Cliveden (20th July)

On Thursday, we visited Cliveden, a National Trust property west of London, near Maidenhead. It is currently on a 100-year lease as an exclusive hotel (which is now owned by a Bill Gates company). The hotel is best known for its involvement in the infamous Profumo Affair. We saw all these posh cars lined-up outside it, and no wonder: a night's stay at standard rate is a mere £495!

Before it became a hotel, it was owned by the Astors, and before them a series of famous aristocrats. William Waldorf Astor, who bought the property, was a wealthy business man from America. He loved Europe, and famously and rather bombastically said, "America is good enough for any man to make a livelihood, though why travelled people of independent means should remain there more than a week is not readily to be comprehended." (To any Americans: we obviously don't hold to this opinion. We were just amused by his pompousness, which seemed very Victorian.)

His son, who was brought up in England, married, Nancy Langhorne, a girl from a wealthy Virginian family . Nancy Astor was to become the first lady MP in Britain, and the family were very much at the centre of society with many famous people visiting them.

Another important thing to note is that the famous architect, Charles Barry, is responsible for rebuilding the house after a disastrous fire in 1850.

The garden is so-so as famous gardens go, but it is still fine as can be seen from our on-line album. The countryside is more impressive, as were the fruits on the mulberry trees. I'd never had them before and they were best fruit I've ever tasted. It was another sweltering day as we dived from one bit of shade to another.

A very small part of the house is only accessible by members of the public for 1½ hours on a Thursday and the Lord's Day, but the garden is open every day throughout the year.

See a photo album of this trip here: