Chartwell House

Today Carl and I took a 30-minute train ride outside of London to Chartwell House - the country home of Winston Churchill.

(We originally planned to go to an agricultural fair in the Cotswolds -- a fair with a horse show and a dog show and demonstrations of other livestock like goats, pigs, and chickens. There was also going to be home crafts as well as food items. But recent heavy rains - as well as more rain predicted for today - caused them to cancel half the events at the fair. So we decided an indoor venue would be more appropriate for the day. )

Churchill's country home was charming - with beautiful gardens, several ponds, and an enormous natural-looking swimming pool - all on large stretches of green fields and hills. We took a tour through the inside of the house which is filled with the original furniture used while Churchill lived there.

Chartwell House is one of many hundreds of historical houses and castles around Britain that are owned and maintained by The National Trust. (We were fortunate to have been given a membership in the National Trust by our Weston friends, Sandra and Bruce, when we first arrived in London.)

On the way back to the train station from Chartwell House, we asked the taxi driver to take us through the High Street (Main Street) of Seven Oaks - the town where we would catch the train back to London. The taxi driver (who, by the way, is a retired math and physics teacher who now writes books for teenagers) told us that Seven Oaks is a very expensive town because it is only a 30-minute commute from London. The homes are beautiful there - and the schools are very good. The High Street was filled with interesting shops - and there was a pedestrian area in the middle of town so folks could shop without worrying about traffic.

On the train back to London, Carl and I commented on how, whenever we travel to the English countryside, we have seen no shopping centers and no strip malls. When you leave London on the train, and move past the the homes in the outskirts, and the industrial areas, you quickly come across green fields and meadows. Then there are farmlands. The countryside is dotted with individual homes and manors. When you come to a village, there are homes and shops and pubs and schools. They are all located in and around the center of town. It is a small town - with a real town center.

We don't miss the strip malls.