Wednesday, 5th April, 2023
Today was Russell's birthday so we took part in a "Zoom" session to
wish him well for the day. Because of the nine-hour time difference
between Melbourne and England, we did this at 12:30am our time and
9:30am Melbourne time.
After more discussions with the bank, we resolved to try another car
rental company today. Satoshi chose Avis as they were closest to our
accommodation. This time we were treated as customers! There was no
waiting at all, the agent was friendly, knowledgeable and
reassuring. The financial aspect went without a hitch and we were
driving out of the gate within half an hour of getting there. We
have a very nice Peugeot in which to drive around for the rest of
our holiday. Absolutely wonderful, Avis! Issues around getting a
refund from Easirent remain. We shall see.
After packing the car, we headed off to Bournemouth. On the way, we
visited Highcliffe Castle. This
was built in 1830 for Lord Stuart de Rothesay. It remained in the
family until the 1950s when all its furniture and 30,000 books were
sold. During the 1960s it was purchased by a businessman who wanted
to redevelop it. The local council refused to provide building
permits. Soon after, there was a fire (which was found to have been
started in three different places within the building). Not at all
suspicious! The building was then left as a ruin for 30 years until
it was bought by the local council who, with the help of English
Heritage have done their best to restore it with a new roof and
internal floors. Although it is nothing like it was in its heyday
(when notables such as Dame Nellie Melba and King Edward VII were
guests there) it was still very impressive.
We then drove on to Bournemouth where we had accommodation booked at
the Norfolk Royale Hotel which, as its name suggests, is a rather
majestic building. After dinner at McDonald's, we went to the
musical "The Calendar Girls" at the Pavilion Theatre. The show was
entertaining, funny and uplifting. We both thought that the sound
was amplified rather too much but it did mean that we could hear the
dialogue clearly.
Highcliffe Castle
The Great Hall
This huge stained glass window was made up of many different
sections of medieval glass which Lord Stuart de Rothesay had collected in
France.
Detail of the window
The Great Hall, looking in the other direction. There was once
a grand staircase at the end of the hall.
Marble does not burn so this, and some other carvings, escaped
the fire.
This was once an intricate fireplace. Its clever design
included a chimney which was inside the wall on the left.
Originally, most of the walls were panelled in oak. Most of it
was either sold off or destroyed in the fire. Only a few
fragments survive.
This and the next few photographs were taken by "Country Life"
magazine in 1942 to record the details of country houses in
case they were bombed during WWII. It was fortunate that they
did as it is believed they are the only record of the house in
its heyday.
Part of the gardens at the castle
This track leads down to the beach.
There are so many daffodils in England at present. They grow
wild almost everywhere!
The Norfolk Royale Hotel