L2L Day 21 Buckingham / Stowe - 8 miles

In for a penny in for a pound.!

I decided that if I was going to be back walking tomorrow then I might as well try a shorter distance today. and see how it goes and if I walked out towards Stowe I'd also reduce the length of tomorrow's walk.

Apart from that, the forecast promised sunshine for most of the day - any enforced torpor was going to be a challenge!

I set off along Stowe Avenue - a one mile, dead straight lane that leads to Stowe's Corinthian Arch on the brow.

The 'gardens' feel more like an idealised natural landscape set out as a collection of pleasing set-pieces

with lakes, bridges, buildings and temples set out just where your eye would like to see them.

The Temple of Friendship

It was quiet and the atmosphere in the gardens was lovely.

Even a Robin joined in!

I was enjoying it so much I decided to have a look at the inside of the house as well 

and had an excellent guided tour with guide David Johns - initially from Blaenavon. 

He explained that the estate had been developed over 300 years by successive generations of the Temple family who'd started in the farming and wool industry but had expanded their wealth and influence through investments, politics and careful marriage.

David explained that the Temples were amongst the wealthiest families in the country and had been prodigous collectors of art from across Europe.

With their increasing wealth, successive generations of the family engaged top designers to extend the house - Cleare, Vanbrugh, Kent, Gibbs, Borra, Robert Adam and Capability Brown. As David put it, "At Stowe, everyone had a go!!"

All had continued well for the family until bad debts caught up with the 3rd Duke in the 1920s when the contents of the house had to be sold - apparently it was one of the first significant auctions for Christies.

With the house vacated, the building was set up as Stowe School in 1923. 

The first headmaster was JF Roxburgh who'd previously worked at Lancing College. Over his career he'd taught Evelyn Waugh and David Niven. 
Apparently his ethos was that the boys (pupils from Stowe are known as Stoics) should be "acceptable at a dance and invaluable in a shipwreck.".

I don't remember the Dining Room at Ysgol Ardudwy, Harlech being anything like these!!! I'm absolutely positive we didn't have tapestries on the walls.

Continuing the artistic heritage of the school and its grounds Roxburgh believed that all pupils would "know beauty when he sees it all his life" and in that vein,  I noticed 

in the school library, apart from Physics and Chemistry, there were shelves devoted to Poussin, Goya, Hockney to Dior.

A very good tour.

Then what seemed like a  l o n g  walk back along the Drive to Buckingham.

Time to get the earbuds out again. Now where was I with the Brothers K? Ah yes! Book XI Chapter 4. It's getting heavy!!!

On the way into town I passed a barber shop where they had a Francis Barnett in the window. 

The last time I'd seen a FB was 2nd year at University when my flatmate Rod Emberton had promised (attempted) to ride it down to Cardiff from his parents croft in the Highlands. 

It'd apparently coughed it's way to Aberdeen where he'd managed to put it on the train. Though I remember it in the garden on Cathedral Rd, I'm sure I'd remember if it'd ever started again.

Then back to the room and a well deserved ice pack on the knee!!!

Over supper, while watching Liverpool vs PSG, I got talking to Seonad and Chris Lawer. Having a breadth of professional experience including hearse driving, Seonad works in the Probation Service and Chris, while being an ardent Plymouth Argyl supporter, teaches at Bristol University and runs UMIO - a company "specialising in "Real Lived Experience" (RLX) to transform health, care, and enterprise strategies." I think Hamish would enjoy this conversation.

While watching Dembele score the decider we had a too brief chat. What an interesting couple. The final whistle went too early!