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Odds n' Ends..! |
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Berkshire is home to Windsor Castle, Eton College and, more recently, Legoland. It may seem a little out of
place, but you try sneaking past without the kids noticing!
Click on the headings to find out more:
Eton College gives an insight into the British class system and life in one of the great public
schools (a public school in England means 'private' and exclusive). 18 prime ministers of England were educated
here and present pupils include future king Prince William and his brother Harry. Basic tuition
fees start at around 13,000 pounds a year. A pedestrian bridge over the Thames links Windsor and Eton.
Windsor Castle overlooks the town and the River Thames and has been home to British royalty for
nearly a thousand years. It's a marvellous medieval castle and areas are open to the public from March to
October. The State Apartments are closed when the royals are in residence. When the Queen is at home the
Royal Standard flies from the Round Tower.
St George's Chapel (part of the castle, but closed on Sundays) has more royal tombs than you can poke a sceptre
at - George III, George IV, George V, Queen Mary, George VI, William IV and Edward IV. The wooden oriel window
was built for Catherine of Aragon by Henry VIII. Henry is interred in a separate vault with his favourite wife,
Jane Seymour, and Charles I, who was reunited with his head after losing it in the Tower after the Civil War.
The huge battle sword of Edward III hangs near the tombs of Henry IV, Edward VII and Queen Alexandra. Queen
Victoria and Prince Albert are buried in the Frogmore Royal Mausoleum in the castle ground. Next door to St
George's Chapel is the Albert Memorial Chapel (built in 1240), which has been elaborately restored.
The State Apartments are almost beyond description for their opulence and collection of
artworks. You will find works by Rubens, Hogarth, Reynolds, Gainsborough, Van Dyck, Holbein, Durer
and Rembrandt spread throughout the different rooms.
For a smaller house treat, Queen Mary's Doll's House is a gem. It was built in 1923 by architect Sir Edwin
Lutyens on a 1:12 scale. The bathrooms even have running water. (You'll find this by entering through
the North Terrace).
Legoland (Windsor) is modelled on its Danish counterpart and, apart from the model masterpieces,
there are plenty of white-knuckle fun rides for children aged 2 to 12.
Reading is a large commercial city wisely avoided by visitors looking for scenery and quaint villages. It is home to Reading Gaol however, which may interest fans of Oscar Wilde who was a resident there in 1885/6.
Nearby Reading Railway Station is also not much to look at but it was there in 1919 that Lawrence of Arabia lost
the only copy of his hand-written, 250,000 word manuscript of Seven Pillars of Wisdom so he had to start again
from the beginning. And we complain when the computer crashes!
In the parish churchyard of Sutton Courtney (8 miles south of Oxford) are the graves of Eric Arthur Blair
(George Orwell) and H.H. Asquith, Prime Minister from 1908 - 1916.
The Uffington White Horse (near Wantage) is the best known of several horses carved into the chalk hillsides
dating back to the Iron Age. It's also where St George is meant to have killed the dragon. This could have
something to do with the fact that there are pubs in the area called The White Horse and the George and Dragon.
Wantage is a pleasant little market town and was birthplace of King Alfred the Great in 849. It's also home to
an order of Anglican nuns called the Wantage Sisters. Look for the ladies wearing sandals.
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