campus.

Today Cliveden is still owned by the National Trust, and can be visited by the public but is leased as a luxury hotel.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cliveden

http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/cliveden/