Author: Kristine Hughes

POST-TOUR: LITERARY WINDSOR

While Kristine slept…Victoria went wandering, finding a Tour of Literary Windsor on my agenda.

Queen Victoria was the first literary figure we discussed. The Queen not only wrote extensively; she was also an accomplished artist in water colors.
On the High Street we found a plaque honoring H. G. Wells who worked here in 1880.
On a wall near the castle, a sign commemorates Mrs. Delaney, an artist, and Fanny Burney, noted novelist and playwright.

Ye Olde King’s Head dates from the time of Henry VIII and was reputedly the home of Shakespeare while he wrote The Merry Wives of Windsor. 

Above and below, home of poet and hymnist S. J. Stone (1836-1900). One of his most famous is “The Church’s One Foundation,” 1866

The tour at the gateway to the park Bachelors Acre which honors 
editor and publisher Charles Knight (1791-1873

Map of the park

A quiet day in Bachelors Acres

Above and below Joseph Chariott’s House; the Victorian philanthropist built many almshouses in Windsor.

Our last stop was Oliphant House, residence of Margaret Oliphant, a 19th century novelist and historian who lived here in Clarence Crescent; she wrote more than 120 books.

It was time now to pack up and depart Windsor, Kristine’s misery not withstanding. We decided to take a taxi to our next stop in Hampstead-  quite a long ride, but efficiently accomplished as we prepared ourselves for more adventures ahead.

THE DUCHESS OF DEVONSHIRE AUCTION

This March, Sotheby’s, London, will be auctioning items belonging to

2 March | London 



Born into English society as the youngest of the Mitford Sisters, Deborah, Duchess of Devonshire was unfailingly elegant yet down-to-earth. This March, Sotheby’s will offer more than 450 objects from her personal collection, including jewellery, works by artist friends like Lucian Freud, family photos and charming hen-related objects. 

I admit here that I have always had a special affinity for this Duchess, as for her predecessor, Georgiana. 


Both women lead spectacular lives, albeit for different reasons, but each was a star in her own right. I believe that their connections to Chatsworth House adds to my affections, as Chatsworth remains my personal favourite Stately Home. 




Still, you have to admire Deborah Mitford, who grew up in a stellar family and who married a minor member of the aristocracy, who ascended to the dukedom when his elder brother was killed in WWII. Through it all, the Duchess remained Debo to all – her down to earth, get it done mindset allowed her and the Duke to pull Chatsworth from the brink of bankruptcy and turn it into the most successful of British estates and a model for other members of the peerage who afterwards opened their own homes to the public. Through it all, the Duchess remained true to herself and to her love of country pursuits, including her involvemet in championing many breeds of British livestock, including her beloved hens, which can still be seen at Chatsworth. The Duchess was also an ardent fan of Elvis Presley. 

Deborah would never have become Duchess had the Duke’s elder brother, William Cavendish, Marquess of Hartington, who was married to Kathleen “Kick” Kennedy, sister to the President, not died before him. You can read more about that chapter of Chatsworth history here.

For more background on Deborah, Duchess of Devonshire and the auction, you will find the article from the Daily Mail here.

And you will find a slideshow of limited items from the Sotheby’s sale on their website here.

POST-TOUR WINDSOR: QUEEN VICTORIA'S LOO

While we were in Windsor after the tour Kristine, of course, came down with the usual malady she suffers through on each of her trips over. Thank goodness it waited to arrive until after the Tour was finished. While she lay dying in bed at the hotel,  I trotted off to see a few Windsor sights I had missed on previous visits. Nothing like a good friend in need, I thought.  But to tell the truth she was in no mood to be either entertained or conversed with. The best thing I could do was let her sleep!!

One place I was eager to see was the special area in the Windsor and Eton Railroad Station that had been reserved for the use of Queen Victoria and her attendants back in the day.

I had long heard it was in the station, but where?  That station has been turned into shopping mall — which we had visited to enthuse over the Jo Malone shop — a favorite of both of us for special luxurious and fragrant cosmetics,  Never saw the Queen’s loo.  But when I enquired at the station, I was pointed in the direction of All Bar One restaurant at the far end.

And indeed,  it was entirely open to the public, if you knew it was there.  The writing on the door says ‘This room is reserved’ — but the proprietors are perfectly willing to allow one inside.

It was fitted out as a special private dining room — not the actual loo of course, but the associated small waiting rooms used by the Royal party.

The basin and loo were actually glassed off, either to protect them or to continue the exclusivity…if Queen Elizabeth II happened by, would they allow her to use the facility???

Just outside All Bar One, was a  non-working locomotive.

It seems that the locomotive is about all that is left from displays formerly set up on the station by Madame Tussaud’s wax museum, no longer in operation in Windsor.

The text panel reads:  The locomotive is a full scale replica of the GWR Achilles class 4-2-2 locomotive No. 3041. It was built in 1804 and originally named “Emlyn” after Lord Emlyn, Chairman of the Great Western Railway Company. Repainted in 1897, in GWR livery, the great locomotive, 57 feet long was renamed “The Queen” especially to pull the six new carriages of the Royal Train. No examples of these locomotives survive today and “The Queen” (later renamed “James Mason”) was withdrawn from service  in 1912.

Next time you are in Windsor, check it out!  Not as stunning as the Castle, but an amusing sidelight on the Queen who was the first Royal to use the railroads for her travel.