Downton Abbey Film Locations

Highclere Castle is the primary film location

for ITV's popular Downton Abbey television series

Highclere Castle is open to the public select days each year

wikipedia

Although I won't have a chance to visit Highclere Castle, 

I recently had tea at Byfleet Manor 

(aka Lady Violet Crawley's house in the series)

Not too far from London,

this private home opens to the public for tea parties, special events, and pre-arranged tours

The original portion of the house was built in 1670

in the location of a previous palace belonging to Henry VIII

Two wings were added later

and each lived in by different residents today

The Hutton family resides in the middle portion,

which is used for filming

Most filmed room for 'Dower House' of Dowager Countess of Grantham (Maggie Smith)

A great story unfolded thirteen years ago...

With a newborn in her arms,

Julie Hutton watched in horror as her dog ran off and bit a man 

who turned out to be a judge

As you would expect, 

a policeman came knocking at her door to take the dog away

The policeman took pity on the emotional new mom and did not take the dog,

and impulsively the Huttons bought Byfleet Manor with its fenced yard

(which she saw in a flier) 

in an effort to save their pet

It worked - the dog was saved

Years later, a stranger knocked on their Byfleet Manor front door 

and asked if the house could be used for filming a television show

(Downton Abbey)

They said yes

and interestingly all 'Dower House' scenes for the season are filmed in just one day

(plus one day to clear out the room and another day to put it back together)

Here's a peek at the Hutton's beautiful garden within the 24 acre property

and one of their pet pigs

I find this animal lover's story to be a great reminder -

When life sends you a lemon,

it could be for lemonade

:)

- images my own, excluding first one -

Links: Highclere Castle, Byfleet Manor

(an unsponsored post)

Visiting Gertrude Jekyll's Home

So, wow.

This week I visited the Godalming home of 

the most famous garden designer of all time,

at least in my mind

- Gertrude Jekyll -

(pronounced GEE-kul)

Not only was she THE garden designer for wealthy Edwardian homeowners,

she was an artist, writer, photographer, and propagator

(1843 - 1932)

Think of the opulent era of the Titanic

Being an artist and photographer,

she came to landscape design with a fresh eye

While formal French and Italian gardens had been in fashion,

she introduced the revolutionary herbaceous border

Americans would describe as 'the English Garden'

She included plants that grow well in England

such as the rose, daylily, foxglove and lavender

She was interested not only in flowers,
but also texture, structure and leaf shapes

A border that is a little bit messy with drifts of flowers,

not tidy or formal at all

Uniquely,
 Jekyll also played with color schemes seen in her famous all-white gardens and

all hot and all cool colored borders

Ms Jekyll also came up with the idea of cozy garden 'rooms'

and a peek into another room through a hedge

This tireless woman had a team of workers

help manage and cultivate her 17 acre property

She grew all the plants she installed in her customers' gardens,

so her plantings still grow all over England today

When WWI rolled around,

customers no longer had money to spend on her designs or plants,

her designs grew out of favor, and her workers went off to fight in the war

From donkey carts to potting sheds, Jekyll's house was a working home

Finding herself with a sharp decrease in income,

she did have a bit of luck

Although she never visited America,

a high demand for her services started coming across the pond

which created a resurgence in her business

This is probably why she is the only historical garden designer

I had heard of before I moved here

She left a legacy behind in America with Munstead Lavender 

being one of the most common lavender varieties sold in the US today

It's named after her home, Munstead Wood, 

where she propagated it

After Jekyll died,

her property was divided into five parcels and sold off

Much of it was turfed over, and some transformed into a tennis court

Fortunately the current owners of her home realized the treasure they had

and restored the gardens to their original state,

thanks to the documentation in Jekyll's photographs and plans

Some of the original trees still stand

and the gardens feel original
Ah, such tranquility and beauty

In fact, Jekyll created the gardens before she had the house built

She had a very successful partnership with the famous architect, Edwin Lutyen

He was in great demand for designing country homes
and she designed the gardens for his houses

He designed Munstead Wood too

So amazing to brush against

such a tireless and innovative woman

- photos my own -

Visitor informaton: Lutyens Trust 

Alice In Wonderland - Oxford

Hello, lovely readers

How you filled my heart with joy

with your kind comments on my last post

Thank you :)

I'm still tackling my 'must visit' list

as our final weeks approach

This one had been at the tippy top for years and did not disappoint -

a tour of Oxford through the lens of

'Alice's Adventures In Wonderland' (1865)

I just have to share!

Christ Church College at Oxford University (where Carroll taught)

Oxford University math lecturer, Charles Dodgson, 

wrote many literary and mathematical works

His pen name was Lewis Carroll

and for many years his colleagues didn't piece together who Lewis Carroll was

It is speculated that Dodgson/Carroll was somewhat embarrassed 

that he was writing children stories although they were successful

In fact
Queen Victoria requested a copy of his next book,
which turned out to be about mathematics
(probably not what she had in mind)

To set the scene,

Oxford in 1864 was an elite university filled with boys and men

It must have been a strange place for
the Dean of Christ Church's three young girls to grow up

One of his daughters was named Alice Liddell

(pronunciation - rhymes with 'fiddle')

Lewis Carroll would take the Dean's three girls on little day trips

in a rowboat up and down the nearby River Thames

and have picnics

He told stories during their journeys

One day, Alice insisted that he write down his 'Alice' tales

And so his first manuscript was called 

'Alice's Adventures Under Ground' (1864) which included his own illustrations

- later renamed 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland' -

Where Carroll would have launched a rowboat

And so this week,

we had the ultimate book club adventure

With Mark Davies, an Oxford local historian and author,
we followed Carroll's and the girls' footsteps on a walking and boat tour
(even afternoon tea on the launch)

On Carroll's river route where he wove his tales for the Liddell girls

Carroll's journals confirm the Alice books include local trivia and events
and inside jokes the girls would have understood

Surprisingly, the characters in the Alice books

personify real people in Carroll's and the Liddell's life

 It's probable The Queen Of Hearts was one of Alice's governesses, for example

The Cheshire Cat is Carroll,

as 'Cheshire Cat' was a common term from someone from Cheshire

(where Carroll was born)

and the Liddell girls had quite a few cats
so the elusive character would have appealed to them

About the hookah used by the caterpillar - 

opium was in general use at the time

When you read the book, it seems so odd and dreamlike,

but with Mark's explanation, it all makes more sense

Fascinating and delightful!

Of course the partly sunny day 

and delicious afternoon tea was the perfect

bookend to an already perfect day :)

Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast

-Lewis Carroll

:: all photos my own ::

Links: Mark Davies, Oxford River Cruise

(An unsponsored post)

Behind The Door

Since we moved here,

I have felt that life is filled with mystery doors

Not until the time is right

do you get to see what's on the other side of the door

For a few months now,

we have be able to look through the keyhole of the door in front of us

It reveals a move back to the US

We always knew that door was there,

we just didn't know what was behind it

This is the time of year when expat friends tell you what's behind their doors too

- a move to Singapore, Norway, and Kazakhstan -

Like seeds in the wind,

the expat community here will disperse to faraway lands in a few months

never to be exactly the same again

If you ever meet lifetime expat families,

you will never meet a more interesting group of people

They have stories that are stranger than fiction

and have lived in countries you wouldn't dare to even visit

They move their families internationally to countries that don't speak English

with only three week's notice

(that challenge sounds insurmountable to me)

Lifetime expats are courageous, resourceful,

and have learned to go with the flow

These have been fantastic traits to observe and try to emulate

Not just international headlines a world away,

I now have friends who have personally been touched by

Ted Bundy kidnappings at her school

9/11 in New York

7/7 bombings in London

Mumbai bombings

tsunami in Japan

recent Newtown tragedy

On the brighter side,

I have a friend who was in a James Bond film

and another friend whose dad was the voice for 

characters on The Flintstones

I list these as a reminder to myself of the incredible stories I have heard

and amazing people I have met along my journey here

It makes the world feel smaller and more tangible

Fewer than 7 degrees of separation

with such a diverse group of people here

I feel like I was on my trajectory in the US,

bounced into people and experiences here to grow exponentially,

and now flinging back to the US as a modified person

Along the way I have collected new lifelong best friends,

and we have raised our children in an incredible country

- safe, beautiful, culturally dense -

With a new cat and puppy in tow,

our family has expanded since we left the US

Returning without car seats

signals our family has aged

Shipping less home

(fewer toys/kids stuff)

we return a bit lighter

We are sad to leave,

but happy to go

We have a lot to look forward to

behind the door that stands before us

- all photos by me -