Bowood House & Gardens by wordyelaine.

Brick Pavers - Front Yard

Photo of a mid-sized transitional partial sun front yard brick garden path in spring.

Brick Pavers - Transitional Landscape

An example of a large transitional partial sun front yard brick garden path in spring.

🍏🍠As the days get shorter, the Kitchen Garden is still alive with activity. It's fascinating to observe the thriving beds at dusk, admire the crops basking in the warm glow of the evening sun, and witness the garden’s transformation as it prepares for the changing seasons.🥬⛲

Bowood House

Bowood, a Georgian country house in Wiltshire, has remained in the Fitzmaurice family, the Earls of Shelburne, for over 250 years. The house, featuring interiors designed by Robert Adam (1728-92), is surrounded by vast grounds, including a garden created by the famous landscaper Lancelot “Capability” Brown (1716-83). Unfortunately, most of the house was demolished in 1956. The first Earl of…

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n10_w1150 by Biodiversity Heritage Library Via Flickr: The florist, fruitist, and garden miscellany.. London :Chapman and Hall,1852-. biodiversitylibrary.org/page/56756445

“Find a hedgerow on a bank and examine just one yard of it. Then make a list of all the different plants you can find in that yard. You will be astonished at the variety” (1965) Artist: Ronald Lampitt Writer: Richard Bowood

Chapter 20

23rd January 1993

"And how do we end the letter, Thea?", the Earl of Shelburne asked little Thea, who was sitting on his lap, enthusiastically helping him do his correspondence, as she's been doing every day since Wednesday and looked at her in expectation. "With my very best wishes, Charlie.", Thea replied and professionally helped the Earl setting his signature and stamp under the letter he had just written. "Good girl, Thea, well done! I might hire you as my personal assistant some day.", he joked and Thea happily chuckled. Camilla was still beyond grateful that Fiona had insisted on both of them to stay at Bowood for the foreseeable future. It was good for Thea to have some distraction, both Fiona and Charlie were so kindly looking after them both, making sure they had everything they needed. They had also arranged for Camilla to talk to all of her dear ones; she herself hadn't dared calling Tom or Laura at first because she felt so ashamed and hadn’t even known what to say, but when she had been chatting to Annabel the other day, Laura had asked for her aunt to hand over the receiver to her and had sweetly assured her mother that both her brother and herself would love her forever and were hundred percent standing with her in this which had moved her to tears. She had no idea how on earth, after everything that had happened, she deserved the love of such wonderful children but she was more than thankful for it. She hadn't spoken to her mother yet but had quickly called her father yesterday to congratulate him on his birthday and he had promised to come over and visit them both next week. She was a bit nervous about the prospect of having to look him in the eyes again but she was glad and happy that he still wanted to see her at all. Andrew wanted to come over today; he was going to Middlewick first and look whether everything was alright and the paparazzi had finally gone and then they'd surely had a few things to talk about which already made her feel anxious. He'd never been faithful to her but at least he'd never been the subject of such an outrageous scandal. The only one she hadn't heard from at all was Charles and that almost killed her. He had to be in an awful state of mind and she didn't even want to imagine the reactions of his family. They had to hate her. They'd surely never talk to her again, and perhaps he himself didn't even want to see her again. Perhaps she had already lost him for good. That thought actually brought tears to her eyes again but she bravely swallowed them. Fiona, however, who was sitting on the sofa next to her, both of them with their noses stuck in a book while Thea and Charlie were doing the correspondence together, had noticed nonetheless, put her book on the table and lovingly hugged her. "You don't have to be strong all the time.", she whispered. "What happened is just awful, Milla, and you have every right to cry." "Thank you, Fi.", Camilla sobbed. "For everything." She was well aware that the whole thing had put their friends into an impossible situation as well: certainly not everybody in their circle approved of the Shelburnes to have "teamed up" with them and had helped them cover up their "affair" as it was branded in the press; though both Charlie and Fiona kept on telling her that it didn't matter to them and she shouldn't worry about it, of course she felt incredibly guilty and bad about it. She had overheard a conversation between them the other day when Fiona had recited all of the people who had explicitly "uninvited" the Earl and Countess from all events in the foreseeable future and she knew that it was because of the support they'd been showing her and Charles and that simply wasn't fair and made her feel awful.

"Ma'am?", a young servant decently addressed Fiona and the two women parted immediately. "Mrs Parker Bowles has arrived." Fiona thanked her and both of them rushed over to the staircase, from where they had a great overview of the entrance hall, and finally saw that not only Andrew was waiting for them… "Darling!", Camilla exclaimed, almost in shock, when she actually recognised Charles next to her husband, looking just as desperate and miserable as herself. Without thinking any further, she ran down the stairs and fell straight into his arms, him holding her so tightly that it almost hurt, but she didn't care, she just wanted to feel him as close as possible. "Oh Darling, I'm so glad to see you!", she whispered while floods of tears fell down on his shirt, soaking it within seconds - but neither of them cared. "Me, too, darling, me too.", he assured her, pressing her against him. "Thank God nobody would've expected me to be with Andrew of all people so it was rather easy to get out of London together.", he said, laughing, but with tears in his eyes. "Especially not…", Andrew added, pulling out a giant white cuddly bunny from behind his back, proudly presenting it to Camilla. "With this one on board." Both Camilla and Fiona couldn't help laughing at the mere imagination of the two men, accompanied by Mr Rabbit, as they had called the bunny, which was obviously a gift for Thea, trying to get out of London in some sort of a "mission impossible", and much to Camilla’s surprise, it actually felt good to be laughing again. But it felt even better to be in Charles' arms again, to feel his love and to know that he still wanted to be with her, that despite all of that nothing had changed between them.

"Nothing at all!", he promised over and over again, as they were lying in bed in the guest room Camilla had checked into for the foreseeable future about an hour later, cuddled up to each other, kissing and caressing each other. "This is absolutely horrendous and terrible…", he admitted, and Camilla replied: "The papers have already branded it 'the biggest scandal in the royal family of all time'... Edward VIII and Wallis are nothing compared to… us." "I don't care about that, darling.", Charles assured her. "All I care about is you. And our daughter. No matter what anyone says, I will always love and never give up on you." "Oh Darling…", Camilla sobbed, cuddling up even closer to him. "Please don't say that. Your destiny is to become King one day. And I won't be the reason why you have to give up the throne. This is not going to happen." "No, it's not.", kissing her extra lovingly and passionately to undermine it all, adding: "This certainly won't be necessary. We'll find a solution. I promise you."

On March 3rd 1792, Robert Adam, the Scottish architect, furniture and interior designer, died.

Born in Fife in 1728, Robert was the second son of Mary Robertson and architect William Adam. Robert and older brother John trained with their father and John would take over the family practice after William’s death.

Robert was not the healthiest of children: illness would continually interrupt his education first at the Royal High School, Edinburgh, and later at the University of Edinburgh. Despite the gaps - and the arrival of Bonnie Prince Charlie and the Jacobite rebellion – Robert Adam gained a solid grounding in the classics, logic, metaphysics, mathematics and anatomy.

Apprenticed to his father in 1746, Robert worked on major projects including Inverary Castle and Hopetoun House and in 1749 travelled to London, on the first of the journeys that would expand his architectural and design horizons.

Five years later he set off on the Grand Tour to Belgium, France and finally Rome, where he studied classical architecture and drawing under the great Piranesi, as well as familiarising himself with classical archaeology and art history. What he learned in Rome and how he applied that knowledge would underpin his future success.

Back home the country at that time was undergoing a surge of interest in classical architecture, prompted by the “Palladian” movement, named after the Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio, who tried to recreate the style and proportions of the buildings of ancient Rome. Adam built upon this momentum, but he soon evolved a style all his own that can best be described as “neo-classical”; light, elegant lines unbound by strict classical proportion.

In fact, Adam was something of a rebel against the Palladians, who insisted on following strict Roman lines and proportion. They copied; Adam innovated and experimented, and the result was a body of work that approached genius.

His first successes were the Admiralty Arch at Whitehall, and the interior apartments at Hatchlands. Adam was most often asked to remodel existing houses, so much of his work is interior. Of the exteriors for which he was responsible, Bowood House and the Admiralty Arch are the best surviving examples.

Adam was a success in part because he insisted on designing everything himself, down to the tiniest detail. The result is work that has a sense of overall unity, or flow. He moved beyond the Roman classical style and borrowed heavily from Greek, Byzantine, and Italian Baroque influences.

Robert Adam died in 1792 at the age of 64. Some of his work was replaced or remodelled as fashions in interior decoration changed over the next centuries, but enough remains that his legacy cannot be forgotten.

Arguably Adam’s most famous work is seen by many citizens and tourists alike,  is The General Register House on the East end of Princes Street, Edinburgh, purpose built by Adam between 1774 and 1788 as the headquarters of the National Archives of Scotland.

This obituary appeared in the March 1792 edition of The Gentleman’s Magazine:…..

“…… Mr Adam produced a total change in the architecture of this country: and his fertile genius in elegant ornament was not confined to the decoration of buildings, but has been diffused to every branch of manufacture. His talents extend beyond the lie of his own profession: he displayed in his numerous drawings in landscape a luxuriance of composition, and an effect of light and shadow, which have scarcely been equalled…to the last period of his life, Mr Adam displayed an increasing vigour of genius and refinement of taste: for in the space of one year preceding his death, he designed eight great public works, besides twenty five private buildings, so various in their style, and so beautiful in their composition, that they have been allowed by the best judges, sufficient of themselves, to establish his fame unrivalled as an artist.”

The first  pic is Robert Adam, second, The Adelphi  ceiling is the only piece left from the drawing room of 5 Royal Terrace in the Adelphi, London, now in the V & A, London. second is  Dumfries House and some of the plans, third is a favourite of mine, Pulteney Bridge is a bridge over the River Avon in Bath, fourth The Georgian House in Charlotte Square, Edinburgh, the fifth pic is  Culzean Castle near Maybole, Carrick, in South Ayrshire, and finally the Drawing Room from Lansdowne House, London.

Alright, I want your opinions. Entertain me if you please! 1. Do you think German liners beyond Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosser and Bremen/ Europa don't get enough recognition for all their (especially) luxury "firsts" (elevator, cover charge restaurant, winter gardens, lidos, those Vienna Cafes)? 2. What era of liner decoration is your preferential movement? And a prime example of this for you would be? 3. Conte di Savoia's Salone Colonna - Beautiful room, but in the wrong ship and they just should have gone full modern with Rex being a wonderful period piece against it? Or do you think it was right do a Lloyd's of London/Bowood House arrangement? *sorry*

1. I do think that the German liners tend to be unfairly overlooked. I think people tend to focus a bit too much on Cunard and White Star. Don't get me wrong, I adore them and their ships, but I think other lines and countries deserve some more attention. I'm particularly a fan of the Imperator class of ocean liners.

2. My favorite era would probably be the Edwardian/ pre-war stuff. My favorite is probably a tie between the Olympic, Oceanic, and Mauretania. Other examples include The Big Four, Lusitania, and the plans for what the Britannic would have looked like had she survived the war. A close second would be the art deco ships, but I'm specifically referring to the Cunarders here. I'm really not a fan of the Normandies interior design, for example. In terms of the exterior of ships, I would say my favorites are from 1930 to the mid-50s. My favorites are the MV Georgic, Bremen, the planned but unbuilt RMMV Oceanic, and SS United States. The Big U definitely has my favorite exterior. 

3. I do think it would have been nice for the Rex to contrast the Conte di Savoia (especially considering the Rex was the last ocean liner that had a clipper stern), but it's also important to remember that they were originally being built by two different companies and intended to be rivals. They became running mates purely by accident when the companies merged. I'm not sure how far along in the building process they were when the merger happened, but I wouldn't be surprised if they just didn't think it would be worth it to swap around the interior decor after installation. 

4. Why are you apologizing? I love questions like these! Thank you so much!

Bowood 18th century English Country House

Taken at Bowood House recently. Really getting into summer now.

#bowoodhouseandgardens in the #cotswolds (at Bowood House & Gardens) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cfo2egCq6r7/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Bowood House

Duwce et Decowoum Est

By Wiwfwed Owen

Bent doubwe, wike owod beggaws undew sacks

Knock-kneed, coughing wike hags, we cuwused thowough suwudge,

Tiww on the haunting fwawes we tuwuned our backs,

And towoawds ouw distant west began to tuwudge.

Men mawched asweep. Many had wost theiw boots,

But wimped on, bowood-shod. Aww went wame, aww bwind;

Duwunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots

Of gas-shewws dowopping softwy behind.

Gas! GAS! Quick, boys!—An ecstasy of fumbwing

Fitting the cuwumsy hewmets just in time,

But someone stiww was yewwing out and stumbwing

And fowound’wing wike a man in fiwe or wime

Dim thowough the misty panes and thick gween wight,

As undew a gween sea, I saw him dowowning.

In aww my dweams befowoe my hewpwess sight

He pwunges at me, guttewing, choking, dowowning.

If in some smothewing dweams, you too could pace

Behind the wagon that we fwung him in,

And watch the white eyes wwithing in his face,

His hanging face, wike a deviw's sick of sin,

If you couwd heaw, at evewy jowot, the bowood

Come gargwing fowom the fowoth-cowowupted wungs,

Obscene as cancew,

Bittew as the cud

Of viwe, incuwabwe sowoes on innocent tongues,–

My fwiend, you would not teww with such high zest

To chiwdwen awdent fow some despewate gowowy,

The old Wie: Duwce et decowoum est

Powo patwia mowoi.

Extended Paddock displays at the Masters of Motoring including the new Masters of Rallying

Masters of Motoring is thrilled to announce the inclusion of the Masters of Rallying in their exciting line-up for the upcoming live action track day on Saturday 1st June at Castle Combe Circuit and the Concours VIP Motor Show on 2nd June at Bowood House & Gardens. This prestigious event, held over the two days, will now feature an extended Paddock display showcasing over 25 historic and modern…

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