A Good Day Out: the London Temple and Chartwell

     I spent the last two days of my England trip with dear friends and family.  On Thursday evening, I made my way to Pembury to spend the night with Shirley and Dave.  It was great to be back in their lovely, familiar home.  It just so happened that some very good friends of mine who are from San Diego - Scott Woolley and his daughter Robyn - were visiting England the same week as me, and needed a place to stay for a few days.  Shirley and Dave very graciously said they could stay with them, so when I got to Pembury, I was blessed to be greeted by both my in-laws and my friends.
     Scott is a huge Churchill fan, so he couldn't miss the opportunity to go to Chartwell, the Churchill home which is only about 20 miles from Pembury.  Thus, a tour of Chartwell was the undisputed plan for Friday.  Chartwell is also near the London Temple, so we decided to make a trip to the temple as well.  It was wonderful to go back to a place that has been such an important part of my spiritual life.

Scott and Robyn make the pilgrimage to the London Temple

My children have played countless times on these grounds; it was great to be back.

     

A statue of Churchill just outside Chartwell, in the village of Westerham

     We made it to Chartwell by lunchtime.  This is important.  This meant that we could eat lunch at Chartwell! And it turns out that at Chartwell they have the Landemare Café, named after Georgina Landemare, who was the Churchill's cook from 1939-1954.  The good people at National Trust have taken the trouble of putting some of Churchill's favorite dishes on the menu at the café, inspired by Landemare's recipes.  This is thrilling for someone like me, obsessed with food and with history.  So I ordered the lamb stew, reputedly something to which Churchill was partial.



The lamb stew, consumed in honor of Churchill ... why not?



     And there is this charming sign in the café, a tribute to the importance of the ancient rituals of cooking and eating:



Encouragement for good cooks everywhere!

     After lunch we toured the house.  No pictures allowed, I'm afraid, but going through this time I was impressed Churchill's broad talents - his literary talents, his wide-ranging intellectual interests, and of course his understanding of law.  Even a quick peruse of whatever of Churchill's library they have on display shows a fascinating range of subjects.  This inspires me - indeed, I went home with a renewed commitment to read Churchill's History of the English Speaking Peoples - but also worries me about the way so many of us live now.  It is simply true that in Churchill's day they had less distractions than we do, and with our hyper-connectivity and hyper-communication rendered possible through social media, I do think that we are losing the art of using time for reflection and serious thought.  I think Arianna Huffington agrees with me, although I'm not 100% sure as, as a matter of principle, I don't read her books.
     At the end of the house tour there is a display of various letters between Churchill and his family, friends and colleagues.  I appreciated especially the letters between Churchill and Clementine, my favorite being this one from Clementine:  'My Darling, I am writing to you because I know how busy you are, and conversation would take longer and might degenerate into a long and tedious argument.  Yours affectionately, Clementine.'  I think that's perfect.  It describes my marriage far more accurately than I care to admit.
     I also like this one, from Churchill to Clementine, in that it shows the day-to-day grind of thinking and writing for pay:  'My Darling, I have polished off two more articles to help pay the income tax and perhaps I may get another one out of myself this afternoon or tomorrow morning.  Your ever loving and devoted W.'
     But my favorite quote of the day was from Churchill regarding his work as an artist.  He took up painting as a hobby but was always very self-deprecating about his abilities and his art work:  'We must not be ambitious.  We cannot aspire to masterpieces.  We must content ourselves with a joy ride in a paint box.'  I love this idea of forbidding oneself to 'aspire to masterpieces', but rather just to try to enjoy one's craft.  Very English.  Not very American.
     After the house it was a stroll around the beautiful gardens.

Robyn in an English garden; she was very happy.



The pond just outside the Churchill home

 



Vegetable and flower gardens, with walls



Rhubarb!!

 

 

English roses ...

 

 

Robyn and I on the patio just outside the house

     We ended the day at ... where else? ... the gift shop.  I love National Trust gift shops!  I was financially and spatially constrained, so whatever I got had to be inexpensive and small.  But I knew what I wanted to get before I even set foot in the door.  I knew I had to get my hands on a cookbook that contained at least some of Mrs. Landemare's recipes.  I looked high and low but could find nothing.  Finally, just at closing time, I found the PERFECT book, tucked away nearly out of sight on a bookshelf.  Churchill's Cookbook, which is a collection of Georgina Landemare's recipes which she cooked for the Churchill's when they lived at 10 Downing Street.  To me, it's a priceless book, and I've been cooking out of it ever since I got back.