Downton Abbey

Do you remember Lord Carnarvon, who was connected with Howard Carter, in relation to the Tomb of Tutenkarmen? Well, I visited his estate today - Highclere Castle. Not the same one, but his descendant.





Does it look familiar? This is where 'Downton Abbey' is filmed. No photography is allowed inside, but we toured around the ground and second floors. We saw rooms like Lady Sybil's bedroom and where Mary and Matthew danced together. If you are not a fan of the show, this all means nothing, but as I am, it was AMAZING!

We were in a drawing room and there are guides in various rooms to answer questions. One said, "How old do you think this rug is?"

We looked at the enormous rug and gave various guesses. All incorrect.

"Three weeks," she proclaimed. It was new!!

Filming for series three just finished there a few weeks ago.

Here is the castle looking up from the wildflower meadow. Last month, these flowers would have been a sea of colour.



This is in the Secret Garden, which is set some distance from the house, which is surrounded on three sides by sweeping lawns, with one side of outbuildings and a chapel.


And here is our very own personal driver and tour guide today: Louise Davison. Louise lives in Bristol and through our Greensborough friends, Sue and Andy, caught up with us today. (Andy is her brother, so I've met Louise on several of her Oz visits.) What a wonderful day we had.




Before Highclere, we left Malmesbury for the next village of Charlton, to pay a very special visit to ... a bench. But not any bench. This one is in memory of Cyril and Freddie DAVISON, who were instrumental In the rebuilding of the Village Hall you see behind.




We saw several of the homes the Davison family had lived in, including one gorgeous place set beside the original farmhouse. The barn had been converted too and now several homes were part of this development, overlooking green meadows.







Lunch was in The Royal Oak in Marlborough.


Now most have heard of Stone Henge, but it is not the only henge in England. Louise took us to see Avebury stone circles, passing the enormous Neolithic mound, Silbury Hill on the way.




There is an enormous, deep ditch around the stone circles.



But progress being what it is, and conservations not always keeping ahead of developments, look carefully below. A road had been built between two sections of the circle. A smaller circle is contained in the field in the foreground, but the larger circle is dissected by a road.


Castle Combe is where 'Dr. Dolittle' was filmed and this is the essence of a Quaint English village. It was just delightful.










It was a wonderful day "puddling" around through so many little villages, especially past places of significance to Sue and Andy. I know that Woodsie really appreciated the opportunity to just sit and take it all in, without the responsibility of driving. Plus we had the bonus of Louise, to pepper with questions about all we saw.

Then, as a complete surprise, on returning to The Old Bell, our hotel, Louise produced a hamper of goodies for us, courtesy of Sue, Andy, Emily and Hannah, back home, to both celebrate Woodsie's milestone birthday, and as supplies to watch the Malmesbury Carnival Parade Saturday.




Just amazing! In fact, our whole day with Louise was just absolutely sensational.