Day 5
Pearl, a seamstress and embroider, is a member of a sewing group that meets once a month to help each other with projects. Three in the group, host the meetings. It happened to be Pearl’s turn while I was there. The ladies arrived around ten with an assortment of delicious foods and were to leave between three and four. I joined this jolly group for lunch. We ate with much chit-chat and laughter. Paul, Pearl’s husband, took several pictures of us.
After lunch, I left the ladies to their sewing, and Paul took me to Hughenden Manor, another attractive house with exquisite gardens. The weather was still chilly, but did I mind? No! The manor was the home of Benjamin Disraeli, who was Prime Minister of England in the 1800s and much admired by Queen Victoria. However, their first encounters were somewhat frosty, they eventually became a mutual admiration society, so to speak! Books and letters are displayed in glass cases, showing Queen Victoria’s beautiful writing, almost like calligraphy, with fond notes to Disraeli.
In 1941 Hughenden was taken over by the Air Ministry as a top-secret map-making base. The existence of this secret operation came to light in 2004 when folks were asked for their memories of wartime England.
Paul and I descended steep steps into a basement area, where we visited rooms with 1940s telephones, old typewriters, air raid helmets, and gas masks, and other paraphernalia. In one room, two simple cot beds stood, where mapmakers could rest between shifts. The code name for the manor was Hillside, and apparently was at the top of Hitler’s hit list, but thankfully he never succeeded.
What can I say about the gardens, any garden in the mansions and abbeys that we visited filled me with breathless delight. The vibrant colours, the terraces, walkways, and manicured lawns, all so English!
