Winter’s end

A long, cold, wet and grey northern winter? Actually, no. We’ve had very few rains here this winter which is the opposite of last year where there were torrential rains over much of the country and many floods, one of which temporarily trapped us in Cornwall when the train line was washed away. A couple of sprinklings of snow and quite a few frosts, with only the frosts interfering with outdoor work as you can’t walk on the grass when it is frosted as it will kill it.

We had expected to get away for more weekends but winter isn’t a great time to be out and exploring (often the daytime temperature only gets up to 3C. So apart from our trip down to Devon (reported in the previous post) our only memorable events were a trip to the grounds of Highclere Castle, another to Harry Potter World and a couple of short trips into the outskirts of London.

Highclere Castle is close to us and famous as the home of the Earl of Carnarvon.  Depending on your point of view he's known as a famous Egyptologist or an infamous foreign robber. Certainly famous/infamous – along with Howard Carter – for discovering the tomb of Tutankhamen.  These days the 'castle' is far better known as Downton Abbey. This is the reason why tickets to see inside the house are already booked out for this year! Hence our visit was only to the grounds, on the public walkways. Luckily England has a network of sign-posted public walkways across private land that have to be kept open. When we found our way into the grounds (the walkway signs were somewhat suspiciously non-obvious), on a day when the castle and grounds were closed, we had a peaceful walk past numerous large fields that seem to house only large oaks and moles. There is a nice little church and graveyard in the grounds along with a group of houses for the estate workers. It is hard to see the “castle” but we did get a few glimpses when the mist cleared.

Harry's room - the cupboard under the stairs

We had booked up a February visit to Harry Potter World with our nieces before Christmas (it is that popular). The location is the studio where the films were made, which is in Watford, just north of London. The complex is a huge hanger-like building with outdoor sets, all surrounded by a large car park. More like an American attraction than an English one. The tickets are for a timed entry which starts with a very short talk and then you are free to explore. Typically it takes three or more hours to get around everything. Even if you are not a Harry Potter fan it is a great chance to see the studio sets and workshops. What really surprises is the level of detail in the workmanship, even details in some items that either are not seen on the screen or are only in a background shot for a few seconds. It may have helped that there were eight films made so many of the sets and props could be reused. It was interesting to see some of the sets for interior rooms - they only had the parts that were in camera, so not every wall, and no ceilings. Rooms like the Grand Hall had no roof because the ceiling was filled in by CGI for each scene. A fascinating attraction but the stand-out highlight was the enormous scale model of Hogwarts Castle and grounds, built with incredible detail (every tile and shrub) as it was used for many exterior and fly-over shots.

The Great Hall

Gryfindor common room

Enjoying a butterbeer with my niece, Stephanie

Vicki at the gate of the Potters' residence

Diagon Alley

Our other trips away from home involved heading into London. One of the daughters of the owners here has a flat there where she goes to university. We’ve had a couple of occasions to take items of furniture to her which involves driving in (about an hour and a quarter) and we then take the opportunity to spend a couple of hours wandering around west London and the Kings Road area. A nice break.

Old and new on the Thames

Low tide on the Thames, at Chelsea

A spring update is on its way!