Past Events - Overheard With Mary and Georgie

Andrew Davies London Walk

Aerial view of Lambeth — Lambeth & Southwark

Andrew had been encouraging us to visit Lambeth and Southwark for some time and as promised there was a wonderfully varied amount of things to see.

Probably the best known building was the Imperial War Museum, originally built as the Bedlam asylum. The hospital, which became famous for caring for the insane, began life in Bridewell, then it moved to Moorgate and in 1815 it moved again to St. George’s Fields in Southwark. The Imperial War Museum, founded in 1917, was moved into the central section of the old Bethlem Royal Hospital in 1936. The dome had been raised in 1844.

We also visited the Metropolitan Cathedral Church of St. George, seat of the Archbishop of Southwark, designed by Augustus Pugin. Andrew also took us to see Lambeth’s Georgian squares, Archbishop’s Park, marvellous views of the Thames and the moving Covid memorial wall. Also included were oddities such as Stiffs’ Express and the Graffiti Tunnel, where graffiti is legal and promoted.

Visit to Apethorpe Palace

We were given a very special opportunity by Baron and Baroness Pfetten to take a small party round Apethorpe Palace. Baroness Pfetten very kindly guided us round herself.

Apethorpe Palace holds a particularly important place in English history. Owned by Henry VIII and Elizabeth I, it then became a much loved royal residence of James I and Charles I, who both regularly lived there, with James I adding a series of state rooms. It is one of the very finest Jacobean houses in the country to survive.

In 1939 the house was requisitioned and after the war became an approved school. When the school closed the house deteriorated until in 2004, it was compulsorily purchased by the government, the second of only two cases of such purchase. English Heritage then did some essential works on the structure and roof before Baron and Baroness Pfetten took on ownership and the massive task of restoration in 2014.

From that moment the Pfettens have achieved a staggering resurgence of this huge and magnificent palace. Their exemplary programme of repair and refurbishment has taken Apethorpe from a place where, in 2004, much of the building was on the verge of collapse, to a family home where the great state rooms used by James I, together with restored lost interiors such as the Library, Orangery and White Hall must rank among the finest in the country. Country Life, which has devoted a large part of two recent editions to the house concludes in summing up Apethorpe: ‘The stuff of dreams’.

Visit to Bisterne Manor

Bisterne Manor is a beautiful home, set in a 4000 acre estate in the New Forest. Since 1349 only four families have lived at Bisterne and all four are closely related. The heart of the present-day house was built in 1520. Two wings were added in 1652 and in 1834 and in late Victorian times the house was altered again.

Owned by Hallam and Lal Mills, it is not open to the public, but Hallam and Lal showed us around the house and told us about its history, describing life below stairs as well as above. The Manor is very much a family home but it contains many beautiful paintings and fine furniture, partially acquired when Francis Mills, an ancestor, went on his 19th century Grand Tour. There are a variety of fascinating objects which reflect the family’s history, for instance from the Peninsula War, as well as their roots in England, Belgium and America.

Hallam is very much a hands-on dairy and arable farmer at Bisterne Farms. He is a former Verderer of the New Forest and is a Deputy Lieutenant of Hampshire. Hallam and his Game and Wildlife Manager described some of the conservation work which has become so important at Bisterne – in 2024 they counted 122 different species of birds including curlews, lapwings, red shanks and woodcock – and they have reintroduced the water vole as well as running many other conservation projects.

Andrew Davies London Walk

A Discovery: Shoreditch & Hoxton

Once a little shabby and neglected, Shoreditch and Hoxton is now one of the ‘hippest’ places in London – one that fuses the historic with the modern: cobbled streets alongside sleek glass offices.

Shoreditch is famous for its street art and hidden gems including an Arts & Crafts masterpiece, Arnold Circus, with its gorgeous bandstand and trendy little shops. Hoxton Square is where modern Brit Art was generated. An Edwardian library is a theatre whilst a tatty music hall has been transformed into a glitzy cinema.

Few areas in London can boast such an intriguing story and Andrew revealed all its twists and turns.

A Talk by Matthew Rice

‘VENICE: A SKETCHBOOK GUIDE’

Famed as a designer, illustrator and architectural writer Matthew started his working life collaborating with his schoolfriend David Linley establishing the renowned David Linley Furniture, moving from there to his long association with his ex-wife Emma Bridgewater. He succeeded not only creatively but also from a business perspective turning this quintessential British brand into a global success.

Matthew writes and illustrates articles for many publications including Country Life and is renowned for his architectural books and guides.

Venice has been a source of deep creative inspiration for him, unsurprisingly given his abiding passion for architecture. In his inimitable, informative and humorous way, Matthew took us through his Venetian Sketch Book and touched on other aspects of his work.

The talk was held in The Tapestry Hall, Boughton House, by kind permission of the Duke of Buccleuch. All profits from the evening were donated to the North Northants Community First Responders.

A Talk by Lucy Hughes-Hallett

We were delighted to welcome Lucy Hughes-Hallett to talk about her latest book, The Scapegoat, an extraordinary history of the meteoric rise and fall of George Villiers, the first Duke of Buckingham.

As King James I’s favourite, Buckingham was also his confidant, gatekeeper, advisor and lover. When Charles I succeeded his father, he was similarly enthralled and made Buckingham his best friend and mentor.

A cultural historian, biographer and novelist, Lucy was the winner of The Baillie Gifford Prize for her previous biography The Pike, also named in 2020 as the Biography of the Decade in the Sunday Times.

In 2021 she was also the Chair of the Judges of the International Booker Prize.

The talk was held in The Tapestry Hall, Boughton House, by kind permission of The Duke of Buccleuch. All profits from the evening were donated to the Corby branch of Northamptonshire Mind.

Visit to Hagley Hall & Park

We were given a marvellous opportunity to take a small group to Hagley Hall and Park and be shown around by Lord Cobham who inherited in 2006. Since then he and his wife have carried out major restoration particularly of the magnificent surrounding park.

Sir John Lyttelton bought the Hagley Estate in 1564. In the mid-18th century George, 1st Lord Lyttelton, began to landscape the grounds and build the ‘last great Palladian house’ designed by architect Sanderson Miller. It was built to enhance the 350 acres of undulating parkland that he and his father landscaped and which is peppered with follies and features.

Andrew Davies London Walk: City Nooks, Crannies, Churches and Samuel Pepys

We returned to the City of London once again with Andrew to explore some of its history and hidden surprises including the varied architecture of Wren, Lutyens and Forster and some of its cast of splendid characters.

The gems we visited included the site of Pepys’s house in Seething Lane which is now a garden, the best surviving chunk of Roman Wall, the beautiful ruins of St. Dunstan in the East, a fine Lutyens Memorial, St. Olave’s church where Pepys worshipped and is buried and the sundial which encapsulates London’s 2000 year history.

We also visited the church and museum of All Hallows. This ancient church is considered by some to be the oldest church in the City of London. It survived the Great Fire of London in 1666 but was badly damaged during the Blitz of World War II.

A Talk by Alexandra Shulman, CBE

After a record time of 25 years as Editor of British Vogue, nobody could be better qualified to explore ‘Why Clothes Matter’ and Alexandra gave us an insight into the fashion world and her approach to editing and content.

The talk was held in The Tapestry Hall at Boughton House, by kind permission of the Duke of Buccleuch, with all profits going to the Corby branch of Northamptonshire Mind.

A Talk by Matthew Parris about his New Book ‘Fracture’

We were delighted that Matthew Parris agreed to come to Boughton House to talk about his latest book, Fracture, which evolved from his BBC Radio 4 programme Great Lives.

It was fascinating to learn how many people who go on to lead exceptional lives have had traumatic childhoods. The cover of the book illustrates some of the people he sudies in the book and discussed further during the talk.

The talk was held in The Tapestry Hall by kind permission of the Duke of Buccleuch, with all profits going to The Wild Camel Protection Foundation.

Andrew Davies London Walk: In & Around Primrose Hill

Andrew took us to visit Camden, including Primrose Hill, Belsize Park and the stables of Camden Market. We were given an insight into the history of the area and explored some of the elegant squares and terraces including Gloucester Crescent, which has been the home to many artists, writers and intellectuals, including Alan Bennett, whose front garden once became the home of ‘The Lady in the Van’.

Kingston Bagpuize House & Milton Manor

A visit to two very special privately owned houses in Oxfordshire.

Kingston Bagpuize House is set in the Vale of the White Horse and surrounded by its beautiful garden and parkland. The owner, Virginia Grant, very kindly agreed to guide us around her home on a private tour.

The roots of Kingston Bagpuize House go back to at least the 11th century and the present house is thought to have been built in the 1660’s although largely remodelled in the early 1700’s.

Milton Manor, the home of Anthony Mockler-Barrett, was originally built to a design of Inigo Jones at the time of the Restoration with the two most spectacular rooms in the house, the Strawberry Hill Gothic Library and the Gothic chapel, being added by Bryant Barrett.

The house was requisitioned by the RAF during the War and for some years after stood empty until Anthony’s mother Marjorie lovingly restored it together with the fascinating contents. The House was the subject of a Country Life BBC2 programme in 2016.

Private Visit to Radbourne Hall

We were delighted to be given the opportunity to have a private tour of Radbourne Hall, a splendid Palladian house which had recently undergone a major restoration, winning the prestigious Historic Houses Restoration Award in 2021.

Andrew Davies London Walk – Chelsea

In the Middle Ages Chelsea was originally a tiny fishing village some miles from the town of London. By the 16th century, however, it had become a fashionable place for rich people to live.

Andrew showed us where a Chelsea mob smashed up Oscar Wilde’s house, where John Singer Sargent painted his wonderful portraits, the former residences of Thomas Carlyle, George Eliot, Rossetti, Bram Stoker, Mick and Keith of the Stones and of Mrs. Thatcher. Although familiar with Chelsea we saw things we’d never noticed before and learned a lot we didn’t know.

Traitor King – A talk by Andrew Lownie

Andrew Lownie came to Boughton House and gave a talk based on his Sunday Times top ten bestselling biography, Traitor King, which draws on hitherto unexplored archives from around the world to uncover the dramatic world of the Windsors post-abdication.

The talk was held in the Tapestry Hall, by kind permission of the Duke of Buccleuch, with all profits going to the Alfred East Gallery, Kettering.

Andrew Davies London Walk 2022

After two years, we were extremely pleased to be able, once again, to join up with Andrew Davies for one of his fascinating London walks and this year we chose to go to Westminster. Andrew picked out a few of his favourite points of interest: Georgian mews nestling alongside corporate glass, a Byzantine cathedral rubbing shoulders with the Edwardian baroque of the Middlesex Guildhall (now the Supreme Court), historic St. Margaret’s Church, Westminster School, St. John’s Church in Smith Square, and a Victorian Gothic drinking fountain boasting fine views of the Thames.

The Jockey Club Rooms & National Horse Racing Museum

We enjoyed a very entertaining day at Newmarket where Christopher Tregoning, a former Trustee of the National Horseracing Museum and Ben Hanbury, the former trainer, and now Keeper of the Jockey Club Collection, very kindly agreed to be our guides.

Our visit included a tour of the Jockey Club Rooms to see one of the finest collections of equine art and racing artefacts in the world. This was followed by a visit to Palace House and lunch in the Museum Tack Room Restaurant. We then visited the Rothschild Yard, built in 1930 for Leopold Rothschild and now the flagship home for the retraining of racehorses before moving on to the Museum Galleries in the Trainers House and King’s Yard Galleries.

Visit to Goadby Marwood Hall & Gardens

We were delighted to be allowed to visit this beautiful Hall and gardens particularly as this was the first outing we had been able to plan since our visit to Blenheim Palace in February 2020.

The house has been beautifully restored by the Hon. Victoria Watson and her husband, Harry Westropp and they have recreated the gardens, including a chain of five lakes over a ten acre area and several interconnected walled gardens.

Let’s Misbehave! Blenheim Palace in the 1920s

Blenheim Palace

We visited Blenheim Palace with Hugo Vickers, who gave a talk in the Spencer Churchill Room on the exhibition ‘Let’s Misbehave’ – Blenheim Palace in the 1920’s.

Hugo then acted as our guide around the exhibition which gave an in-depth portrayal of this colourful decade through the eyes of the 9th Duke of Marlborough and Gladys Deacon. The exhibition showcased their lavish lifestyle and exuberant house parties, and featured works by artists and sculptors as eclectic as Boldini, Cecil Beaton, Jacob Epstein and Duncan Grant.

Andrew Davies London Walk 2019

This year Andrew Davies took us on a tour of Bermondsey, an area steeped in history, south of the river Thames.

Once tired and forgotten, the area now boasts many examples of beautifully converted Victorian buildings, trendy food markets, art galleries and a textile museum founded by Zandra Rhodes.