UK 2012 ISSUE 19

Did you feel like I dropped you like a hot potato, here one week gone the next.  I keep telling myself this is something I should continue, it's not like the only place of interest is the United Kingdom, there is certainly more than enough to share about Ashland, Oregon.  But I do still have a few thoughts to share before they all fade away.

Caulke Abbey

Caulke Abbey, above, is one of the few National Trust Properties in the Midlands.  The guide book described it as a great house maintained in a state of decline and having seen so many houses, castles, mansions, abbeys and palaces it never seemed to make it to the top of our things to see list.  In the end we decided a day out was in order and this was easily accessible.  The approach was like something out of Gone with the Wind, English style.  A long avenue of trees led to a gate house where they collected the entry fee.  This opened in to a meadow where a group of twitchers (aka bird watchers) were ensconced with binoculars, telescopes and picnic lunches.  I always though tailgating was an American past time but the Brits seem to do it in style, although not many gas fired BBQs were in evidence.  The road wandered on for more than a mile when at last, a sharp left turn brought a church steeple, some outbuilding, a long with a grassy open field being shared by sheep and automobiles in to view. Obviously, if you don't have a proper carpark (parking lot) you improvise. 

Walled Garden

 The house was originally owned by the Harpur Crewe  family, who built this home somewhere in the early 1700's.  The stories suggest that they were an eccentric lot who did not venture out in to society much.  In the end the last survivor was a Sir Vauncey Harpur Crewe who lived in seclusion, with a single servant,  in a limited number of the rooms.  The family had not had the money to maintain the place since the late 1800's and as less and less of it was used the rooms were closed up and left as is.  It really is a picture of a time gone by, where no one has come in to make changes.   One of the family was a great collector of stuffed animals, bugs, birds, seashells, fishes and other such natural history sorts of paraphernalia.  Many of them are in cases creating displays much like you would see in a museum (creepy!).  The whole collecting and displaying of these exotic collections is  a very Victorian kind of occupation.

As with so many of these estates the grounds are, perhaps not awe inspiring but certainly overwhelming.  There is an enormous walled garden, a wooded walk of several acres, great grassy fields leading down to a

17th Century Shower

lake, an ice house built in to the earth, stables and outbuildings, a church and a brewhouse which linked the house to the stable buildings.  You must be careful, it may not be safe to drink the water but beer is always in fashion!

Do not ever, ever, ever complain about taxes in this country, particularly not about estate taxes.  This house, as is true with many, many, others, came to the National Trust as a result of the owners being unable to pay the death duties imposed on a subsequent family member.  Some families, in an attempt to retain ownership of their property simply open their houses up to the public and charges fees for tours.   Others choose to rent them out as venues for weddings and public or private receptions, conferences etc.  In the case of Caulke Abbey, a sudden death and lack of planning for the passing on of the property to another family member resulted in death duties of eight million pounds, while the property was only valued at fourteen million. 

Caulke Nursery

The National Trust was the beneficiary of their lack of planning and took on the property  as an illustration of the English country house in decline. A massive amount of remedial work was done to ensure the building was safe and would remain standing,  but there  was no attempt to restore it to its' former glory.   Even the interiors, which were minutely catalogued, have been left pretty much as they were found in 1985.  In the end the decay of the building and its interiors add a charm and most certainly photographic opportunities to the experience and provide a picture of English country life extending across a number of generations. 

No trip to England could be considered complete without the obligatory pilgrimage to Stratford upon Avon.  It's not as though we haven't been on numerous occasions,  but in fact, if my memory is correct we have not taken the time to see a play since probably 1971.   We booked tickets for King John in their small theatre which appears to be patterned after the Globe with the groundlings on the floor and three tiered gallery with seating.  Our seats were not exactly 

Stratford Swan Theatre

what you would call premium but then if you take a look at the picture none of them would be considered plush.  The wooden benches at least provided somewhere to put your legs but take a look at the white hairs in the balcony with their feet sticking through the railings . . . that would be us except we were in essence in the row behind them where you literally had to climb up and your feet were on a foot rail much like you would find if you "bellied up to the bar".  Cramped, awkward, unpadded wooden seats, difficult to get in and out of,  but either they were surprisingly comfortable or the play was just that good.  And as to the play . . . well maybe it was just that good.  How could it possibly be bad when they can incorporate "Time of My Life" from Dirty Dancing into a history play about Kings fighting for the throne and princesses being married off in a political play for power.  Better still, the Bastard, a possible heir to the throne, is played by a woman.  

Couldn't leave this without a little history lesson, particularly since we stumbled on the excavations in central Leicester looking for the body of Richard III  . . . another story though.  The Battle of Bosworth Field was the last significant battle of the War of the Roses and it occurred  in Leicestershire, not far from Groby.   The US is not unique in having a civil war, ours may have been between states, in the case of Britain it was between two contenders to the throne, the house of Lancaster and the House of York.  In short the War of the Roses was a series of battle fought between two rival branches of the House of Plantagenet for the throne of England.  It is referred to as the the War of the Roses  because the heraldic symbol for the House of Lancaster was the red rose while that of the House of York was the white rose.  The final victory, which occurred at Bosworth Field went to Henry Tudor (aka Henry VII) and the loss to Richard III.  You want a little incest and cause to make your head spin, Henry Tudor married Elizabeth of York , daughter of Edward IV and they had a son Henry VIII.  In the end, all the fighting and warring ended with a Lancastrian (Henry Tudor) marrying a Yorkist (Elizabeth of York) and uniting the two families and creating the House of Tudor.