Thames Valley

2 Weeks ago I drove to the Thames River region, northwest of London. I visited Hampton Court Palace, which is probably most famous for Henry VIII living there with his multiple wives. It is an extremely grand home with marvelous gardens that William and Mary helped design. It was quite interesting to learn about some of history of the kings and queens, especially King Henry VIII and his many wives and marriages.

I then drove throughout the Thames Valley region, where there are many small villages positioned along the Thames River. There were many boats on the water, and many people walking along the river banks. This is the country where the Wind in the Willows and Peter Rabbit were written. Above is an example of one of the quaint pubs that are everywhere here.


To finish off the day, I visited Basildon Park. The reason I decided to visit this place was because it was used as Netherfield in the most recent Pride and Prejudice movie. Both the exterior and interior areas were used in the film. The entry hall, stairwell, dining room, and octagonal room were all filmed in the the Netherfield party scenes. It is quite an interesting house to visit, because it fell into utter decay by the 1950s - everything was sold off and the house was going to be torn down. Then it was bought by a husband and wife who brought it back to the great state it is in and bought all of the furnishings one by one. It therefore feels very livable and like a home. There was a wedding taking place there while I visited, with the small reception out back in the small garden.

The next day I visited Blenheim Palace. This was initially given to John Churchill by the queen in the early 1700s after he won a significant battle in Blenheim, Germany against the French. He was made the first Duke of Marlborough. This has become one of the most magnificent palaces in the country, built to rival Versailles. Sir Winston Churchill was born here - his uncle was one of the later Dukes of Marlborough. This family is also closely related to Lady Diana's Spencer family. Above you can see some of the lavendar that was in bloom. Below is the palace.


Lastly, I visted the Stowe Landscape Gardens to get a breath of fresh air. These gardens are very naturalistic versus the many formal gardens around. There are beautiful classical structures built throughout the space, so that as you walk (it is quite large) you suddenly find some new structure that is hiding around the corner. It is quite delightful just to stroll around and enjoy the scenery.