Love the English Countryside

John Milton's House

We spent another Delightful Day in the English Countryside as we traveled to Old Amersham and then to the amazing house Waddesdon. The morning saw Michael leave to fly back to North Carolina and Jack and Ethan to head out for school.  Bill then left to head again to the Chinese Embassy to finish the visa process for Jack for his summer program.  Jim and I ate breakfast, Katherine appeared back home from taking the boys to school, Bill arrived with his mission completed and Ian was waiting outside the front door.

We drove through the little village of Chalfort St Giles where John Milton lived. This was the only home he ever had after many years of moving within England and France. 

Old Amersham City Hall

We were off to the old village of Amersham who preserves in its streets the same general appearance that is displayed in the 17^th and 18^th Centuries. The origins of the town go back to pre-Saxon times. Amersham was then called Agmodesham. The Domesday Book, the first official census, listed Amersham as Elmodesham, with 6 manors, one belonging to the wide of Edward the Confessor.

The jail in Amersham

The King's Arms Hotel

In more recent times Four Weddings and A Funeral were filmed at The King’s Arms and The Crown.

The drive from there through the Chiltern Hills was beautiful. The rolling green hills, the  broad areas of pasture with the cows and  sheep lazily grazing together created a lovely sight to behold.

We arrived just at the right time at The Royal Standard of England Pub, the oldest pub in the British Isles dating back over 900 years. After Charles II’s restoration to the throne, the pub was rewarded by the new king in 1663 for giving support to his executed father and his cavaliers, when they raised his royal standard. He honored the landlord by agreeing

to change the name of the pub from The Ship to The Royal Standard of England, the only pub in the country with the honor of the full title, and reverting back to the Wessex dragon.

As we motored along we talked about car license plates. Apparently if you want a “vanity” plate with a special combination of numbers and letters it must be something that has existed in the past and then you must bid on it. Ian talked about a person who was a big formula One racer and wanted a tag that said F-1. He paid 48,000 pounds for the privilege of putting it on his 350,000 pound McLaren auto. Seems crazy to me.

Jim at Waddesdon

We arrived at Waddesdon at the right time for our timed ticket entrance. This is the 1874 Party House built by Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild on land he originally bought from the Duke of Marlborough- the grandfather of Winston Churchill.  The estate now belongs to the National Trust. Our visit there was enlightening, well organized and fun. 

I did something yesterday to my knee and was not going to go in but Bill convinced me to go and he’d push me in a wheel chair….and he did. We rode a bus to the front path and then walked- except I  rode- to the front door.

The house had the coolest  lift that came up from the entrance and raised up 4 steps and then there was a second one that lifted up to the entrance hall. They matched the surface and made the front of the house not be blacked by ramps.

The Main Dining Room

Each room was more spectacular than the last. Everywhere you looked you saw paintings, porcelain , silver, inlaid furniture…just amazing. AND this was just a house for week-end parties.

There was an electric elevator- lift- hidden away so we saw part of the house most folks don’t see.


The final sight was the sculpture of wine bottles on the lawn. The Rothschild's are famous for wine and the cellar contains 15,000 bottles of wine spanning 150 years.

We returned to the car and began our journey back to Bill and Katherine’s flat. Got home right at 5:30. Order dinner and crashed for the night.

Another fun day tomorrow.