Time to complete the Bucket List

Oklahoma City, it’s oh so pretty, as Bobby Troup’s 1946 Route 66 song lyrics told us. So the town had a lot to live up to for our arrival at this leg of the journey.

Well, according to our discussions with local folk, Oklahoma City was far from pretty at the time of the song and for many decades later, prior to much investment and redevelopment. But what we have found from our stay at the 21C Museum Hotel in the Arts District is that many of the personnel are ‘oh so pretty’ and delightful. This establishment clearly goes out of its way to employ a diverse range of people: well presented wine waiters with trouser hems finishing 6 inches above bare ankles, waiters with short hair one side and long curly hair the other, nose bones, lip jewellery, extra long false nails, see-through tops for the men and Dr Martens boots for the women. The creativity has been a joy to view, as has our hotel.

The hotel building was once the most successful assembly plant for the Model T Ford car from 1916, designed by industrial architect Albert Kahn. By 1924 the Oklahoma City site was producing 200 automobiles a day, and employing several hundred workers. The Great Depression that followed from the 1930s hit the automobile industry hard and the decision was made to change production to small car components. This continued under the Ford Motor Company until 1967 when employee Fred Jones took over the building, running it as a wholesale parts distributor for Ford. By 2013 the Fred Jones Manufacturing Company vacated the premises and it became abandoned.

But all has not been lost. The 21c (21st century) Museum Hotel chain took over the building, retaining much of its original design, including its huge metal windows, brutalist interiors, industrial lifts that once transported completed vehicles, concrete columns, exposed painted brick walls and concrete ceilings. These features have been successfully combined with luxurious, light, bright, boutique guest rooms. It is now on the US National Register of Historic Places.

To complement this, the hotel has continually changing modern art displays, most of which are designed to make viewers think and, on occasions, move out of their comfort zones, such as the taxidermied chicken wearing an angora rabbit fur, by artist Sarah Garzoni. But this all sits well with the ethos that lets the staff express their artistic nature too.

When not touring around the inside of the hotel, we took ourself off to explore some areas of this vast Oklahoma City, some 621 square miles. Many of the visitor locations were spaced wide apart and we chose to view the nearby Botanical Garden. The indoor plant area was closed for renovation but the gardens were nicely planted with ‘right plant, right place’ advice helpfully placed around the walkways. The flowing waters made this a restful place to be around.

So taken were we with the water that we moved on to the nearby manmade canal, for a boat ride. This had been dug to 4 feet deep purely as a visitor attraction and we found out it was just a small, but attractive, part of a multi-million dollar investment in the town to turn the city’s fortunes around. From 1993, residents agreed to invest in the city via a MAPS project (Metropolitan Area Projects) which comprised a ‘penny sales tax’ which would be used to fund transformational projects, all debt free. More than $3 billion was raised by 2018, and the scheme continues today.

During the 45-minute canal ride we passed some of the most impressive sculptures we have ever seen, and later went for a closer look. The sculptures represented the first Land Run and comprised 45 larger than life bronze sculptures by artist Paul Moore.

The notorious and chaotic Land Run of 22 April 1889, saw 50,000 people rushing across unassigned lands of Oklahoma territory to stake their claim, via small hand-held flags, for free land. At the sound of a cannon blast at noon the prospective settlers surged forward on horses and in wagons to make their claim. For some it was not a good result, people were crushed in the melee, horses toppled and wagons turned over. This was the first of several Land Runs in the area over the years. The excitement and chaos has been so well represented in Paul Moore’s huge display.

Tomorrow we head for to Amarillo, some 300 miles from Oklahoma City.

Copyright: Words and photos Sue Barnard 2022

We are now in Springfield, Missouri, and it has to be said – that’s 24 hours from Tulsa. We have never been to Tulsa, but we have been 24 hours from Tulse Hill (that’s in South London for our overseas readers). But we are not alone. According to British DJ Tony Blackburn who interviewed the singer of that memorable song, Gene Pitney had never been to Tulsa either!

Our journey today was 250 miles, taking some six hours. We took the main I-44 interstate highway for much of the journey, but thanks to SatNav we were able to head over to Route 66 to view the Big Rocker in Fanning. Many things along Route 66 are big, and this did not fail to impress.

The Big Rocker (rocking chair) was created by a guy named Danny Sanazaro to attract people to his archery and feed store. He had heard of a 34-foot-tall rocker in Franklin, Indiana, called Big John and he thought it would be a fun idea to beat this.

A friend, John Bland, designed the chair and the owner of a local welding company, Joe Medwick, created it. The end result was a 27,500 pound rocker, 42 feet high and painted red. It was erected on April Fool’s Day 2008. Some say it cost $78,000 to produce.

Once a year Sanazaro would hire a hoist to lift visitors to sit on the chair’s 20-foot wide seat. To be granted a Guinness World Record the rocking chair had to rock, but it soon became clear that this rocking could have disastrous results and hence it was welded in place so it did not tip over with visitors’ exuberance.

By 2015, a 56-foot rocker was established in Illinois, and since then the Fanning rocker has fallen into second place.

Sanazaro subsequently sold the site, and today (now painted black) it sits alongside a pleasant snacks and souvenirs store with most welcoming staff, some attractive artistry, the largest selection of popcorn flavours we have ever seen, and rather tasty fudge.

So tomorrow it is on to Oklahoma City via Tulsa, more than 300 miles. We are hoping the torrential rain which made driving so difficult in the latter part of our journey today may have lifted.

Copyright: Words and photos Sue Barnard 2022

After our day visiting the Amish we left Springfield to drive the comparatively short 100 miles to St Louis, Missouri. On the way we intended to visit the famous Chain of Rocks Bridge which is just down the river (approx 12 miles) from St Louis and was part of the original Route 66.

The Chain of Rocks Bridge is no longer open to traffic but is a cycling and walking route across the Mississippi river. The state border between Illinois and Missouri runs down the centre of the river so the bridge spans both states. We set the SatNav as best we could as the bridge did not come up as a point of interest but when we arrived we crossed the river on the new bridge and could see the old bridge but could not find how to access it at either end. After driving up and down the riverside road a couple of times on the Missouri side we pulled into a gas station (as they call it in America) and asked some locals how we could access the bridge. Although helpful they seemed to have no idea, even though they worked in sight of the bridge, but one customer thought you could access it just before you crossed the new bridge. We drove off back towards the new bridge and found no such access so ended up again on the Illinois side of the bridge where we took a chance on taking the first right turn and again, by chance, found the way to Chouteau Island where the eastern end of the old bridge is. After all that effort it was disappointing to find that the bridge was closed (notwithstanding the sign below) which also seemed to surpise the local people who turned up to take a walk.

We drove the remaining 12 miles to our hotel in St Louis and thought we would check out the downtown area so went for a short walk to the Gateway Arch National Park (the smallest National Park in the USA and the only one in a city). This was a good move as we were able to book for the next day our tickets at the Arch visitor centre for a boat ride down the Mississippi river and a timed ticket to go up to the top of the Arch on what they call the “Tram”.

The next day dawned and we boarded the boat, the Tom Sawyer, for our 1 hour trip on the Mississippi river. The running commentary told us about the industrial history of the city and its waterside and how that had evolved over the years particularly since the railways came to St Louis in the mid 19th century due to the construction of the Eads Bridge which carries cars and trains, although now only local metro trains. The river is still heavily used to transport fuel, soya and corn in barges down to the Gulf of Mexico where it is transferred to bigger ships for export.

We then went up to the top of the Arch on the Tram. The Tram comprises 8 small pods that hold 4/5 people each and are specially designed to climb the Arch like a lift but have to deal with the curved shape of the Arch. It takes 4 minutes to get to the top and 3 minutes to get back down. The views from the top on a good day, that we were lucky enought to have, are worth the trip and it is estimated you can see for 30 miles.

After the top of the Arch we saw the 45 minute film put together by the National Park Services, which manages the Gateway Arch National Park, about the building of the Arch in the 1960s, which was designed by architect, Eero Saarinen. The film is worth seeing as it gives a concise view of the challenges of building a structure of its shape.

Next we leave for Springfield, Missouri and the next leg of Route 66.

Copyright: Words and pictures John Cruse 2022

I’m moving! Yes it’s official. When I have been asked over the years which countries in which we had travelled I would wish to live, I would always answer “the UK”.

That view changed when we travelled to Australia as the pandemic struck and our positive experiences led me to decide upon Oz. As of today I am widening that choice to… Arthur in Illinois, USA. I think life amongst the Amish could be a rather good choice. I am not saying I would request to become part of the Amish community, but to live within Arthur could be idillic.

We spent our fourth day 70 miles from Springfield, Illinois, at the spacious town of Arthur housing 5,000 Amish and 2,300 non-Amish. We had booked a trip with local guide, and previous head teacher, Danny – a youthful 75-year-old, non-Amish who had lived in Arthur all his life. Our journey was to take us by schools, into farmsteads, lunch at an Amish-run restaurant (and subsequent mint, I might add), and on to a horse-drawn buggy ride.

We found out that each Amish community is headed by bishops and deacons who make the rules, which could be different according to different communities. Amish life is not based on religion as such (although they are religious) but on a way of life.

Amish families are usually large, with up to 10 children. The father is the rule setter within the home (although I am sure mum plays a major part in that). The children can be educated in Amish schools, or ‘public’ schools where the rest of the community attends. Both get along without any animosity, as do the adults. Amish children are educated to eighth grade (13 years old) and at that stage either leave to work within the community or can opt to continue their education at a ‘public’ school and later go on to university if desired. Teenagers from around 16 years are also able to take time out to experience the wider world (called the Rumspringa) and then opt to be baptised into the Amish church or leave, although not necessarily the area. About 30% choose not to return to Amish life.

Some might choose to leave later in life, not as a direct disconnection with the traditions but for business reasons. One lady, for example, who went on to run a burgeoning restaurant and store found that the Amish traditions put too many restrictions on ways to trade and so, whilst continuing to live and work within the community, needed to withdraw from Amish life.

Our brilliant guide, Danny, showed us one of the local schools which, rather than having car parks instead of playing fields as in the UK these days, housed sheds to stable the children’s ponies during school hours.

The Amish mode of transport is the horse, and we were delighted during our visit to take a ride in a horse-drawn buggy. In this area they do not have cycle lanes but buggy lanes (honestly)!

We also called in at a family’s homestead – a house with extensive sheds housing ponies, hand-raised deer (to ensure they become domesticated – they are pets not lunch), ducks with their numerous hatching broods, endless cats and tiny kittens, dogs, and large numbers of goats. To top it all, Verne the owner had 7 daughters and 2 sons aged 21 to 6. One child every two years is quite common in these parts.

Lunch was at Yoder’s Kitchen, a success story for a young lady who started working as a waitress at the restaurant after her eighth grade education, and later went on to become the owner of what now is an extensive restaurant, catering and gift shop business.

A lot of eighth graders start out in a similar way. When visiting Verne’s homestead we met her 14 year-old daughter who was just experiencing working life in a furniture-making company, doing the sanding. Youngsters often start at just 3 days a week and take on extra responsibilities and days as they progress. Sanding, she told us, was not her ideal job. But it would lead her on to more advanced things in time and likely give her a job for life as she progresses. Furniture making is big business amongst the Amish.

Many Amish are practical people and some have gone on to produce very successful businesses. One company started to produce up-and-over garage door systems and eventually sold this for millions of dollars. Some others are involved in farming their lands which can stretch as far as the eye can see. The Amish do not have electricity but rely on propane gas and solar power. This limits some aspects of what they can do, so they hire the ‘English’ (a term for anybody, regardless of place of birth, who are not Amish) to come in with their sophisticated gps-system combine-harvesters to carry out some of the work.

As part of the visit I had asked if it was possible to visit a fabric shop. I understood there were fabric shops in the location and I was curious as to what would be stocked for this conservatively-dressed community. Arrangements were made for me to do this.

The Amish make their own clothes. The colours are mainly subdued, but all outfits are conservative. There was very little patterned fabric, apart from a few children’s nightwear materials. The full range of fabric was, unusually, of just one fibre – polyester. I was told this prevented the need to iron the intended garments. Well, with all those children it is no wonder they wanted to make life a little easier. I was also told that buttons and clasps were only allowed on men’s garments. Women’s garments had pins to fix where buttons would be used. It seems this was the tradition rather than any practical reason.

It was refreshing to see young children so respectful, with girls in their little bonnets and long dresses, and boys with bobbed haircuts and braces holding up their trousers. We were allowed to take photographs, as long as they did not include faces, which we respected. We noted how many men had beards, and were told that once married men grew beards, but not moustaches which were considered somewhat aggressive. Ladies too wore black or white bonnets and long dresses.

Our trip was completed with an unscheduled trip back to our guide’s home – a beautiful house with extensive land for stabling and exercising his five horses and huge trailer. The trailer was used for holiday trips with his wife and housed a shower, kitchen, queen-sized bed and three horses!

Life in Arthur, Illinois, is different to what we know in the UK and, it seems, very safe. Nobody has need to lock their cars. A trip in a buggy (the Amish’s only means of transport apart from bicycles) shows life at a much slower and more comfortable pace. Those who are not Amish, the ‘English’, can enjoy their technologies, computers and streaming services. Both Amish and non-Amish live together in harmony, from cradle to grave. From our visit I think they might have just found the answer for a near perfect life.

Copyright: Words and photos Sue Barnard 2022

An early start this morning as we had to pick up the car by 9am at O’Hare airport which was a good one hour in the traffic. It is worth mentioning that the conventional taxi is not easy to get in downtown Chicago these days, as many just don’t want to get stuck in airport traffic, and therfore Uber or Lyft are the best options. The valet parking man at the front of our hotel very kindly got us a Lyft cab on his account for which I paid him cash.

Another post Covid change that has occurred with hire cars in the United States is that the rental companies will now not rent you a Satnav so either you take your own or use Google maps. Luckily we found this out before going so took our own Garmin loaded with the North American maps.

Even with the Satnav we eventually found our way out of the airport and onto Interstate 55 South that goes towards St Louis with Springfield being the first major city on the way. It was roughly 200 miles to Springfield. Our guide book told us that we could go off the Interstate and drive on parts of the old Route 66 going through towns like Joliet and Wilmington, which we did, but this only proved to be partially successful as we hit a diversion and due to lack of road signs could not find the old road so reverted to the Satnav and found the I55 again.

For those who have not driven in the US, they have some very nice rest areas on the side of the Interstate roads where travellers can use the rest rooms (as they are called in the US), buy snacks from vending machines or picnic at tables and chairs provided (photos below). The one we stopped at even had a small Route 66 display and it was nice to have a break and sit in the sunshine. It was up to 31 degrees centigrade today so the weather has taken a turn for the better.

We reached Springfield at about 2.30pm and found the Abraham Lincoln Doubletree hotel. For those who may not be aware, Springfield’s claim to fame is that 16th US President Abraham Lincoln lived in Springfield and bought his one and only house here in 1844 which he left in 1861 when he becane President. He never returned as he was assinated in 1865 by John Wilkes Booth, a southern confederacy sympathiser.

A few minutes walk from our hotel was the site managed by the National Park Service where the house of Abraham Lincoln and the houses of his neighbours have been restored to thier correct periodical condition and can be visited.

We then rounded the day off with a meal and, of course for the driver, a beer.

Tomorrow we are driving to Arthur, Illinois, to vist one of the oldest Amish communities in the United States.

Copyright: words and photos John Cruse 2022

We have finally arrived and resume our travels after a two year hiatus.

As the United States currently requires those entering the country to declare their Covid vaccination staus and have a negative result from a PCR test, we had to get tested and complete the attestation required by the US Authorities on the day before flying. This was fairly painless, once you get the hang of what’s required, but of course comes with a finacial cost that was not part of travelling pre the pandemnic. When we got to the airport, Terminal 5 at Heathrow was busy but not back to pre pandemnic levels as far as I could see.

After a good flight, we got a taxi to our hotel and then set out to find our bearings in Chicago. Chicago is located on the banks of one of the great lakes, Lake Michigan, which is the only great lake that is entirely within the United States. The other lakes, of course, stradle the border with Canada. Chicago is known for its skyscrapers that line the Chicago River which runs through the centre of town and originally ran into Lake Michigan until the flow was reversed to help deal with the sewage pollution problems in the 1880s. The waters from the river now finally empty into the Gulf of Mexico via many rivers including the Mississippi.

The river is crossed by many drawbridges, some of which are double deckers, the current ones were built in the first part of the 20th century for traffic and pedestrians to cross from the north to the south side of the city and, notwithstanding their age, these bridges are opened on Saturdays and Wednesdays to allow yachts and other vessels with tall masts to pass through and into Lake Michigan. We were lucky enough to witness this event and it did play havoc with the traffic but delighted the tourists. There had been bridges across the river prior to these current ones as far back as the 1830s which had been made of timber.

To get a different perspective on the river and buildings that sit along its banks, we went on an Architectural Boat Tour. The guide pointed out the various buildings, who designed and built them and for whom they were built, and gave some history on what was there before. This tour lasted 75 minutes and seemed to be very popular apart from the day we went on it when it rained heavily.

Luckily the sun came out the next day and we went on a Chicago Favourites Ultimate Food and Walking Tour that lasted for 3 hours. Along the way, our guide pointed out many of the tourist highlights of the city, like the Chicago Theatre and Millenium Park with the Anish Kapoor “Cloud Gate” (or as the local’s called it, the bean) and we made four food stops for Chicago deep pan pizza, hot dog, beef sandwich and brownie. They all tasted very nice, surprisingly.

That’s all we had time for in Chicago so we pick up the car now for the first leg of our Route 66 journey.

Copyright: Words and photos John Cruse 2022

After two years and our early exit from Australia, we are finally going to be travelling outside of the UK and on the road again, quite literally.

We are driving the legendary Route 66 from Chicago, Ilinois to Santa Monica, California covering a total distance of 2,448 miles.

Why is Route 66 so revered and iconic I hear you ask and why is it called the Mother Road? That is credited by some to John Steinbeck the American author who won the 1962 Nobel Prize for Literature. In his famous social commentary, The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck proclaimed US Highway 66 the “Mother Road.” Steinbeck’s classic 1939 novel, combined with the 1940 film recreation of the epic odyssey, served to immortalize Route 66 in the American consciousness.

Perhaps for many of us outside of the USA, it started later with Robert William (Bobby) Troup Jnr’s 1946 song Route 66 which was sung by many famous artists over the years including Chuck Berry but whatever the origins of the legend, it still holds a mystic as it did to Bobby Troup when he wrote the song on his drive along Route 66 to Los Angeles to try and make it as a musician and actor.

A short history is that in 1925, the US Government enacted a public highways act for national highway construction and the numerical designation 66 was officially assigned in 1926 to the Chicago to Los Angeles route. Route 66 was intended to connect the main streets of rural and urban communities along its course as most small towns in those days had no access to a major national thoroughfare.

Its diagonal course linked hundreds of predominantly rural communities in Illinois, Missouri, and Kansas to Chicago; thus enabling farmers to transport grain and produce for redistribution. The diagonal configuration of Route 66 was particularly significant to the trucking industry, which by 1930 had come to rival the railroad for pre-eminence in the American shipping industry. The abbreviated route between Chicago and the Pacific coast traversed essentially flat prairie lands and enjoyed a more temperate climate than northern highways, which made it especially appealing to truckers.

By 1970, nearly all segments of original Route 66 were bypassed by a modern four-lane highway. The outdated, poorly maintained vestiges of US Highway 66 completely succumbed to the interstate system in October 1984 when the final section of the original road was bypassed by Interstate 40 at Williams, Arizona.

An interesting history and, whereas much of the original road has succumbed to the interstate road system, our route will be taking the same east to west trajectory and we will be visiting many relics and pecularities of Route 66 on our journey.

Our route will be as set out in red on the map above starting in Chicago and finishing in Los Angeles with the following stages:-

1. Chicago to Springfield, Illinois
2. Springfield to St Louis, Missouri
3. St Louis to Springfield, Missouri
4. Springfield to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
5. Oklahoma City to Amarillo, Texas
6. Amarillo to Santa Fe, New Mexico
7. Santa Fe to Albuqueque, New Mexico
8. Albuqueque to Monument Valley, Utah
9. Monument Valley to Winslow, Arizona
10. Winslow to Kingman, Arizona
11. Kingman to Los Angeles/Santa Monica, California

We will be staying for 1 night at some stages and 2 at others so that we can take in the local sights. Those sights include (1) making a vist to the Amish area around Arthur in Illinois which is the 5th largest Amish community in the USA, (2) a detour off Route 66 to Monument Valley on the Arizona/Utah borders to see the unusual rock formations and (3) a visit to the Hoover Dam as last time we were there we did not have enough time to visit the museum and go on the tour inside the dam.

You may wonder why we are not including Las Vegas in the trip. Las Vegas is not considered part of the original Route 66 and, having enjoyed its delights in 2018, do not feel the need to go back there like we do with the Hoover Dam that we visited from Las Vegas.

So fingers are crossed that the dreaded COVID will not put the kibosh on our travel plans this year as we have many trips planned in addition to this one.

Copyright 2022: John Cruse

Lacock, in Wiltshire, is an interesting village. While the National Trust is well known for its historic houses, gardens and landscapes, it is less known as custodians for whole villages. Lacock is an exception, and we combined a visit here with our trip back home from Bath.

The Lacock name comes from Saxon times when settlers lived alongside the Bide Brook which runs through the village. At the time, it is said the brook was called ‘little stream’ or ‘lacuc’.

Lacock has a long history dating back around 800 years. Its foundations (pun intended) lay in its abbey, which was founded in the 1200s by a lady called Ela, who was the Countess of Salisbury. She became Lacock’s first abbess.

Ela was the only child of William FitzPatrick, earl of Salisbury. His father had been an ally of William the Conqueror and had been rewarded for his support with great estates which eventually were inherited by Ela. Her father died when she was young and she became a ward of King Richard I.

In time, she was a lady of significance. Apart from being the holy abbess (for 17 years until her death) and Countess of Salisbury, in 1227 she became the Sheriff of Wiltshire and was responsible for the rule of law as stated in the Magna Carta. Ela secured many rights for the abbey and its surrounding village. She founded two Augustine religious houses: that in Lacock housed nuns, while 16 miles away in Hinton was an abbey for monks.

Ela died in 1261 and the nunnery continued until the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1539. In 1540 the site was purchased and transformed into a country house. Over the centuries various parts of the abbey were demolished and other parts built, resulting in several styles of architecture including early Renaissance and Gothic Revival.

The property was to changed hands over the years and one resident we all have much to thank. This was William Henry Fox Talbot, who developed the photographic negative process on this very site.

An extensive museum lies next door to the National Trust visitor centre and a whole day could be spent in here alone finding out about photography’s history, its processes and early pioneers, as well as viewing early images. One wonders what he would have thought about the developments of mobile phone technology today.

Visitors can walk all around the abbey – its very survival after 800 years and the Dissolution is extraordinary – and on the upper floor can see the residential areas including the bay window in the South Gallery where Fox Talbot created his first photographic negative. That was in August 1835.

People can also visit the remainder of the estate, which comprises four streets and represents a step back in time. So much so that the site is often used for filming, which has included Cranford, The Mayor of Casterbridge, Tess of the d’Urbervilles, Robin Hood, Pride and Prejudice, Moll Flanders, and Harry Potter’s The Philosopher’s Stone.

There are a considerable number of rustic houses, three pubs, several shops including the quaint Lacock bakery, and a tithe barn. The latter is pertinent. The nuns reared sheep as a means of income, as did the village’s tenants who paid rent ‘in kind’. This would include the sheep fleeces, which the abbey needed to store before being made into cloth. Cloth manufacturer was an important industry up to the mid-18th century. A tithe barn was built for this storage and still stands today having had several renovations.

The tithe barn is worth visiting to admire its cruck-framed roof and to dwell upon its history. One of the houses in Lacock is available as a holiday rent.

The last owner of the abbey and estate was Matilda Talbot who inherited in 1916. It is said she took her role as landlord seriously and when times were hard sold off some of the abbey contents for the benefit of the tenants. In 1944 she decided to gift the estate to the National Trust and thereby sharing it with the nation for us all to enjoy.

That’s it from our Bath trip, and if all goes to plan we shall be posting again soon.

Copyright: Words and photos, Sue Barnard 2022.

Berkeley Castle is a gem. As with other HHA (Historic Houses Association) member properties, it is privately owned and in this case the ancestral lineage dates back almost 900 years.

The castle, originally a motte and bailey wooden construction, is located in Berkeley, Gloucestershire, near the Severn estuary, 30 miles from Bath. This location provides its occupants and visitors fine views towards south Wales – little wonder a castle was built here. But it was to face many turbulent times throughout its history, especially for the family who gained, lost and regained the site on more than one occasion. Paying allegiance to kings and queens over the centuries helped and hindered its ownership.

Within its walls are contained many tales of intrigue and wonderment. It is claimed that in 1327 the deposed Edward II was a prisoner in the castle and later murdered within it. The year 1417 saw the start of a dispute between members of the family as to who owned the castle and estates. This was followed in the 1450s with James Lord Berkeley being imprisoned with his sons in the castle and forced to sign land over to other family members. As if family feuds were not enough, in 1572 in steps Queen Elizabeth I who claims the castle and some of the land, and then handed her ‘rights’ over to Robert, Earl of Leicester.

The original Norman motte and bailey castle saw an upgrade from the 1150s when a stone keep with five towers was built around the existing mound upon which the castle was sited. This has provided some intriguing features for today’s visitors. Within the keep is a garden, mainly laid to lawn, some 22 feet above ground. This is puzzling until one discovers the garden is sited on top of that original mound.

Also intriguing is the substantial gap in the keep, consequently breaking its vital security. During the Civil War (1642-1646) the castle changed ownership five times. By 1646, one George Lord Berkeley managed to regain the castle, but according to family sources (its archive is extensive) this was on the condition that he breached the keep wall to ensure the castle could never be used again as a fortress. Some sources say there was a Parliamentary bombardment in 1645, which breached the keep. Others are more specific saying it was Cromwell’s troops that were to blame. Whatever the actual reason, it makes for a good story.

The first question, certainly on my lips, was could it be rebuilt today? Our most informative guide told us this is still forbidden by law. “Parliament could take the castle back if the wall was rebuilt,” he warned.

Another interesting claim to fame is that the last court jester Dicky Pearce entertained here. He passed away in 1725 and is entombed at the Church of St Mary the Virgin, Berkeley.

The gardens too are of note and have a relaxing feel about them. Much work appears to have been carried out in the 1700s and has continued with family involvement to this day. During the 17th and 18th centuries the moat was gradually filled in, which extended the gardens, and in later years plantswoman and garden designer Gertrude Jekyll (1843-1932) worked on the planting of the terraces, which continues to influence the scene.

The whole site is beautiful and awe inspiring, and takes on a different ambience according to the light. It is certainly worth a visit and if you do so, look out for the Jacob Knyff painting of the castle. He was the brother of Leonard Knyff, mentioned in a previous posting, and son of landscape painter Wouter Knyff. Clearly a talented artistic family.

Copyright: Words and photos, Sue Barnard 2022

Bath is conveniently placed to visit several other historic sites, which we took the opportunity to call upon. Just eight miles away is the estate of Dyrham Park, a National Trust property located in Dyrham, Gloucestershire.

The owner who had the most significant impact on the house and surrounding land was William Blathwayt (c1649-1717). Unlike many who purchased great estates with their duke’s or lord’s fortunes, he acquired it by other means.

Blathwayt’s father died before the boy was a year old, leaving the family in debt. It was his well-connected uncle, Thomas Povey, who settled the estate and became the young William’s mentor, developing his cultural interests and gearing him towards a long-term and significant career in government and colonial administration.

One of Blathwayt’s earliest positions was at the English Embassy in The Hague where he developed a taste for Delft ceramics. He later rose up the ranks of the Lords of Trade and Plantations, starting from a position of clerk and then secretary. In 1680 he held the post of Surveyor and Auditor General of Plantation Revenues where he became an expert on the British colonies.

However, it was not his developing and successful career as such that led him to own Dyrham Park, but perhaps the loss of his heart… to one Mary Wynter, for it was upon their marriage that Blathwayt gained the Dyrham estate and his wife’s inheritance. Marrying for money? Well, perhaps not. Mary died just five years later and Blathwayt never remarried. They had three children.

The house was in a poor state when the couple married, but they soon set about remodelling the building and its interiors with new apartments, bedrooms and reception rooms. Stables and domestic offices were added. Many grand designers were brought in, including William Talman the designer of William III’s apartments at Hampton Court Palace.

Unlike most other buildings of the time, a lot of the materials were sourced worldwide rather than locally. Blathwayt had built up a wide circle of important contacts through his business dealings who could source fine materials. His luxurious interiors began to reflect that. Marble was shipped from Spain, softwood from Sweden, and black walnut from American colonies. Flemish oak floors were laid and grand staircases of cedar built. He was also developing a taste for fine paintings, books and textiles in addition to Delftware. Inventories listed almost 300 chairs alone.

Plants, trees, and seeds also came from afar and Blathwayt was keen to tame the undulating terrain. He took as keen an eye on the creation of the landscape as he did within the house.

Terracing, walls and gravel paths surrounded parterres, trained fruit trees, topiary and flowers. Statuary was in abundance and the owner clearly had a passion for waterworks. An associate of Blathwayt’s, Giles Jacob, wrote an ode to the waterworks in 1719 which referred to a fine canal, a large jet d’eau shooting water to the sky, multitudinous pipes, and waves of water descending down steps. He also mentions a statue of Neptune with trident. Today, if one climbs the steep hill overlooking the house a statue of Neptune can be seen.

Archival documents indicate the gardens would have provided a good supply of fruit – with exotic varieties grown in the glasshouses – as well as vegetables (such as asparagus) and nuts.

Blathwayt must have been keen on his garden for displayed today within the house is a drawing of ‘Dyrham, the seat of William Blathwait (sic) Esq’ by Johannes Kip, dated 1710. Kip (also spelled Kyp) was a Dutch artist who moved to England in the late 1600s, as did topographical draughtsman and painter Leonard Knyff. Both produced bird’s-eye perspectives of estate grounds and gardens.

Those in the know who come across such recognisable works may often be heard saying, “Ah, it’s a Kip and Knyff” – a recognition of the quality of their works. Although the drawings were not always accurate they are still breathtaking, especially as they were created when actually seeing a bird’s-eye view would not have been possible.

But, back to the estate. Surrounding the house is a deer park, which has a long heritage. In Anglo Saxon times there was reference to ‘Deorham’. ‘Deer’ has its origins in the word ‘Deor’.

William Blathwayt died in 1717 in his late 60s. Throughout the following generations Dyrham Park had a roller coaster of a ride with some looking after the site, while others let it decline. In time many of the hundreds of items which reflected William’s passion for paintings, fine furniture and tapestries (and which made the family home) were gradually dispersed. The site was eventually secured when the Government’s Land Fund purchased it in 1946.

Today it is a National Trust property. Its house, interiors and gardens are being renovated. At the time of our visit painstaking work was being carried out on the grand staircases and panelling. The natural wood Blathwayt had taken such efforts to source and ship from overseas had in more recent decades been covered in magnolia paint!

Dyrham Park is certainly worth a visit, if not several for there is a lot to absorb in this great estate.

Copyright: Words and photos, Sue Barnard 2022