Het Loo, het who? Until yesterday I’d never heard of one of the finest palaces in Europe. It was built in the 1680s for William and Mary (rather a waste as they emigrated in 1688), looks like a very grand version of the Royal Hospital in Chelsea and has magnificent gardens.
It’s very Barry Lyndon but when Kubrick was filming it needed sprucing up. Yesterday morning I read this helpful story board while taking Bertie for a walk.
May I digress? The lake at Barmeath has appeared in posts passim. I have heard it referred to as a pond but then I’ve heard Bertie called a chihuahua. Cow Pond conjures up a shallow pond with muddy verges where cows might come to slake their thirst, not at all the sort of water feature you might see at Versailles or Het Loo. Instead it’s, possibly, the biggest lily pond in the world.
The water is embroidered with lily pads on which flowers perch like jewels. Better still, water lilies flower all summer so it wont be the usual gardeners’ refrain: “you should have come last week”. Most visitors go to Savill Garden and miss this spectacle, reserved for the pleasure of dog walkers.
The pub where we parked is worth a mention. It has lots of outside seating and is animal friendly. Dog bowls are an easy way to virtue-signal to dog owners but The Fox and Hounds is really open to all comers – you could probably take an elephant.
I expect you have noticed how the Today programme on BBC Radio 4 has changed under newish editor Sarah Sands? I’ve got used to it so I hope you will get used to the new Travel Correspondent here who sets the agenda, namely Bertie.
Yesterday was melancholy; it might have been my mother’s 95th birthday.
How extraordinary to hear of your mother’s, theoretical, 95th birthday yesterday. Yesterday would have been my mother’s 100th. We did what she would have done and went out for some good stiff gins and a celebratory supper at a place that she was enjoying well into her 90s.