Real Britain Company News…

We are lucky here in Britain to have The National Trust to whom many great houses have been entrusted and who maintain and preserve the UKs’ history in these buildings. There are also still many privately owned great mansions which open its doors to the public each year. You could literally plan a whole UK itinerary around England, Wales, Ireland and Scotland using these landmarks. Here are a selections of our favourites:

London: Kensington Palace. was bought by William and Mary in the 17th century as a country house outside of London (difficult to imagine now). Diana, Princess of Wales, had an apartment here and now her son William and Kate.

Kent: Penshurst Place has been the family home of the Sidney family since 1552.

Dorset: Kingston Lacy is an elegant country mansion built by Charles Barry, the architect of the houses of Parliament, with an important collection of Old Master paintings.

Devon: Hartland Abbey is the family home of the Stucley family. Built in the 12th century initially as a monastery, it has never been sold. Consequently, it contains collections of pictures, furniture and porcelain which have accumulated over many generations.

Wiltshire: Corsham court. is a splendid Elizabethan house acquired in 1745 to display Sir Paul Methuen’s celebrated collection of 16th and 17th century Old Master paintings.

Gloucestershire: Kelmscott Manor a Tudor farmhouse adjacent to the River Thames, was William Morris’ summer residence from 1871 until his death in 1896.

Oxfordshire:Kingston Bagpuize another lived-in family home, this beautiful house was originally built in the 1660s and remodelled in the early 1700s. The gardens and park are noted for their collection of rare cultivated plants and trees.

Warwickshire:Baddesley Clinton is a picturesque medieval moated manor house dating from the 15th century with lovely gardens.

I have run out of steam for now. I’ll tell you more later!

Today is St George’s Day, patron siant of England. Continuing my theme of nationalistic songs and how we don’t really ever know words or consider their meaning, here are the words to Land of Hope and Glory. I could have written out God Save the Queen but that is a bit tedious and not at all popular with us Brits! Some of the words look a little jingoistic now.’Wider still, and wider, shall thy bounds be set’?

Land of Hope and Glory, Mother of the Free,
How shall we extol thee, who are born of thee?
Wider still, and wider, shall thy bounds be set;
God, who made thee mighty, make thee mightier yet!

Hearts in hope uplifted, loyal lips that sing;
Strong in faith and freedom, we have crowned our King!

Kent has more than it’s fair share of great castles to visit, due to its’ proximity to the capital, London, and the shortest crossing point to France.

Bodium Castle, a 14th century moated Bodiam castle in Kent is everyone’s idea of what an English castle should look like. Although largely a shell inside, the external walls rising above the moat are almost complete.

If you are intending to visit North Wales than you must include in your itinerary at least one of the great castles built by Edward I to subjugate the Welsh. I have chosen Caernarfon Castle as it is the most impressive, towering over the town and the harbour. It was a seat of power and a symbol of English dominance. The first Prince of Wales, later to become Edward II, was born here and the latest, Prince Charles, had his investiture here in 1969 (incidentally, this was the first colour T.V. programme I ever watched.)

As with ‘Georgian’, ‘Victorian’ is a term widely used in Britain. Whereas ‘Georgian’ is used most often in reference to architecture, ‘Victorian’ is a term used in a wider sense for many things which date back to the period in history when Queen Victorias’ was on the throne. Indeed, the Victorian architecture you will come across in your UK travels is more eclectic and less easy to define than Georgian. The Victorians often went in for garish and sentimental styles; understatement was a rarity. The opulence of the Royal Albert Memorial on the edge of Hyde Park in London perhaps epitomises this style. Victoria spared no expense in this lavish memorial to her beloved Albert.

Victoria was the longest reigning Monarch at 63 years on the throne. (The current queen, Elizabeth II has been on the throne for 60 years).
Her right to accession must have been rather in doubt when she was born as she had three uncles all older than her father who could have produced heirs but they all died without legitimate children. Her father was King George’s fourth son, Edward Duke of York.

When she came to the throne in 1837 at the young age of 18 the monarchy was not popular, due to the decadent lifestyle of George IV. Although she is largely remembered as a sad old lady dressed in black, in her early years she loved life. Her diaries show she was an emotional person and we all know of the legendary love she had for Albert, with whom she had 9 children over the 17 years of their marriage before his untimely death of typhoid when only 42. It was their harmonious married life that set the moral standards of the day to which we still refer to as ‘Victorian’. Not that these moral standards were upheld throughout society where the use of prostitutes amongst the gentry was rife!

Albert (of Saxe-Coburg) took an active interest in the arts, science, trade and industry. He master minded the Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of all Nations (effectively the first ever world trade fair) in the Crystal Palace in Hyde Park in 1951. Profits helped to develop London’s great South Kensington museums, notably the the Victoria and Albert Museum of Art and Design. Between them they breathed new life into the monarchy, although after Albert’s death Victoria was so reclusive for a time she lost some ground, especially when rumours started about her relationship with her Scottish servant John Brown! However, she was eventually coaxed back into public life, popularity grew again and the monarchy was rescued.

The Victorian era witnessed great social change. True democracy was bedding in and the rights and conditions for the working man were improving. Legislation on voting, education, public health all brought reforms. Public money started to be spent on museums, libraries and public parks. Britain lead the way in engineering and industry and of course, for good or for bad, there was the Empire. Not surprisingly the Victorian era is seen as the zenith of Britain’s history.

The World Shakespeare Festival 2012 starts 23rd April. This ambitious celebration of Britains’ most famous playwright and poet will feature events all over the UK not just Stratford-Upon-Avon and London. For instance the Newcastle Theatre Royal are doing Julius Ceasar; during the National Eisteddfod of Wales Y Storm (or The Tempest) will be performed. A culture fest for those who love the Bard. Why not travel around Britain using the venues as staging posts!

When visiting Britain you will often read of buildings or even whole towns as being ‘Georgian’. But what does that mean?

‘Georgian’is a phrase used often in relation to a particular style of elegant architecture. Bath is perhaps the most famous example but there are many more so called ‘Georgian’ towns. I realised I had only a vague idea of what is meant by ‘Georgian’ in British history so I looked it up. We have all heard of George III, but in fact the Georgian era covers the reign of four King Georges and saw massive social and political change in Britain.

George I came to the throne of England in 1714, at the age of 54, when Queen Ann died childless. According to the 1701 Act of Settlement, her successor had to be Protestant, which ruled out ‘The Old Pretender’ James Stuart, son of James II. George, Elector of Hanover, was the closest Protestant in line to the throne. He couldn’t speak English at all so he appointed a ‘Prime Minister’ to act through in Parliament, and so by accident took a major step towards the constitutional government we have in place now.

George II tried much harder to be ‘English’. By now Parliament was in control but George II liked to dabble in foreign affairs and was the last British monarch to lead his army into battle against the French in 1743, a battle which he won making him popular amongst the masses. His second son, the Duke of Cumberland, saw off ‘The Young Pretender’ or Bonnie Prince Charlie at Culloden in 1746. This was the last pitched battle on mainland Britain and the last attempt at the throne by the Stuarts.

George IIs first son died before him so his grandson became George III, who reigned for 60 years. He was the first George to be born and raised in England and speak English without a heavy German accent. He was a popular king and this is probably why he survived while the French underwent their revolution. He reigned over an age of enormous change. The American war of independence, the Napoleonic wars and the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, with all the benefits and ills associated, all came about on his watch. Other social and welfare reforms include the abolition of the slave trade and the introduction of the smallpox vaccination.

As we all know now, due to the film The Madness of King George, George III was considered to be insane in later life but he was probably suffering from bouts of the rare genetic disease porphyria. For the last 9 years of his life his son, George IV acted as regent, hence the Regency period.

George IV was handsome, spoilt and decadent! Extravagance, parties and affairs marked his reign. He illegally married a Roman Catholic widow then had an arranged marriage to dig him out of his debts. However, it was during his ten year reign that Britain experienced cultural heights, in the architecture we know and love and in the poets, such as Shelley, Byron, Keats and Wordsworth.

George was succeeded by his brother, William IV, nicknamed ‘silly Billy because he liked a simple life, in complete contrast to his brother. Then came Victoria…..but that’s another era!

Our visitors are of course all familar with at least a few castles in Britain. However there are many more styles of building and architecture to add interest and variety to your UK tour. For instance, scattered across Britain are a large number of interesting old buildings called Alms Houses. These were founded by benefactors wishing to provide shelter for the poor and needy. Many were called ‘hospitals’ but they were not for medical purposes. The term originates from ‘hospitality’. There are over 30,000 almshouses still providing accommodation today.

To give it the full title, the Hospital of St Cross and the Almshouse of Noble Poverty, is decribed by Simon Jenkins in Englands’ Thousand best churches, as ‘Englands’ oldest and most perfect almshouse’. Founded by Henry De Blois, a grandson of Norman the Conqueror who became Bishop of Winchester, it is Britain’s oldest charitable institution. Most of the wonderful buildings date to the 15th century. The Hospital of St Cross is famous for its unique and ancient tradition of providing the Wayfarer’s Dole – a horn of beer and a morsel of bread to any visitors who request it.

The Lord Leycester Hospital in Warwick, clustered around the Norman West gate into the town, dates mostly back to the 14th century. Behind the ancient timber-frames buildings is the lovely Master’s Garden. In the reign of Queen Elizabeth I it became a place of retirement for old warriors and their wives. So it remains today as an independent charity providing a home for ex-Servicemen and their wives.

Everyone in Britain recognises the distinctive red uniform of the Royal Chelsea Pensioners particularly on ‘poppy’ day. Founded in 1682 by King Charles II and intended for the ‘succour and relief of veterans broken by age and war’, the Royal Hospital, with its Grade 1 listed buildings, still serves its original purpose and intends to continue to further its role well into the 21st Century. To be eligible to live in the hospital and become a Chelsea Pensioner you must have served in the British Army as a non-commissioned officer, be over 65 and be drawing an army pension.

We would be interested to hear of other interesting or special alms houses.

Today is St Patrick’s day. Continuing on the theme of national songs, I thought I would share with you The Soldeirs Song (Amhrán na bhFiann), which is the Irish National Anthem. It was composed in 1907 and was first published in the Irish Freedom newspaper in 1912. However it was not widely known until it became the song of defiance during and after the Easter Rising of 1916. The chorus was formally adopted as the National Anthem in 1926.

We’ll sing a song, a soldier’s song,
With cheering rousing chorus,
As round our blazing fires we throng,
The starry heavens o’er us;
Impatient for the coming fight,
And as we wait the morning’s light,
Here in the silence of the night,
We’ll chant a soldier’s song.

Chorus

Last week we celebrated St Davids’ day, the patron saint of Wales. If you follow this blog you will recall I took part in a concert last year which featured nationalistic songs. One of them was the Welsh National Anthem, Land of My Fathers, composed by father and son Evan and James James in the 19th century. We sang it in English, which is sacrilege to most Welsh (and somewhat ironic, considering the chorus). The meaning gets lost a little in making the transaltion fit the tune, so here is the translation more closely aligned to the Welsh.

The old land of my fathers is dear to me,
A land of poets and singers, famous people of renown
Its brave warriors, great patriots,
For freedom they lost their blood

If the enemy violated my country underfoot,
The “old language” of the Welsh is alive as ever,
The spirit wasn’t hindered by the awful, treacherous hand
Nor the sweet harp of my country.