Lens, France
Yes we have already been to Whitby, but when we were there, it was Dave’s 70th birthday and he was inundated with friends, so we didn’t get much one-on-one chat time, so we decided to go via Whitby on our way south. Sadly, we only had a couple of hours with Biddi as she was off to her rehearsals, but we had a great catch-up with Dave. He had the chance to enjoy the culinary delights of Oscar, the Motorhome, and then we spent a day in Leeds at the Royal Armoury, followed by dinner at a great Pub (Levisham) on the way back to Whitby.
If you are ever in Leeds, the Royal Armoury is a MUST! Even if you aren’t into military history, there had displays of an amazing array of historical weaponry – Samurai armour, Mongolian weapons, plus they have some great displays about British history from the military view, such as the Indian Mutiny. Lots to look at and not boring at all!
Nick wants to know if you can die from an overdose of National Trust? On our way south, we have managed to see a couple of huge places – and when I say “huge”, yes they were big from other an actual size point of view, but also historically! We visited Lyme Park Court which was the setting for Pemberley in the BBC “Pride and Prejudice” Mini-Series (best version ever made!) and Hardwick Hall which was rebuilt (the Old Hall) and built (the New Hall) by Bess Hardwick, during Liz I’s era.
National Trust property
Lyme Park was gained by the actions of Sir Thomas Danyers at Cressy in the 14th Century when, after the Black Prince lost his Standard, Sir Thomas Danyers rode off to reclaim the Standard. He managed to do this by cutting off the hand of the French soldier and returned the Standard, with the hand still attached! I’m sure you won’t be surprised to hear that his coat of arms included a hand above everything. The estate passed to the Legh family through marriage, where it stayed until the property was given to the National Trust after the Second World War.
The family had several Coal mines on their land, from which they had their wealth, but after the nationalisation of the Mines in the 20th Century, they suddenly found that they couldn’t afford the estate and gave it to the National Trust. Report on the house – it’s HUGE, as are the gardens, and yes, you can see the lawn where Mr Darcy walked after his swim in the lake!
Next day was Hardwick Hall. Elizabeth Hardwick was the daughter of a farmer who, after four marriages, was the richest woman in England, after Queen Elizabeth I. She was responsible for building Chatsworth (home of the future Dukes of Devonshire) and then, when her brother died, she bought the family farm and decided that the original house wasn’t grand enough for her, so she enlarged the Old Hall. Then five years later, decided that just wasn’t good enough, so she build the New Hall. Her fourth husband was George Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury, and his claim to fame was that he was the “jailer” of Mary Queen of Scots for a few years. Bess and George didn’t get along very well! George complained that Bess spent too much money! However, Bess obviously had a very fine opinion of herself, as is demonstrated by the initials that are on every side on the New Hall, as well as her crest in both the Old Hall and the New Hall.
From here, we headed down to Tring where we used a Caravan Club Certificated Location for a few nights and spend a day catching with Rob & Linda Van Geene. Whilst waiting for Rob & Lin to arrive, we went for a walk and discovered some of the grounds that used to be part of the Tring Mansion, which turned out to be another building built by the Rothschilds. As I couldn’t visit Hatfield House, we went to see Waddeston Manor, which was built by one of the Rothschilds as a home for the art that he collected. It was only every used as a Hunting Lodge so hasn’t suffered as much as many of the National Trust properties that we’ve seen. And it is also a demonstration that having plenty of money to spend and art to display doesn’t necessarily mean that you have good taste!!
However, I think that if I try to get Nick into another National Trust property for a few months, then he will revolt!
One of the good things about spending some time in this part of England, at Tring and then at Wallingford, has been that all the mail that has been sent to us over the past few months, we finally get to open it. All those goodies that we have bought – it was like Christmas! Snow chains – maps – warm trousers – new tyres…, lots of goodies!!
Notice the Cypher over the door – Edward VIII
Did I mention Wallingford? This is a old Saxon town whose Charter pre-dates London and was also a major centre during the Anarchy (the Civil War in 1139-45 between Matilda and Stephen). But it is a lovely old town and right on the banks of the Thames. And has one of the only royal crests for Edward VIII – the king who was never crowned because he abdicated.
Before we head over to the Continent for six months or so, it was time to make a quick visit to Reading, to STJ Motorhomes, where we purchased Oscar, so that we can get a few things fixed. All I can say is that Stephen, Chris & Dan went out of their way to help us and were extremely helpful, even down to allowing us to stay overnight in the yard. We managed to get everything fixed, some new things ordered that we will collect when we come back to UK and we even got two winter tyres fitted to the front of Oscar, so we will be all ready for winter in Europe, not that we want to encounter it.
Our final nights in England were spent near Dover where it rained and was sooo windy. We stayed in a camp location that was on an “Aerial Farm”, at least that’s what the owner called it – he was a Ham Radio operator! We drove around, visiting Margate, Canterbury, Nick bought some fur-lined gum-boots and we did our last shop before our departure. Thursday morning, we headed down to the Harbour in Dover, and because we arrived in plenty of time and the ferries were running late, we were moved to an earlier boat, but then it was full-steam ahead for France!
When we landed in France, we made our way to Lens (near Lille) where we had the chance to have our first experience in an Aires du Camping. The camping spot in Lens is new, with clearly defined areas for each motorhome, McDonalds was next door so we could use their internet whilst we had a coffee, and for the princely sum of €3,00 you could get 30mins of electricity or 120L of water – but that was the only costs involved. We had a very relaxing night and think that we are going to like using Aires du Camping (in France) and Stellplätze (in Germany).
Breakfast in France, Lunch in Belgium, Coffee in Luxemburg and dinner in Germany!
Whilst driving from France, we had some issues with mapping, so we are using the “Bitch”, our new GPS (for the Motorhome) called “Ma’am” and the old-fashioned system of maps, until we get it all sorted out!
Nick & MJ On The Road 
Leave a comment