England's Green and Pleasant Land -- Day One
After crossing the ocean, our plan was to spend as much time as possible in the the countryside, with only the last day or so in London. We wanted to see the villages and the small cities, the coastline and the interior, and immerse ourselves in England's Green and Pleasant Land, which is the last line of Blake's poem, Jerusalem, written at the turn of the 19th century, set to music a hundred years later, and which has become the English National Hymn.
Here's a fine rendition:
And here is our Chariot of Fire.
Our first stop was Beaulieu (pronounced Bewley) ancestral seat of the Montagu's. Originally a major monastic abbey, the property came into the hands of Shakespeare's patron, the Earl of Southampton, after Henry VIII booted out all the monks, confiscated all the Church properties, and raised money by selling them to his friends and supporters. Good to be the King ....
The Earl of Southampton's daughter married a Montagu, and thirteen generations later, the current Baron Montagu of Beaulieu (husband at the time of the Lady Montagu who created this tapestry) is now ensconced in the Palace House. Not bad to be the Baron either ....
He comes by it honestly, since his father had an equally interesting -- although markedly different -- past. This predecessor Baron was among other things, a pioneer motorist, whose influence in that sphere was sufficient so that it was his mistress who was the model for the Rolls Royce Spirit of Ecstasy ornament that has adorned every Roller since 1911. Although the Baron somehow, and I daresay unchivalrously, survived the calamity, the mistress alas, perished when their ship was torpedoed by a German U-boat in 1915.
The current Baron Montagu inherited his title at the age of two. By the time he was ready to assume responsibility at age 21, he came to realize that the Barony was essentially broke and in 1951, he became the first member of the British aristocracy to open up his estates to the public -- considered infra dig at that time. (Now of course, they all do it.) Among his inheritance from his father were a number of old cars, which proved to be such a popular attraction that it led to the establishment of the National Motor Museum on his property at Beaulieu. We did not have time to tour the Museum, but a number of the historical vehicles circulate around the property.
The nearby countryside is indeed lovely, although Louise commented at one point as we waited for a herd of cows to get out of the road, that we might as well have been in India.
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This will not be the last time our automotive progress is to be impeded by farm animals ....
Among the other Montagu holdings is the tiny riverfront hamlet of Buckler's Hard, where among other warships built upon its shores was Lord Nelson's favorite, the 64 gun Agamemnon, commissioned in 1781.
Sir Francis Chichester also sailed out of Buckler's Hard, which is today a cozy yachting center.
This is it: twin rows of 18th century ship-builders' cottages and a small but wonderful maritime museum.
Next, we pushed on along the Jurassic Coast(Spielberg has nothing to do with this) to the small village of Abbotsbury, distinguished by its mention in the London Telegraph as one of the Loveliest Villages in England, and by its most prominent feature, the 14th century St. Catherine's Chapel (surrounded by grazing cattle.)
Late tea/early supper in the village was superb and restorative.
We then got to watch "... hearts at peace, under an English heaven ..." the quintessential English scene: the village cricket team, all in their proper whites, in the perfect late afternoon light, at play on their pitch in the shadow of St. Catherine's Chapel.
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