Visiting Chastleton House - film location for Wolf Hall

By - Blue Badge Tour Guide - Anne Bartlett


Arriving at Chastleton House

Hilary Mantel's award winning historical novel Wolf Hall, chronicling the rise of Thomas Cromwell, was mainly filmed on location in South Wales and the South West region of England. This was brilliant because most of the properties belonged to the National Trust, and were ideal places to visit with my groups.  As always, the preparations were shrouded in secrecy because the BBC production team were paranoid about spoilers.  I discussed the film with my group, which they had very much enjoyed, however we were curious as to how the BBC were going to recreate the Tudor period back in King Henry VIII's time. 


The Courtyard

Having discussed the TV production we decided to visit Chastleton House in the Cotswolds just on the borders of Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire.  As we arrived there was a signpost in the courtyard pointing out a small exhibition to show how the house was rearranged to cater for the filming some of the scenes, which was very helpful.  I hasten to add, Chastleton House was just one of many locations for the film.  Before we even entered the house, we crossed the courtyard where Thomas Cromwell's father had worked as a blacksmith and a brewer.  The exhibition showed us the changes made to the courtyard and the buildings which really took us back to the film. We remembered and discussed the scenes where Thomas Cromwell had flashbacks to his youth where his drunk and brutal father had kicked and beaten him within an inch of his life. 

Cardinal Wolsey's Bedroom

The inside of Chastleton House was used for several very different scenes.  The photograph on the left is how a visitor would see the great parlour today, it has a particularly fine ceiling and a tapestry depicting a musical party in a country house garden.  In the film this became a guest bedroom in the Seymour's house where Thomas Cromwell slept during King Henry VIII's progress.  You have to imagine the room without the dining table and chairs. Imagine a four poster bed with curtain hangings and bedspreads in front of the tapestry, the wall lights disguised and out of shot, and you have the scene.


The dining hall at the Seymour's house

Chastleton House has a medieval screen passage and hall which was in keeping with a Tudor Manor House.  In the 16th and early 17th centuries the hall would have been used for receiving guests and as a place where the household would have gathered.  In the film Wolf Hall this room was converted to the dining hall of the Seymour's house.  King Henry VIII was having dinner with his courtiers and the Seymour family, when he surprised everybody by falling asleep. It was Jane Seymour who got up from the table and went to wake the King.  A small deed but it got her noticed....

The Long Gallery

This long, barrel-vaulted room was where the family would take their exercise on a cold and wet day.  In the film this is where Thomas Cromwell had a long chat with Anne Boleyn as they looked out of the window to watch King Henry VIII accepting the resignation of his Lord Chancellor Sir Thomas More.

Homemade tea and cakes in the churchyard

The story of the family who owned Chastleton House from 1612 - 1991 before handing it over to the care of the National Trust is a fascinating one.  To have seen the film Wolf Hall and to be able to recognise the rooms as you explore the house is very exciting.  I can most certainly recommend a visit.
Refreshments were available in the church next door and, as it was a sunny afternoon, we sat outside amongst the gravestones enjoying cups of tea and homemade cakes.

 

A Guided Coach Tour to the Real Downton Abbey

By:  Blue Badge Tour Guide - Anne Bartlett

Arriving at Highclere Castle

My coach group were all avid fans of the television series Downton Abbey and had admitted to being glued to their television sets on Sunday evenings to watch the popular period drama, and discover the latest developments in the lives of the aristocratic family and their staff that lived there.  There was no doubt they were really looking forward to visiting the stately home used as the set of the fictional Yorkshire pile of the Earl and Countess of Grantham and their family. 
The photos of Downton Abbey, sorry - the photos of Highclere Castle, are of the ancestral home of the present 8th Earl and Countess of Carnarvon, which has been seen in every episode of the five series of Downton Abbey. 


Familiar view of Highclere Castle as
Downton Abbey

First question was where is it?  Highclere Castle is not in Yorkshire as one would imagine but in Hampshire on the Berkshire - Hampshire border, just off the A34 south of Newbury.

A folly known as Jackdaws Castle
built 1743

We arrived at our destination early and caught a glimpse of the now very familiar tower as we drove up the mile long driveway.  We had timed tickets for entry into the house so, with an hour and a half to spare, we had the opportunity to either wander around the park designed by Capability Brown, or admire the gardens and / or visit the Egyptian Exhibition.  An earlier Earl of Carnarvon had been a very keen amateur archaeologist and along with his archaeological expert Howard Carter had spent many years exploring the ancient Valley of the Kings, where Egyptian pharaohs were buried.  They had famously discovered the Tomb of Tutankhamun (1336BC - 1327BC) and the story is recounted in the cellars of the Castle, so I headed for the exhibition and found it very interesting.

Waiting at the entrance

At 12.30pm we queued at the front door to show our tickets to see the house and to look at the rooms, many of which had become very familiar through our Sunday evenings in front of the television. 

Unfortunately photography wasn't permitted inside Highclere Castle, otherwise I would have been snapping away nineteen to the dozen.  The first room that we saw was instantly recognisable as Lord Grantham's study.  It was the library which was a very large room separated by tall gilded ionic columns, surrounded by mahogany and gold bookcases with over 5,600 leather bound books.  A lot of the Castle furniture was used in the film, but a desk that had been put by the window for Lord Grantham during the series, was no longer in place - had it been antique furniture belonging to the Castle or was it a film prop?



The date of building & family motto

The soaring Neo Gothic Great Hall, around which flow the state rooms was magnificent.   It had a feature stone fireplace and arched stone walls with a decorated frieze all the way around featuring carved and painted heraldic shields of the generations of the Carnarvon family. The beautiful 17th century painted and hand tooled leather panels on the lower walls was very unusual and very rare but it softened the appearance of the room and made it look more cosy.  The whole image is even more impressive than how it appears on the television because on the screen you don't see its full height, that it has a glass roof and is surrounded by a stone carved gallery at first floor level.   The state dining room was again very familiar with the large central dining table as well as paintings, including the equestrian painting of King Charles I by Van Dyke, on the walls.  All it needed was the Crawley family to be seated around the table and you'd be back in the period drama.  We saw more state rooms and some bedrooms but not the servants quarters. 
The 'below stairs' area was created at the Ealing studios and many of the actors and actresses playing the servants hardly ever visited the castle.

Afternoon tea in the grounds of
Highclere Castle

After our self-guided tour we all agreed that it had been a lovely day, and to finish we would enjoy a cream tea in the converted stables at the back of the house, part of the original Elizabethan Manor that hadn't had the Sir Charles Barry make-over. 

We found some tables and cast our eyes round for Mr Carson, Thomas or Alfred. There wasn't a Butler or a Footman to be seen.   I reminded everyone of the lovely lines of the Dowager Countess of Grantham "It's our job to create employment.  An aristocrat with no servants is as much use to the country as a glass hammer."   We all had to pitch in and do our own fetching and carrying, which brought us quickly back into the modern world to sitting around sipping tea and discussing which way of life we would prefer.

 

Gloucester makes its mark on the 2012 Cultural Olympiad

By:  Blue Badge Tour Guide - Anne Bartlett


West end of Gloucester Cathedral


Last week's Gloucester city walking tour had an added highlight:  Gloucester Cathedral had became the location for the filming of some of Shakespeare's historical plays - Henry IV parts 1&2 and Henry V.  These plays will be shown on BBC 2 as part of the multi million pound Cultural Olympiad.

The Director chosen for these films is said to be Sir Richard Eyre in conjunction with Sam Mendes and among the actors, many big names, including; Jeremy Irons who will play Henry IV, Tom Hiddleston, Prince Hal, Rory Kinnear as John of Gaunt, Simon Russell Beale, Falstaff, Julie Walters as Mistress Quickly plus many more.

 The Cathedral's policy was not to close to the public during filming, just restrict access, so it was very exciting for our visitors to see the production in progress.  As my group and I walked across to the north side of the Cathedral we noticed a number of generators producing a smoke which was filling the nave.  This created a haze, a special effect to make beams of light show up across the film set. Scenery, looking like great solid stone walls was being moved into place and the costumed actors were preparing for the next take.

We were told that the nave was being adapted to become 

The great Norman columns of the nave

Westminster Hall in London and the choir and high altar was being transformed to become Westminster Abbey.



The cloisters of Gloucester Cathedral

 Our visitors enjoyed watching the preparations.  After a while, we slipped quietly into the cloisters to enjoy some of the Cathedral's finest architecture, the earliest fan vaulted ceilings dating back to 1350's. It was a briefer look at the Cathedral than normal but we look forward to the Shakespeare season later this year on BBC 2 and will try to identify the shots taken in Gloucester.

Caught on Camera - a boat trip on the River Severn with probably the best Showman in the business

By:  Blue Badge Tour Guide - Anne Bartlett

I love my job as a Blue Badge Tourist Guide but sometimes, on a tour, one comes across the unexpected, as happened to me in a nice way, the other day.

I was taking a group of holidaymakers on a coach trip around the riverside towns of Worcestershire.  We stopped at Stourport-on-Severn to look at its fascinating history and heritage.

Stourport was a pioneer town of the canal age and very important during the Industrial Revolution. We took a look at the canal basins at the end of the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal, which links the River Severn with the Trent and Mersey Canal. I explained how and why Stourport became one of the busiest inland port in the Midlands.

The town grew rapidly and by the 1780's there were brass and iron foundries, a vinegar works, tan yards, worsted spinning mills, carpet mills, barge and boat building yards, warehouses, shops, houses and inns. It was incredibly busy. Today, the industry has all but disappeared and Stourport has reinvented itself, catering very well for the leisure industry and holidaymakers.

We strolled alongside the River Severn to see the locks and then into the town. During our walk we met up with Henry Danter who owns Treasure Island, a funfair that is probably one of the oldest funfairs still operating in this country.

After introducing Henry to my group, Henry was keen to welcome everyone and to show us the River Severn by boat. 

Being a glorious morning we thought a boat trip would be fun, so we all boarded his pleasure cruiser moored just under Stourport bridge and Henry took us on a cruise up the river to the end of the navigation before turning around and taking us down river as far as Lincombe Lock then back to his berth at Stourport.  You can see a photo of some of my holidaymakers sitting at the stern of his boat called 'The Skylark,' with a 'Jolly Roger' - a pirates' flag, fluttering in the wind behind them!

Here is Henry giving us a commentary. What we hadn't realised was our arrival coincided with him being filmed for a television programme about English Showmen and their families. So the camera crew joined us on board for the river cruise and we got ourselves in the picture! 

The programme was recorded for television - channel 5 and is due out in November.

A Cruise Along the Sharpness Canal, Gloucester

By:  Blue Badge Tour Guide - Anne Bartlett

Today I’m going to recommend a sightseeing trip down part of the Sharpness Canal from the Gloucester Waterways museum and back. The journey will be on an historic little ship, which played a very important part in evacuating the British Expeditionary Forces from the beaches of Dunkirk in France during the 2nd World War.

Looking at the pleasure boat with is seats and awning on the top deck and its saloon with tables and chairs below, is doesn’t seem possible that it was able to ply backwards and forwards across the English Channel. But, she was part of a hastily assembled flotilla of about 800 little ships called upon to rescue, in all, about 338,000 stranded British, French and Belgium soldiers from the harbour and beaches of Dunkirk between 27th May and 3rd June 1940.

Queen Boadicea II on its moorings

Called Queen Boadicea II she was built in 1936 as a river boat, operating between Greenwich and Westminster in London, then Kingswear and Dartmouth in Devon before being bought by the Waterways museum to work 74 years later here in Gloucester.

There are a variety of different cruises to take, but the one that my group and I enjoyed was one that operates at least three times daily throughout the summer until October. It’s 45 minute long and took us out of Gloucester Docks and along the Sharpness canal to a place called ‘2 mile bend’, a good turning point where we where able to see a new high level swing bridge built to take the new road, Gloucester’s South Western by pass over the canal.

The skipper told us that before the building of the Sharpness Canal small sailing ships used the River Severn to get to Gloucester but because of tides, sand banks, narrow channels and other hazards it could take 2 weeks to make the journey. A ship canal to bypass the river was started in 1793 but the company went bankrupt after 5 years with only 5 miles of canal having been built. 34 years later, with the help of the great engineer Thomas Telford, the Sharpness canal was finally completed, and when it opened it was the largest and deepest canal in the world.

The ship canal made Gloucester a very important trading centre in the 19th century and was a gateway for waterborne transport to the industrial Midlands. However, during the 20th century, more and more cargo was being transported by the railways, then later by roads and motorways. Warehouses and Industry dependant on the Sharpness canal fell into decline. Today there are big changes taking place alongside the canal and I do recommend a boat trip every now and again for an update on what is happening around Gloucester Docks.

The latest information I have on the departure times for the Queen Boadicea II is 12 0’clock, 1.30 and 2.30 in the afternoon. There are 80 seats on the boat, though it does get very full, and for £4.75 per adult and £3.50 for a child you get a very enjoyable trip as well as an interesting commentary by the Skipper.

For further information it is best to phone 01452 318200 which is the telephone number of the Gloucester Waterways museum.

A day that a replica of the historic ship
The Matthew visited Gloucester Docks

For guided walking tours of Gloucester Docks

For guided group coach tours around Gloucestershire

Contact:  anne@tourandexplore.com

The Regency Town of Cheltenham in Gloucestershire

By: Blue Badge Tour Guide - Anne Bartlett

The Promenade, Cheltenham

Cheltenham is considered one of the most complete Regency towns in England.
The Regency period is part of the late Georgian times. It was when King George III became insane in 1811, but lived until 1820. So his eldest son George became the Prince Regent, and ruled for nine years in the King's stead. Then when his father died George became King George IV and reigned in his own right from 1820-1830. Because of the Prince Regent’s huge influence on fashion, this is known as The Regency Period. Regency architecture was classical in nature. It used the traditional style of building of ancient Greece and Rome. And the typical Regency upper or middle-class houses were built in brick and covered in stucco or painted plaster with fluted Greek columns or pilasters, and carefully moulded cornices with beautiful decorative ironwork. So the building style is best described as "refined elegance".

How did Cheltenham develop from an insignificant medieval village to what you see today? Well surprisingly it’s thanks to a flock of pigeons and a very poorly king George III.

Back in 1716 a farmer called William Mason had bought a field in Bayshill (which is where the Ladies College now stands) and had the intention of farming it, but he noticed that pigeons were continually pecking near a trickle of mineral water running at the edge of the field. Spa towns such as Bath and Tunbridge Wells were becoming increasingly popular as health resorts for the wealthy. With this in mind, Mason developed the spring, fenced it, and built a thatched hut over it. He sold glasses of the mineral water to the public and his business venture was moderately successful.

William Mason retired and the estate passed to his daughter and son in law, Henry Skillicorne, a sea captain. Henry had a good eye for business and developed the potential of the Bayshill site turning it into a profitable enterprise.

In 1788 King George III had a nasty bilious attack and was recommended the Cheltenham waters by his doctor. So, leaving Windsor castle on 12th July 1788 he arrived in Cheltenham with his family to stay with Lord Fauconberg at his Bayshill House. The Royal family were here for five weeks.

The accounts show that it was a relaxed informal visit. The King would rise early and visit the well at 6 o’clock in the morning to drink the waters. He’d go off on his own riding out to the Cotswolds or he would walk around the town talking to shop keepers or passers by. It was a happy successful visit and by the time the royal party were to leave on the 16th August all Cheltenham came out to see them off – the gentles on one side and the commons on the other, and a band played God Save the King.

Pittville Pump Rooms, Cheltenham

Following the visit of King George III, Cheltenham was on the map, it was a Spa town to be visited. Arthur Welesley, later to become the Duke of Wellington, visited Cheltenham four times, and found relief for his liver complaint caused by a long period of service in India and he recommended the waters to his officers.

Visitors to the town increased and accommodation was needed. Speculators came and lodging houses went up at a great rate. There was a search to find more springs and new wells were opened.

Montpellier Pump Rooms, Cheltenham

After the first, named Royal Well, there was Montpellier Spa, Sherbourne Spa (where the Queen’s Hotel now stands) Vittoria Spa, Cambray Spa, Alstone Spa and Pittville Spa; business was booming. Assembly rooms were built for balls, concerts, card games and billiards. Theatres developed. Gardens were laid out with bandstands and, walks and rides so the fashionable people could promenade with their friends and see and be seen. Here was an opportunity for new friendships to develop, a chance to flirt, to find an aristocratic husband or a wealthy wife, to flaunt new clothes, to frequent the coffee houses and tea rooms, visit bookshops and complain about the extortionate prices.

This was now the Regency period, visiting a spa had become an established social custom. Cheltenham became the Merriest Sick Resort on Earth and probably in most cases the benefits to health were coincidental.

Gustav Holst's statue, Imperial Gardens,
Cheltenham

Cheltenham has two famous sons. Gustav Holst was born here on 21st September 1874 and his birthplace 4, Clarence Street, is a typical Victorian terraced house and a delightful museum which honours his life and tells the story of the man and his music. Some of his personal belongings including his piano are on display. There is a bronze statue of him in Imperial gardens facing the town hall where he attended a 2 hour festival of music in his honour in 1927. He was invited to conduct Somerset Rhapsody and his most celebrated work The Planets. (d 1934).

Dr Edward Wilson the Antarctic Explorer who died with Captain Scott on his return from the South Pole in March 1912 was born in Montpellier Terrace on 23rd July 1872. (So, just 2 years difference in their ages.) Wilson went to Cheltenham College before going to Cambridge to read Natural Science and medicine. There is a statue to him in the Promenade which was sculptured by Lady Scott and there is also a gallery dedicated to him in the museum nearby.

Cheltenham is the Headquarters of the National Hunt (horse racing over hurdles) which culminates in the Gold Cup Festival from 15th – 18th March next year. The crowds, over 200,000 people attend over the 4 days, and over £500 million pounds will be bet on the results of just 26 races. The Race Course, set in the lee of the Cotswold Hills attracts royalty, celebrities, the great, the good and the fashionable. The carnival atmosphere gives residents a sense of occasion whether they are involved or not.  There is so much more to see in Cheltenham....

For a group guided tour of Cheltenham and the surrounding area as part of a coach tour or a special guided walk of Cheltenham's historic town centre. Contact anne@tourandexplore.com

Gruesome tales at Berkeley Castle

By: Blue Badge Tour Guide - Anne Bartlett

Recorded for: BBC Radio Gloucestershire, Saturday Breakfast Show

Berkeley Castle from the gardens

The other day I took a group of tourists to Berkeley in Gloucestershire to look around the oldest inhabited castle in the country. I was taking a guided coach tour around the South Cotswolds. The weather was absolutely glorious and, as we travelled down the Cotswold escarpment towards the castle, we enjoyed glorious views across to The Forest of Dean with landmark -May Hill and its distinctive top knot trees, clearly visible in the distance. We could make out the River Severn as it made its way out to the estuary.

The solid stone castle we were to visit guards the Severn estuary. Generations of the Berkeley family have lived there for over 850 year. In Medieval times they were noble knights who kept and trained a private army to fight for their king when needed.

When we arrived at Berkeley castle we were warmly welcomed and shown into the inner courtyard, which is completely surrounded by fortified buildings. The oldest part, the Keep dates back to 1117.

It was in the very first room of the Keep that we heard the gruesome story of how King Edward II met his early death. We looked down into a dungeon dropping 28 feet below us. This was where some prisoners were kept, but King Edward probably had more comfortable quarters in a small cell in the corner of the room. Legend has it that the king was held down in his cell, and a red hot poker inserted so that it went deep into his bowels, until his internal burns killed him. It is said that Edward’s screams were heard for miles around - hardly a good idea for those wanting to claim, as they did, that Edward had died a natural death. In actual fact, he was probably smothered, but why let a good story get in the way of the truth? Edward was killed on the orders of his wife Isabella and her lover, Roger Mortimer a very powerful and ambitious Marcher Lord who wanted to rule England.

Berkeley castle was involved in the Civil War in the 1640's when it endured a three-day siege and was captured by Parliamentary forces. A breach was made in the walling of the Keep which is still there today. In fact, the owners are forbidden by law even now to repair the damage!

The 14th century Great Hall with its lofty ceiling is typical for a medieval castle. It was where everyone who lived in the castle met and ate their meals. Pages and servants waited on table. Entertainment was a major feature of life in a medieval castle with music, dancing, jugglers, jesters, plays and masques.

We enjoyed our guided tour through all the state rooms, hearing about the Berkeley family through the centuries.

Outside, we enjoyed strolling around the well kept gardens before we got on the coach and headed back to Gloucester.

For a group guided coach tour to include Berkeley Castle contact anne@tourandexplore.com

TV and Film Locations in Gloucestershire

See Guide to TV and Film Locations

The other day I took some New Zealand journalists to visit a magical place in the Forest of Dean called Puzzlewood. Could this ancient landscape have given JRR Tolkein inspiration for Middle Earth?

It is known that JRR Tolkein knew the Forest of Dean well. He took part in an archaeological dig on a Roman Temple at Lydney Park near here, the temple remains were on top of a hill once called Dwarf Hill.

Legend says that 20 years after the Romans left Britain in 400AD the local people became frightened of the hill with all its tunnels and ruins believing that lots of little people such as dwarves and hobgoblins lived there, so the whole complex was left alone for over 1000 years.

It is said that Tolkein was influenced by the mythology surrounding the site and 3 years later he wrote his famous book, The Hobbit followed by The Lord of the Rings trilogy. So its quite likely that he visited this mysterious ancient woodland area too, which in 1929 was only known about by a few people. Who knows?

Filming for Lord of the Rings took place in New Zealand, so no claims here for that. However this place has been used as a location for the television series Merlin based on the historical legends of King Arthur and also the new Dr Who series called Weeping Angels.

For more information on guided tours by Anne Bartlett