The weather really has taken a turn for the better here in England with the average temperature around 18 degrees and the sky void of clouds.
You can tell we are affected as a nation by the weather as everyone’s mood seems much more buoyant and positive following the change and the end to what seemed like a relentless, never-ending winter.
I have made the best of any opportunity I have to get out in the sun by taking walks at lunch, taking my team to St Paul’s to sit by the fountain, popping over the Millennium Bridge to the Tate Modern to have a browse (especially at the latest addition – the Picasso “Nude, Green Leaves and Bust“) and of course having meetings on the roof (I know we’re spoilt aren’t we!).
It seems, for once, that the weather was in our favour as we had long-planned to catch up with two good friends of ours, meeting at a mid way point (the live in the Midlands). We decided on Stowe Landscape Gardens. A National Trust Property that we had only visited once before, many, many years ago.
One of the most remarkable creations of Georgian England, Stowe was created by a family once so powerful they were richer than the king. The scale, grandeur and beauty of Stowe has inspired writers, philosophers, artists, politicians and members of the public from the 18th century to the present day.
I don’t think anyone could disagree with that statement as Stowe truly is a wonderful place to visit, the wonderful weather made it even more of a treat.
We limited our time at Stowe as we had planned to go to a country pub for late lunch. I am not sure just how far we walked but it must have equalled several miles as the gardens just go on and on.
There’s a lot to photograph too as Stowe contains lots of Follys – which is unusual for an English Garden which usually has one at most.
I was quite reserved with my shots as I was enjoying Rob, and Chris’ company so much. These guys really know how to enjoy themselves and they (well Chris especially) seems to bring out the devil in me. As you may imagine, we had a fun-filled day which included lots of wit and humour.
I should mention there was a wonderful site at Stowe as two lads were throwing a ball around. I think they were early 20’s (probably resident at the school) but one of the was blonde, topless and build like a brick out house. Chris remarked how funny it was that the four of us came together in a pack to watch our prey 😉 Sadly I didn’t manage a photo of this guy (it would have been far too obvious) but he made four gay men very happy yesterday 😉
Following our walk around Stowe we headed off to the Red Lion in Evenly where we had booked a table for lunch. Sadly once we arrived we were informed that the booking had been placed in the diary incorrectly and the chef has gone home!
This was very disappointing as the Red Lion is a wonderfully quant English pub overlooks a cricket pitch and the quintessential English village.
We decided to come up with another plan and headed into the equally pretty Buckingham. By this stage it was already quite late for lunch and we were all quite peckish.
In amongst all the pubs and restaurants we saw a Prezzo which was located in an old Tudor house. It looked very pretty so we thought we’d investigate getting a table. There were no such problems and we were seated outside on the terrace where we all enjoyed a wonderful three course dinner in the sun.
The afternoon whipped by as we merrily drank and stuffed our faces. Once fat and full we made our way down to the Weir where we sat an watched the world go by, chatting and taking photographs of the native wildlife.
As you can see it was a pretty packed Saturday but a lovely day.
Sunday has been filled so far with chores, shopping and a leisurely lunch of cheese and biscuits. Thankfully the sun is still shining and we are both fairly chilled.
Long may it continue…
A selection of my photographs from Stowe Landscape Gardens and Buckingham are available to view on Flickr.
Keith Tomlinson Photography 