England - Part 1

I’m on vacation. Finally.

After a few rather challenging months, it was time to take a break. Destination? England. At least to start with.

England has been in the plans for some time for several reasons. One reason was that some close friends of ours were celebrating their 50^th anniversary. There are other reasons as well but that was enough of a starting point for building an itinerary that began in England and take us to a few other destinations thereafter.

our B&B

We took a rare day flight from Nairobi to London. The bulk of the flights going to Europe seem to leave around 11pm or midnight. Some people like that since you can sleep on the plane, arrive in Europe the next morning and you don’t lose a day. I can’t sleep on planes so the day flight was okay with me.

We had arranged a B&B in Croydon near our friends’ house (south of London). We opted against renting (hiring) a car since we would be staying with Priya’s sister and mother and the cost didn’t make sense. Plus, public transportation is good and less expensive in the long run. It takes a lot more planning and consumes more time but, in the end, it was the right call.

local brew with Idaho hops

watching Wimbledon - a must in England

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50^th Anniversary 

The first big event was the anniversary. It took place on an amazing property in the countryside of the southwest (Tonbridge Borough, Kent). It has a large house with some smaller houses that they rent out. Gorgeous.

the Kent countryside

 

 

 

 

 

livin' the dream

 

Admittedly, I knew few people there since my connection to the honorees is a bit tangential, but it was interesting to see how my international life ends up creating connections. One older woman that I spoke to was the daughter of a British soldier who was based in British Somaliland. In fact she was born there. Another guy happened to be close friends of a good friend of ours from when we were living in Burundi (now living in Bristol). Today I met a guy who was giving tours of Winston Churchill’s home (Chartwell) that was born in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (where I lived for several years), when it was called Tanganyika before independence. His father was friends with the founding president, Nyerere, and remembered standing by the side of the road waving a Tanganyikan flag during the inauguration parade in 1961. Interesting little connection.

Anyway, the event was good fun. The weather was perfect, something that you can’t always count on in the UK. There were loads of things for the kids to do and they had other children to play with. Always a bonus.

girls in the gypsy wagon

The honorees spent much of their lives working in India and that’s the connection to my wife’s family who were there for about three decades. Thankfully, I’ve visited the area where they worked a couple of times and even met them in Delhi several years ago. 

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Family Reunion

Not long after the anniversary event, we made our way to the other side of London to attend a small reunion of my mother-in-law’s family. It was an extremely rare gathering of people, all of whom are still in and around London except for my MIL. We met at a nice restaurant for an early dinner (great hanging out with old people). Again, it’s not really my family so I had few connections with the attendees but there were lots of good stories about post-war London in the 1950s and 60s.

lunch near Watford on the outskirts of London

* * * 

Hever Castle

I’ve been to England many times but I confess that I’ve spent a limited amount of time cruising around the countryside seeing the sites. Most of my time has been spent in London. Admittedly there is a tremendous amount of things to see in and around the city. But there’s an enormous amount to see throughout the country, regardless of what your interests are.

Being a history buff, I’m quite happy visiting castles and getting drawn into their historical significance. I realize that it’s not for everyone and I didn’t want to impose it on others if it’s not their cup of tea. Thankfully, there were indeed some takers. In fact, there’s been a significant investment in making these sites attractive for various ages/interests. In addition to gift shops, many have play areas for kids, snack bars as well as other activities like hedge mazes, archery and even hosting a triathlon. I assume that this strategy is working given that everywhere we went, there were loads of tourists, many of whom make regular visits. The only concern is the temptation to go too far with the whole Disneyfication of these places. For my tastes, Hever seemed to achieve a good balance.

We arrived from Croydon after a nice drive through the English countryside. It’s adjacent to a quintessential old English village. One of the buildings in the area was from 1453.

We were a group of more than a dozen so once inside the castle grounds, we decided to split up. A few of us went to the castle while others ventured off to do other things. Those that know me would guess that I was part of those who headed straight for the castle. I’ve always liked history and I think that the ten years that I spent in Europe fueled my interests.

Hever Castle

 

Castles are not static pieces of real estate. They evolve over time as they change ownership and as history evolves around them. You end up with blended architectural styles, furnishings and art. Hever is a good example. The oldest part of the castle dates back to 1270 and was later upgraded in 1462. This work was carried out by Geoffrey Boleyn, whose family would later gain notoriety as his great granddaughter Anne would become the second wife of Henry VIII (notoriously beheaded for failing to produce a male heir to the throne). It’s the attachment to the Boleyn family for which the castle is most known today. However, the castle’s current elegant appearance is largely due to a much later owner and occupant, William Waldorf Astor.

Tudor style buildings added by Astor

Astor, the son of John Jacob Astor, unlike me, inherited an insane amount of money from his dad who had been the richest man in America through railroads and real estate. Upon his father’s death, he in turn became America’s richest person. Wranglings within the family and a disenchantment with America prompted William to move to England. Impressed with the country, and with English society, he looked to dig in and make it home. At the time, Hever Castle would probably have been considered a fixer-upper and, in 1903, William began dumping millions of his American wealth into fixing up the place as well as adding his own touches. While I don’t think Brits are keen on the fact that it was an American that made one of their treasures what it is today, most that I spoke to shrug that off. The emphasis remains on the Boleyns and the castle’s role as a prominent feature of English history.

some of the castle grounds

The castle tour, at least for me, was enjoyable. They have the portable audio sets that let you file through the place at your own pace. The Astor’s went to great lengths to restore the original structure while adding comforts of the 20^th century. They maintained ownership until 1983 when they turned it over to a private company who has developed the estate as the tourist destination it is today.