Suffering through summer

Londoners cool off on a sweltering 37ºC day

It's not news to anybody who knows me, even on a fairly superficial level, that - 

     I. Hate. Summer.

The primary reason we are here in temperate England and not in Australia is because of my inability to cope with Australia's horrendous and lengthy summers. Endless months of heat, humidity, bushfires, grass that turns firstly to yellow stubble and finally to dust... It tires me, it makes me angry - I so hate looking out into that harsh, brutal light and blinding glare of the sun. Then the oppressive nights that bring out the insects and spiders. Ugh.

Genetically I'm simply not designed for that climate. I have always felt more at home in cold and rain.

Yes, this is the centre of London - Southbank by the Thames where they ship in sand to let the people imagine they're on a beach somewhere

In comparison England's summers are mercifully brief, but as ever The Maree Curse means that unusually warm weather has followed me to the UK.

A couple of weeks ago we suffered through several days in the thirties. Now, to an Australian, that won't sound too bad. However in a big, crowded city of 8.6 million people that's not geared up for heat, it's unbearable. Buildings don't have awnings to protect them from the glare of the sun, windows don't line up for cross ventilation, most places don't have air conditioning. Which brings me to the topic of public transport. Imagine, if you will, trains packed with commuters when it's 37ºC outside. Inside, with hundreds of heat-generating bodies and pathetic, tiny windows that open only a crack, it's 43ºC. I thought I would die.

We've barely had any rain for months as well. Sod it all, this is not how it's meant to be! 

The only redeeming feature of this period has been the opportunity to catch up with a fairly large number of family and friends from Australia, all of whom decided to visit London within a few weeks of each other. All but one of those people congratulated themselves on visiting during a period of 'real' summer weather (you and I are soul sisters, Reyna).

In May Kevin's brother and sister-in-law came to stay, followed closely by friends Ed and Karen Gilmour. Then in June it was Lesley's turn to visit.

In early July we met up with the Gilmours and the Nazers for a fantastic meal at Mildred's in Soho. Half of London was out enjoying the summer evening - every pub, bar and restaurant thronged with revellers spilling out onto the street. 

Yours truly enjoying a white peach bellini - a refreshing start to the evening!

Mildred's is one of London's best known and longest established vegetarian restaurants. The food was superb. We ended the evening with cocktails in the bar of The Montague, where Ed and Karen were staying. 

We spent the night in a hotel just a few minutes' walk away, still in Bloomsbury. It's an area we have always liked - and has long had appeal for me, given its Virginia Woolf association. 

Caryatids at the St Pancras New Church

The following morning we met up with our good friend from Sydney Reyna, who introduced Kevin and me to each other nearly 25 years ago. Reyna was in London with her daughter Lucinda and we spent several hours together rambling around Portobello Road Market and Notting Hill. It was an absolute scorcher, so much so that Reyna and I were compelled to purchase hats. Lucinda, sensibly, had come prepared.

We also had an unexpected visit from the children of a cousin in Norway - Andrea (16) and Peter (24). I'd never met them but when their mother told me they were coming to London for a week we invited them to stay.

After spending most of their week exploring London I drove the kids to Brighton on Saturday. For them the weather couldn't have been better, and they were thrilled with Brighton and its edgy boutiques, great pubs and artsy vibe. I lost count of how many animé stores we browsed, and Andrea came away with a super funky outfit that would be the talk of Lakselv, back home in north Norway. We rode the Brighton Wheel and Andrea got a temporary tattoo. It was a fun day.

Brighton Pier - luring Brits to the seaside since 1899

The Royal Pavilion, built by the George, Prince Regent, in 1811

Brighton beach and the Brighton Wheel

The next day I drove the youngsters to Stonehenge, on a day that was more typically English - light drizzle and cloud cover all day. I've been to Stonehenge several times but it's still impressive. How the heck did the Neolithic Agrarians get those stones all the way from Wales, and how did they assemble them? They've stood for five thousand years and continue to be a powerful source of fascination to anybody who visits.

Stonehenge

Our schedule of hosting continues apace with Kevin's sister due in the next few weeks, as well as the Nazers. 

It's been so nice to catch up with people from home, despite the fairly hectic program. Lesley returns to Australia tomorrow and yesterday we spent the day at an antiques fair at Loseley Park, followed by lunch at the cutest little Hampshire pub, The Sun Inn in Bentworth, only about 20 minutes from where we used to live in Frensham.

Being so far away from loved ones is really, for me, the only downside of living here. Thank goodness so many of them are travellers and I have no doubt we can look forward to further guests.

Quintessentially English - a jug of Pimm's on a hot afternoon - hits the spot!

Kevin's very long summer break is off to a great start with him already having done a cycling trip from the Lake District to Inverness and back with friends from our Frensham days, and he's now in La Toussuire in the French Alps, having completed a mountain stage of the Tour de France. This is a dream come true for Kevin, and all the better in that he's done it with good friend Matt from Frensham. He texted me at the end, and when I asked if it was tough, the response was simply 'Oh my god'. I am envisioning plentiful beers tonight and a very good lie-in tomorrow for them both.

I'm hoping for more gentle weather in the coming weeks. We'll be fleeing southern England for cooler climes in the middle of August - planning to spend a few days in Scotland where colder and wetter weather is usually guaranteed (unless, of course, you are afflicted with The Maree Curse...) and where the population is blissfully more sparse. I need a break from London.

Until next time,
- Maree  xo

Perfect Painshill

The Five Arch Bridge

This weekend we were blessed with beautiful weather - sunny but not too warm - and so we were obliged once again to get out and about in Surrey's rural splendour. Summer has arrived and the country is at its peak of verdant lushness.

We were also keen to get out of Epsom as it was Derby Weekend. Some of you will know that I am very much anti horse racing, as well as anti gambling... not to mention being anti cheap-looking-girls-in-fascinators. When I arrived at Epsom station on Friday night after travelling home from work, I was treated to the spectacle of hordes of young women in varying states of intoxication stumbling along the streets, half-crippled by their ridiculously inappropriate footwear or else barefoot, having given up on said footwear. All I could hear in my mind was Richard E Grant's voice, from that wonderful scene in Withnall and I, where he leans of the car window, shakes his fist and screams with maniacal glee 'SCRUBBERS!!!!! at a group of schoolgirls:

We had been warned by work colleagues and neighbours that things could get a little ugly over the weekend, so we were happy to make the short drive to Cobham (only 15 minutes) to visit Painshill.

The approach to Painshill from the carpark is unexpected - you are led across a modern steel bridge and towards a lovely building reminiscent of mid 20th century architecture - the visitor centre and café. I adore National Trust properties but there's a propensity to ignore the world we live in, almost as if only the past is valuable. I really like that Painshill - owned by the Elmbridge Borough Council - embraces the modern world whilst venerating the ancient.

Vineyard sloping down to the serpentine lake, fed by the River Mole

The Gothic Temple

Interior of The Gothic Temple

View from The Gothic Temple towards the Five Arch Bridge

Painshill Park is acknowledged as one of the finest remaining examples of an 18th-century English landscape park. It was designed and created between during the Georgian Age of Enlightenment by Charles Hamilton, an MP. He was apparently reasonably well off but not filthy rich - he borrowed money from many friends to create Painshill but never quite completed his vision, and had to sell in 1773 when his debts were called in, after some 35 years working on the project.

During Hamilton's tenure however Painshill had quite a few eminent visitors, including Thomas Jefferson and John Adams. Views from Painshill were also painted on plates for a Wedgwood service of porcelain commissioned by Catherine the Great of Russia.

Lush woodlands abound

What a thoroughly romantic place this is. 

The park has been designed so that you never get a complete view of the landscape - instead, views are 'revealed' as you make your way around the walking route. There are stretches of beautiful woodland with ancient trees, including a cedar that is believed to be the largest in Europe. We were lucky to visit at the time when the foxgloves were in full bloom, spears of pink brightening the shady green.

The Gothic Abbey - not genuine ruins, just designed to look like ruins

The Chinese Bridge

Swan with cygnets

There are two magnificent bridges, and follies and towers provide interest as well as prominent viewpoints. 

The Crystal Grotto was an extraordinary creation, completed in 1760 but allowed to fall into ruin over time. In 2013 its restoration was completed and it is quite an experience to wander through this space - hundreds of thousands of calcite, gypsum, quartz and fluorite crystals have been used to recreate this folly which was funded by a National Lottery grant.

The Crystal Grotto

The Gothic Tower

If only you could smell the perfume!

The Five Arch Bridge

Laburnum

Drifts of buttercups either side of the path leading to The Gothic Tower

We spent a glorious couple of hours wandering this beautiful place. 

There happened to be a large Indian wedding taking place at Painshill on the day. I was lucky enough to capture the bride and groom posing for photos after their ceremony, inside The Gothic Temple. What a gorgeous setting for a wedding.

Until next time,
- Maree xo

Spring at Sissinghurst

A couple of weeks ago I made the decision that as Spring had reached its peak, we needed to haul our cookies Kent-wards and visit Sissinghurst. It's another of those National Trust properties we somehow have never managed to see until now.

Sissinghurst Castle, a ruin, was bought in the 1930s by writer and poet Vita Sackville-West and her diplomat/author husband Harold Nicolson. They set about restoring and transforming the garden, turning it into one of the most famous in England - a grand example of arts and crafts garden style.

The lime walk

There are few trees as dramatic as the chestnut

Sissinghurst holds a particular fascination for me because of its association with one of my favourite authors, Virginia Woolf. Vita and Virginia were friends, and lovers, for many years. Vita was the inspiration for the incredible time travelling Orlando, a novel published by Virginia in 1928, and one that I have read at least ten times.

Having also devoured volumes of published correspondence between the two it was very affecting to explore this incredible garden. 

Vita and Harold's relationship was unconventional in that over the course of their marriage he had male lovers and she had female ones, yet their mutual respect, affection and even love for each other were profound. Clearly they found a way to accommodate each other's needs in a society where such things had to be hidden away.

Vita's sanctuary was the 16th century tower which became her 'writing tower'. It's been preserved with some of Vita's personal possessions and it is easy to imagine her gazing out over the countryside for inspiration. I think if I owned Sissinghurst I'd be pretty inspired too...

The writing tower

Vita Sackville-West's writing room, inside the tower

The view over the Kent countryside, from the top of the writing tower

Located in The Weald, which is an area that sits between the parallel chalk escarpments of the North and South Downs, this really is beautiful countryside. It's more open country, not heavily wooded like our beloved Surrey, but the rolling hills and quaint villages surrounding Sissinghurst are simply gorgeous. 

The estate abounds with charming cottages and walled gardens bursting with colour and structure. There's also a wild meadow and a moat.

We were fortunate to catch the last of the bluebells, and the formal gardens were at their spectacular spring peak. 

Oast houses

Alliums 

Cottage in the grounds of the garden

The last of the bluebells in the woodlands surrounding Sissinghurst

Our visit to Sissinghurst has given us a desire to explore Kent further. Once again we are feeling fortunate to live within an easy drive of such great beauty - we reached this gorgeous place in just over an hour from Epsom.

We're about to welcome several sets of visitors who are staying with us in the next month, and we'll also be catching up with other friends from Australia in London. It will be a busy time but we'll take great delight in showing friends our little corner of this green and pleasant land.


Until next time,
- Maree  xo