Highclere Castle, 2013

The Earl and Countess of Carnarvon take a somewhat different approach to the fame and notoriety of their great house. I honestly believe you could visit Highclere Castle and leave unaware that it is none other than Downton Abbey. (OK, you'd have to have been living in a mayonnaise jar for several years not to know what Downton Abbey was; and you'd have to have ignored the numerous visitors' objections that, "isn't the desk supposed to be over there?" or "the table couldn't be this small", or "these are supposed to be carnations, not roses," etc.). There is nothing about Downton Abbey in the house, and, astonishingly, nothing at all in the gift shoppe, either. Not even a "Keep Calm and Watch Downton Abbey" coffee mug. It's all about Highclere Castle and the earls of Carvarvon (some of whom are pretty famous). Personally, I think this is just good business sense. The house has to maintain its own long-term identity. Anyhow, we pretty much spent the day there, since Rebecca and Vicki are big fans; and I do not live in a mayonnaise jar. Well, not exactly....

Our party approaches

Official photo

Closer up

Rebecca said be sure and get a picture of this bench and this tree and this side of
the castle

Full frontal; there is a strictly enforced no pix policy inside; a shame, since there
is much of interest; and especially all the Egyptian stuff...discovery of King Tut
and all that; anyhow, the current house was designed by the same guy who did
the Houses of Parliament; grounds by Capability Brown (for an earlier version
of the house)

Family portrait on The Bench

Another at the Jackdaws, the folly

Thus

The Earl and his head gardener; apparently a very hands-on kind of earl

In the garden

Flowery meadow over which the castle towers tower

Spoiler: after WWII, with inheritance taxes at 80%, the heirs sign Downton Abbey
over to the National Trust; but there's a happy ending, and potential spin-off: the
lord and lady get to run the gift shoppe, and the butler and housekeeper run,
respectively, the custodial staff and the cafe

The Vyne

Our next stop was another National Trust home and garden estate, the Vyne. The house and grounds and family areas are fine, but I think the Vyne has over-played its putative Tolkien connection. A "mysterious" 4th century Roman gold ring was found there, with an inscription, and it has been suggested that this was the inspiration for Tolkien's rings. Nevermind that Roman jewelry is found all over England, and the Roman world, nor that a magic golden ring that makes you invisible goes back Hesiod, nor that such a ring was a major part of art and high culture throughout Europe throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Kindly Professor T might have heard of such things. The Vyne plays it all to the hilt, nonetheless. The Tolkiens have disavowed any such connection and the Tolkien Society is "working" with the Vyne on "researching" the issue. All this is beneath the dignity of the National Trust, I think. But the playground, which is why we went, is pretty good.

Tolkienesque map of the Vyne; let's see, the Misty Mountains have got to be
in there somewhere...

Lots of National Trust sites have twig tunnels for the kiddies, but only the Vyne
has Smaug

In the gardens

The house

Great staircase

Library

Kneller's portrait of John Locke

Beautiful great hall

"...and in the darkness bind them!"

Grounds

Shelob?

In the "Hidden Realm" play area, where a hill and tunnels are made to look like
Hobbiton; here is Penelope helping other, older children in mud mound building;
she has at this point commandeered the shovel; it amazed me how willing she was
to approach and interact with older kids

Shimmering Lake: do not disturb the water...

Jane Austen House

After Nunney, we thought we might drive further west to Wells and its wonderful cathedral. But time was running out and it was a long way back to our next set of destinations, so we turned back east. The next morning we visited Jane Austen's house in Chawton. Rebecca teaches Austen, so this was a must-see. Vicki has read lots of Austen and seen the movies. I read J. L. Austin's essay Sense and Sensibilia in graduate school, but I don't think it counts. Anyhow, while Rebecca and Vicki toured the house, Penelope and I happily walked along the High Street, visited a community pre-school, watched some horses, some sheep, some birds, sat at the bus stop and played with a stick and crab apple she had picked up ("the best toys are found, not bought," a nearby gentleman observed), then passed more of the morning in Jane Austen's garden, in the company of several other males not doing the tour.

On the Jane Austen Trail

Official plaque

The house; nice house; nice garden too

The pub across the street, where she did some of her best
writing (nyuk, nyuk)

Rebecca in the dress-up room

Nunney Castle

Nunney Castle was built in the 1370s by one John de la Mare, who, I suspect, made his fortune like so many other good Englishmen of the 14th century, plundering France. It is more properly regarded as a fortified residence. In any case, it was purchased in the 1560s by Richard Prater, a London merchant, from whom, via Uncle Charlie McCoy's genealogical researches, Vicki claims descent. (The Praters, I understand, came over with William I in 1066; Prater is actually an old Roman name.) They successfully defended Nunney against the Parliamentarians, but not from their cannons, which later wrecked the place. We visited Nunney Castle in 1989, and made a great photo of Vicki and the girls. It is the family castle, so to speak, and both Vicki and Rebecca wanted to have another photo opp there, three generations, with Penelope.

The 1989 photo...Rebecca, Vicki, and
Rachel at Nunney Castle

In Nunney's parish church. John de la Mare by the window and Richard Prater
and his [unnamed] wife

It's a pretty little village

Nunney Castle, 2013

Three generations of Prater descendants at Nunney

"Now can I take this stupid princess thing off?!"

Part of the castle interior

Detail

Another shot

And another

Longleat Adventure And Safari Park

Our plan, throughout these two weeks with Penelope, was to stay in Caravan Club campgrounds (we are members). No wild-camping with The Precious. The next such stop was at Longleat, once a great house, and now a great house and adventure/safari resort. We had the four of us visited Longleat back in 1989, before it was Disneyfied. My chief memories were of the Maze and the pet cemetery, both of which are still there. But they are joined now by the Monkey Temple, the Jungle Cruise, the Hippo Mud Baths, Stingray Bay, Gorilla Island, Adventure Castle, and of course the Safari. Fortunately, Penelope is too young for any of this, and we arrived after closing anyway. But she did enjoy playing in the water park and later feeding the deer. And we could hear the seals barking well into the night.

The resort complex

Adventure Castle

Absolutely the largest childrens' RR I have seen; even a
round-house

Ticket complex and asphalt maze

Happily, the great house is still there, in case anyone is
interested

Nice one, too

Pet cemetery; well, half of it

Historical touch

Thus

Back to reality, however

At Longleat, Penelope demonstrates proper two-year-old
form for eating a peanut butter sandwich