A typical English house party in the early twentieth century - imagine the scene!

Reginald picked up the ancient black receiver.

‘I say Aunt Sybil, he said in his clipped King’s English honed giving orders on the Boer war battlefields. ‘Have you been invited to the house-party this weekend near Dorking. You will have a most marvellous time. The express leaves Victoria Station at 5.22pm on Friday evening and takes a most agreeable course out of the Old Smoke through the salubrious suburbs of Sutton, Cheam and Epsom. There’ll be quite a few of us on it, we’ve booked a carriage with our own trolley service. It then steams out into the Surrey Hills, a most wonderful green lung for the denizens of our great capital, and stops at the little halt of Trumpington. Here you alight and catch the charabanc up the hill to the house. It's quite a climb, but I'm dashed certain you'll enjoy the views.'

Reginald could almost hear his aunt's ears prick up with interest.

'It is a most splendid setting, you really will love it. Acres of rolling hillside and sheep filled meadows, capped with glorious woodland, you will have a real ball. When the motor bus arrives at our stately pile some dapper young footmen will relieve you of your luggage, whilst the master of the house will escort you to your room. There you will have a wash and brush up, deposit your clothes in the voluminous wardrobes, then descend the central staircase to the morning room, there you will be greeted by your host for the weekend, Lady Egremont, who will ply you with champagne and canapés and give you a schedule for the weekend. Here you will be introduced to your fellow weekend house guests, an assorted constellation of politicians, film stars, artists and writers.' His voice fell to a whisper, 'You know I've heard the Prime Minister will be there, the Prime Minister, isn't that just dashed exciting?'

‘Oh Reginald, said the squeaky voice at the other end of the phone, ‘it does sound such frightful fun. I have to come.’

'You will then return to your room to dress for dinner. The ladies will be expected to wear any shade of pink, red, scarlet or purple, complete with millinery flamboyance. The gentlemen will wear full top and tails with black bow tie and white shirts. Everyone will speak in a posh upper class accent.'

Aunt Sybil squealed with delight.

'Dinner will be served at 7pm sharp as Lady Egremont runs the house like a German warship. All provender springs from the bounty of nature that is the local farm, fresh duck, chicken and  lamb served with new potatoes, fresh vegetables from the kitchen garden and lashings of onion gravy followed by homemade Box-Hill tart and custard.'

'The weekend will flow like a vintage barrel of wine as the chaps stock up in the gun-room with a suitable flintlock and then tarry forth into the rolling downs to shoot some of those dumb pheasants, down some pigeons and terminate some grouse. The locals will provide beaters to pummel the living daylights out of the local undergrowth and stir up some beaks. After an exhausting day pointing guns into the sky, our trusty band of fellows will return in triumph to the gentleman’s lounge and smoke large Cuban cigars in front of a roaring fire, whilst others will have a golly good game of billiards and take a few bets on the afternoon’s race at Ascot, the results of which will blare out on the sideboard wireless.'

'Meanwhile, the ladies will indulge in all day chatter between bouts of eating and drinking. Madam will mingle with the ladies and do a little subtle matchmaking, avoiding any whiff of scandal of course. The new  'His Master's Voice' record player will blare out the latest jazz number by Fats Waller. It is a most pleasant way to spend the afternoon in the library, more a living room with books, with its annexe containing Madam’s favourite study with its beautiful views out over the Surrey hills. If you are lucky, at 4pm on the dot you may join madam for tea and cake at the other end of the corridor. Here intimate conversation flourishes among the cream cakes.'

'Saturday evening is the ball and they've booked a simply spiffing jazz band from Chicago for the entertainment. These black chappies know how to tinkle the ivories I'll tell you. The ball is the highlight of the weekend, you will simply love it, it's so nineteen twenties my darling. Mind you there are a fair few cads and bounders there. Watch out for Monocle Marmaduke, he fancies himself awfully with the ladies.'

By now Aunt Sybil was squealing with delight at the other end of the phone. 'It sound simply scrumptious Reginald darling.'

Of course, many of the rooms have ensuite facilities, a truly revolutionary idea. When you awaken in the morning, or perhaps in the afternoon if you had a late night, you can adjourn in your big fluffy dressing gown into the bathroom and get high on the bath salts. Underfloor heating, another technological marvel, will ensure your tootsies will not suffer.

Of course most will rise rather late on Saturday and Sunday morning, but for those who arise early you may adjourn to the upper landing where you can admire portraits of past heroes of the British Empire. Or you might want to read from a pile of one of those capital upper class magazines like ‘Country Life,’ ‘Shooting Times,’ and ‘The Lady.’

‘By jove, it’s basically a jolly good weekend for catching some fab country air and mixing with people just like yourself. Mummy came last time and she thought you would love it!

Aunt Sybil roared with laughter at the other end of the phone. 'I will commence my packing now Reginald. You have converted me.'

National Trust property  - Polesden Lacey

Polesden Lacey

Polesden Lacey sits hidden up in the Surrey Downs not far from the towns of Dorking and Leatherhead in the stockbroker belt outside London. If you don't know the geography, London sits in the Thames basin surrounded by some absolutely gorgeous countryside if you know where to go. That's why many London commuters like retreating to their homes at the weekend because they can enjoy wonderful open landscapes barely a stone's throw from the office. Whether you head north west to the Chiltern hills, south east to a garden suburb like Woldingham, or south west to the Surrey hills, you are guaranteed the full English countryside experience on London's doorstep.

House and downs

Statue in grounds 

The Surrey Hills are an AONB (Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty for the uninitiated), a swathe of rolling countryside with big views to the south and south west of London. They are full of interesting villages and towns with bags of history and acres of open fields and woodland. Here mountain bikers, horse-riders and walkers can reach for the sky.

Polesden Lacey is in the top ten National Trust properties to visit, up there with Chartwell and Stourhead, and when you get there you can see why. I visited on a snowy March day after catching the train from home via Barnham, Arundel and Horsham. You alight at the little halt of Box-Hill and West Humble. Box-Hill itself is well worth a visit as it is a well known beauty spot in the south with fantastic views over the Weald of Sussex and out to the South Downs. This area was used for the first road race of the 2012 Olympics when the riders used the local hills before powering their way to the centre of London and the finish line. Shame we missed a medal there despite Mark Cavendish being a favourite.



Looking up to the house

View of house from formal gardens end

The main arterial A24 Worthing to London road whacks north-south through the countryside here with lots of 50 mph speed limits on scary bends at this point. It is a fine and very scenic road for much of its length, and this stretch past Box Hill is no exception. I often use the road when heading north from Worthing, but had little idea of the attraction of Polesden Lacey.

  I had my bike with me and using a map printed off my computer I cycled up to Polesden Lacey through attractive scenery. It's quite a climb and you need a bit of puff, but eventually you get to the grounds of Polesden Lacey snug and high in the Surrey hills. Here you can park up and get a bite to eat at the restaurant before doing the house and grounds. Even on a cold March day the eatery had a healthy buzz, so try and plan your trip for an off peak time. It was ideal for me as there were very few wandering around the house and grounds, and visitors that day were in their hundreds rather than the thousands.

Polesden Lacey

Being a member of the National Trust this year, I can swan into any National Trust property I want for nothing, so it was a pleasure to flourish my card and breeze through into the main attraction. You can stroll around extensive grounds with lots of footpaths. Immediately adjoining the house are the formal gardens on a typical stately home plan, huge rectangular areas stretching along the top of the downs. If you wander outside the formal gardens you can admire the mixture of leafy lane, rolling hill and woodland surrounding this elderly matron of a stately home. 

The home itself has been used as a regional HQ for the National Trust, but more recently some of the upstairs rooms that have been used as offices have been opened up to the public e.g. the suite of rooms used by the 'hostess with the mostest,' Mrs Greville of house-party fame. Most of what there is to see is downstairs. You enter the main door to find yourself in a large entrance hall, to the right of which is a large dining room with a rich red carpet. A large table is decked for dinner although it has simulated desserts on the table. Homely it is, and one can imagine it being a very cosy roomful on a cold winter's evening. Returning to the entrance hall, take a left turn down the corridor and you arrive at another suite of rooms. To the left is the library with adjoining study that the lady of the house used, with its desk topped with photos of her parents, a Scottish brewery multimillionaire and Helen Anderson. Next to the library is a huge, grand room with a spectacular chandelier and lots of gold and mirror work and impressive views out over the adjoining hills.To the right of this room is a lounge where Mrs Greville would entertain guests in the afternoon to tea and cakes, and moving right again you enter the man-cave, another very  large room with armchairs round a fire at one end where the chaps would smoke and chat away the day, and a huge billiard table at the other end. Next door and at the end of the tour is the gun-room before you exit the house, but unfortunately there are no guns to look at or pick up to go and do a spot of grouse shooting.

Surrey hills from Polesden Lacey

Upstairs as I said you can wander the suite of rooms used by Lady Greville herself, and watch a DVD of the history of the house in the early twentieth century. On the landing you can pretend to be one of the previous house guests and sit and read the papers/magazines after rising for the day before everybody else!

Polesden Lacey was a magnet for the great and the good/not so good in the twenties and thirties. Winston Churchill was a visitor here, and the Queen Mother and George VI had part of their honeymoon here in 1923, such was the reputation of the place. Their honeymoon suite is not open to the public.

Scotney Castle

 

'Reflections of romance amidst the ruins.'

 

 

 Scotney Castle is a double dip trip for anyone who wants to experience a misty late winter excursion into the West Kent countryside. This National Trust property gives you not only a stately home but an ancient castle to boot barely a few hundred yards away. Virtually two for the price of one!

The castle lies a few miles south east of Tunbridge Wells off the A21, true Kentish Weald countryside replete with oast houses, white timbered cottages and rolling English countryside. We got there from Worthing by taking the high road across country via Lewes, a scenic route in itself.  Heathfield, Blackboys and Cross in Hand are some of the evocative sounding places on the way.

The National Trust property itself lies down a quiet Kentish lane near the village of Lamberhurst and covers a large area (770 acres) of rolling downland. Just after entering and parking up, it is a short walk to the entrance, shop and restaurant which was teeming with mid day half term visitors. Be aware that you may have to wait for a table at such a time. Once you pay your entry fee you turn left through a door and then into the grounds of the stately home which rears up to your left in front of an extensive lawn area. The house was designed by Anthony Salvin in Elizabethan style and built in 1837 for Edward Hussey 111.

 

 

 

 

 

It contains a complete tour of fully furnished rooms both upstairs and downstairs centring on the grand staircase ascending from the entrance hall. A cheery gentleman greets you at the door and gives you a large laminated card to guide you from room to room. Every room has a guide ready to answer your questions, sometimes eager to pre-empt your questions. Much of the house looks perfectly liveable in, albeit in a rather 1950ish kind of style and with a touch of the squire at home in his mansion look. As it is, you take a leisurely circuit of the large entrance hall, then round the ground floor with the usual mixture of enormous dining room tables, assorted assemblages of wine bottles, voluminous bookcases and copies of old magazines. A previous occupant of the house, Christopher Hussey was an architectural historian and writer for the 'Country Life' magazine. Then it’s out through the kitchen with its more modern decor and into a long thin corridor bounded by old photographs. Very interesting as Scotney Castle was a school for evacuated kids during the Second World War. Upstairs is a round of bedrooms in various shades mixed up with old fashioned bathrooms with those very Victorian white sinks.

 

Once you have had your stately home fix it’s time to visit an old medieval English Castle but this one is right on the doorstep, being the live-in before the stately home was built. So a saunter out the front door and a turn left takes you down winding paths to the moat inside which stands the original Scotney Castle on its very own 'island.' It is the focal point for the celebrated  surrounding gardens which boast displays of rhododendrons and azaleas in summer.

 

 

 

 

From the top of the hill you get a little peek of the ancient wonder drawing you in to its cute castleness witihn the moat. If you want a little sidetrack take a walk through the old quarry which was used as building material for the house. Here you can spot an array of snowdrops if you visit in February.

 

 

Intriguingly, the occupants of the stately home left the castle to go to rack and ruin deliberately as at the time it was all the rage to have a ruined castle or suchlike as a folly in your backyard. OK if you can afford it!

 

Our castle is on the small but very appealing side, part ruin and part a fully visitable up and down building. It does indeed stand on a little island in the middle of a moat, seductively separated from the mainland. Round the moat you can walk, taking a hundred photos until you get the perfect shot. The one with the castle in the foreground and the stately home sneaking into the background at the top of the hill is the one to go for. Once you’ve circumnavigated the moat and passed the dinky little boathouse that could be the start of a thousand adventures, you can wander over the bridge to the castle and find yourself in front of the main doorway. This is a kind of a house castle rather than a fully fledged battlemented warship of a castle ready to withstand the French army, the sort of castle you could treat as a weekend retreat rather than a place to stand 24 hour guard with your cauldron of boiling oil. Somewhere you could go fish on the lake in a little dinghy rather than practising knocking your opponents off horses with lances all day.