Downton & Binsey
On our walk to pick up our rental car we passed The Wild Table of Love sculpture just outside Paddington Station. The plaque reads, “The Wild Table of Love by internationally renowned artists, Gillie and Marc, features a banquet table full of delicious food, hosted by internationally beloved hybrid characters, Rabbitwoman and Dogman. Sharing their table with ten of the most endangered animals in the world, they are opening their hearts to the wild world, promising to protect them from the threat of extinction. When we sit and share a meal, we share friendship and support. With two empty seats at the table, you can join the family of love, becoming a protector of wildlife and saving many species from the threat of extinction. This is part of the broader 'Love The Last' project, a social movement driven by public art to raise awareness, funds, and support for endangered animals across the world, encouraging people to take action before we lose these animals forever.”
Our rental was a Nissan Qashqai, the name under which the compact SUV is known in all countries except in the United States. The Qashqai are Turkic people who live in mountainous Central and Southwestern Iran. In the U.S., the car was rebadged the Rogue Sport.
Runnymede
“As foul as hell is, it is defiled by the presence of King John.”
—Benedictine monk and chronicler, Matthew Paris, 1230
We owe Magna Carta to the cowardice and tyranny of King John.
King John (1166-1216) was an unusually cruel and corrupt king, whose punishments were swift and extreme.
In 1208, angry with his close friend Sir William de Braose, he demanded William's son as a hostage. William's wife, Maud, refused, so John had her and her son imprisoned and starved to death. When they were found, the young man's cheek had been eaten in desperation by his mother.
King John's reputation for cruelty did not follow him onto the battlefield, where he was as likely to flee as he was to fight. After 15 years of rule, he had lost most of his French lands in battle, more than half of his father's empire. This meant that the barons, the most powerful knights of his court, also lost their French estates.
To make up for his losses, John taxed the barons heavily. Exasperated, the barons tried to present John with a list of demands to limit his power.
He refused to meet with them, so the barons marched on London, taking control of the King's treasury.
Unable to pay his troops, John was forced to negotiate.
In June 1215 a field called Runnymede was chosen as neutral territory for both sides to meet—three miles from King John's Windsor Castle and two from the barons' stronghold at Staines. The Archbishop of Canterbury Stephen Langton mediated negotiations.
King John agreed to a document called the “Articles of the Barons.” Over the next few days, these articles were rewritten, expanded, and put into the legal language of a royal charter. Around June 19, King John put his seal on the final draft of Great Charter.
The new Great Charter—later known as Magna Carta—described how the kingdom would be ruled. For the first time in British history it was laid down that a monarch—a king or a queen—should also obey the law.
Foul King John
Our first stop was at Runnymede. In this meadow met King John and his supporters, the rebel barons, and Archbishop of England on June 15, 1215. The first jury originated from Clause 39 of Magna Carta, which states:
“No free man shall be arrested or imprisoned or disseised [property taken] or outlawed or exiled or in any way victimized, neither will we attack him or send anyone to attack him, except by the lawful judgment of his peers [men of equal status] or by the law of the land.”
From 1215, all trials were held in front of a jury of 12 local men, who decided the verdict. It wasn't until the twentieth century in Britain that women were called as jurors. The Jurors sculpture above was created in 2015 by British sculptor Hew Locke.
Also at Runnymede is the Kennedy Memorial. The memorial is entered by passing through this gate. The quote on the front is from his inauguration as president in 1961 and the quote on the back is from his address to the American University in Washington D.C. in 1963. These were carefully chosen to reflect Kennedy's exceptional ability as a speechmaker and the enduring impact of his words, inspiring future generations to strive to make a better world.
Amanda is standing on American soil inside the U.K.. The memorial, and the land it is on, was given to the people of the United States after President Kennedy's assassination on November 22, 1963. The memorial was funded by public donations and the U.K. government, while the land was donated by Queen Elizabeth Il who dedicated the memorial to Kennedy in 1965.
Architect Geoffrey Jellicoe designed the steep, 50-step path, reflecting the number of American states. The 60,000 granite setts that make up the path represent the trials of the individual pilgrim on their personal journey.
At the top is this seven-ton rectangular memorial made of Portland stone. Here the steps level off to encourage visitors to pause and reflect on Kennedy's life and tragic death. To the right of the memorial is a stone path that leads to two Seats of Reflection overlooking the Thames, representing the President and First Lady.
On the hilltop overlooking the meadow of Runnymede and the River Thames just beyond.
The first meeting of the American Bar Association (ABA) after the Second World War took place at Runnymede in 1957. Over 5,000 guests from America and Britain celebrated their shared legal traditions by unveiling the first large scale memorial to Magna Carta at Runnymede.
After America freed itself from British rule, the ideals of Magna Carta inspired the American Bill of Rights and Constitution. Unlike Britain, where the monarch is the ultimate lawgiver, in America it is the collective will of the people as represented by the Constitution—Freedom Under Law.
On March 16, 1994, the Prime Minster of India, Parnaparthi Narasimha Rao, planted an English oak tree here alongside a memorial stone that reads, “As a tribute to the historic Magna Carta: a source of inspiration throughout the world and as an affirmation of the values of Freedom, Democracy, and the Rule of Law which the People of India cherish and have enshrined in their Constitution.”
12 Picket Post Close
Our second stop was to Picket Post Close.
12 Picket Post Close was the original exterior for Number Four Privet Drive, Harry Potter’s childhood home which he shared with Vernon, Petunia, and Dudley “Dinky Duddydums” Dursley.
Rather than being in Little Whinging, Surrey, the home is situated in the predominantly muggle town of Bracknell, Berkshire.
This home was only used as Number Four Privet Drive in the first Harry Potter film. Most wizards who have been on the Warner Bros. Harry Potter studio tour will know that Privet Drive was replicated in a studio for the subsequent seven wizarding movies. (Looking at this photo and the one above, it seems the neighbors to the left did a bit of remodeling over the garage. Looks like they added CG chimneys too.)
Downton Abbey
Stop 3 was to the incomparable Highclere Castle, better known the world over as Downton Abbey.
This incredible green man was carved into a large tree stump on the drive up to the house.
The house is rarely open, so we were quite pleased to see there were openings during our short stay in London.
In the secret garden.
At the famous front door. Sadly, there are no photographs allowed inside. We can only report that standing in the famous towering salon, next to the green silk walls of the drawing room, below the many portraits in the dining room, and touching the books and red couches in the library were nothing short of thrilling!
The greatest moment of all, of course, was walking down the grand staircase! We couldn’t take any pictures, so we just had to walk down slowly, sliding our hands down the handrail and savoring every moment!
Binsey
One of Amanda’s many YouTube influencers recommended this book. She read it, loved it, and recommended it to me. I too really enjoyed the story, which is largely set in the small village of Binsey, just outside Oxford.
The story includes other real-life locations including the charming pub known as The Perch and the tiny parish church of St. Margaret’s, aka The Church and The Perch.
The church farmhouse mentioned in the book.
Approaching St. Margaret’s, where legend says St. Frideswide, the patron saint of Oxford, built an oratory (small chapel) in Saxon times.
Born about 680, the daughter of a Christian nobleman, Frideswide was pursued by the Mercian prince Algar, who wished to marry her. She escaped to Binsey, where she worked for three years as a swineherd.
Meanwhile, Algar, in search of her, was blinded by lightning. Frideswide cured his blindness by water from St. Margaret’s Well, which she caused to appear close to the west end of the church by praying to St. Margaret of Antioch.
The well is incorporated into The Secret Book of Flora Lea.
In medieval times, “treacle” meant “a healing liquid.” In Chapter 7, “A Mad Tea-Party,” of Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, the dormouse tells Alice a story about three sisters, Elsie, Lacey, and Tillie, who lived at the bottom of a well and "lived on treacle.” Carroll attended university at Christ Church college in nearby Oxford and based the well on his visits to St. Margaret’s Church.
The church entrance and aging belfry.
Such a bucolic setting so close to bustling Oxford.
The bank of the River Thames from which Flora Lea disappeared.
Swan on The Thames.
The riverside entrance to The Perch pub.
Dinnertime!
This being England, dogs are “very welcome”!
The pub’s back lawn on a glorious day.
The willow tress were so beautiful.
Looking toward where we sat for dinner.
A bottle of fizzy water from nearby Blenheim Palace.
Our sentiments precisely!
Amanda had the Spring Vegetable & Wild Garlic Pearl Barley Risotto, while I had the Perch Vegan Cheeseburger with house ketchup & triple-cooked chips. We both enjoyed a pint of local ale.
Dark Chocolate Tart for dessert.
It was too nice out to sit indoors, but, as you can see, the interior is pretty darn charming.
Back in “watch-your-head” land.
A drawing of Alice in Wonderland on the mantel.
The thatched roof is topped with a perch finial.
The front entrance.
Pubs—the crowing jewels of England!
