SCHNOODLES AND RICHMOND PARK MAY 26 - JUNE 9, 2018

Leaving Otterton, Friday morning, we turned into the beach town of Lyme Regis and saw this darling VW and surfboard. After a nice walk around town and a very welcoming coffee house, we headed on our way towards Godalming and our stay for the night. 

As we drove further towards London we had time to stop at the NT site of Thomas Hardy's home, Max Gate. Not far from downtown Dorchester, Hardy designed and built the house in 1885. Many of the "personal possessions of Hardy's were dispersed before the National Trust acquired the property so they furnished the space he created to write and live in". The house was named after a nearby tollgate keeper named Mack". NT   The gardens are still laid out as originally planned with high walls and tall trees to protect his privacy. 

 croquet set up on the lawn for visitors to enjoy.

 Then close by we had a short drive to the thatch cottage and birthplace of Thomas Hardy, born in 1840. The cottage was built of cob and thatch by his great-grandfather and has been altered little since ether family left.  The rooms had very low ceilings , small windows and tiny spaces, interesting to tour but sure wouldn't want to live in.

Hardy was a trained architect but his first love was writing. It was from here that he wrote several of his early short stories, poetry and his novel, "Far from the Madding Crowd".

 The gardens were in beautiful bloom, a perfect cottage garden wild and free with roses round the door. It's amazing to me that the National Trust has been able to acquire so many historic homes and estates of England's celebrated writers and artists.  How lucky were we to have time to see so many!

 But time was slipping by and we had Friday night traffic to deal with as we made our way to the Richmond Park area to meet our family and two schnoddles. Turns out we were only miles away from Wimbledon! The house was fantastic, another lovely stay for 10 nights with our dogs, Mungo and Billie.

A lovely backyard where we spent the majority of our time. Days were warm and often the house was too hot, since we had an AGA stove again.

These little guys loved jumping from the back of a nearby love seat up onto the warm towel on top of the burner. 

Being quite close to London we used the train to get about more than the rental car. 

 We took advantage of being that close to the city and saw two great productions, Dream Girls and The Lion King.  Excellent and easy going to afternoon matinees and back in time to feed and walk Mungo and Billie.

 It was fun to buy a special pass for early admission and a drink before the seeing the Lion King, Wednesday, June 6.

 We'd pass this lovely park on our way back to the train, everyone out enjoying the warm summer days.

 One Sunday we waited in line for a tour of Westminster Abbey.  Well worth getting there very early and having wonderful seats in the choir box. Then a short visit to Harrod's followed by a fantastic Italian lunch across the street, side entrance. Excellent!

 Jean and Andrew, friends from Whitstable also joined us for a day at Windsor Palace.

 When the flag is flying, the Queen is in residence...but we didn't see her anywhere!

 St George's Chapel where Prince Harry and Meghan were married just weeks before!

 And, every day we walked the various paths through Richmond Park just five houses down the street from us with our happy guys. The park was created by Charles I in the 17th-century as a deer park.  It is the largest of London's Royal Parks and known for its wildlife conservation. A large herd of deer live in the park so we were always alert to where they had decided to settle each day and we'd alter our walking trails accordingly. There are several architectural buildings in the park including this one, The White Lodge, which was formerly a Royal Residence.

I think we were most surprised by the number of cyclists, fast racing cyclists, that rode the roadways of the park, even with cars sharing the tiny roads. There are bridal paths, a golf course and a lovely garden at Isabella Plantation, gorgeous blooms of Rhododendrons and Camellias.  We never tired of the park and all its beautiful space.

 Te family returned June 9 and we had flights booked with American Airlines, London Heathrow to Jacksonville, Sunday June 10, where we'd left the RV in storage. So it was time to say goodbye to a fantastic springtime in England. What an amazing 3 months it had been!