Cold

On a cold, overcast day last week, we thought to pay a visit to Hampton Court Palace, according to the record, the first time since last September, with the annual membership breaking even at around two visits a year. See reference 1.

Plenty of space in the station car park across the river, but getting a ticket out of the parking machine turned out to be a major operation.

The corner site, between the station and the river, given a wash and brush up at the time of the bicycle business during the Olympics, as noticed at reference 2, seems to be on the move at long last with a notice about a hotel, housing and other stuff being pasted to the hoarding. A notice which gave the impression that the rather handsome, old style railway station is to be replaced by a block of something or other. We shall be sorry to see it - and all the space that goes with it - go. Not a good result.

Into the free part of the Palace Grounds, to find that the roses in the rose garden had nearly all been seriously cut back, down to within a foot or so of the ground. All a bit drastic but I daresay something that needs to be done from time to time to keep the rose bushes in reasonable shape.

Daffodils

Very few daffodils to be seen in the wilderness, rather more cyclamen, snowdrops and winter aconites.

Spring flowers

And so on to the Tiltyard Café, where we found that my favourite tarts, Maids of Honour, were missing. Let's hope they come back: dear, but good.

Into the Palace proper, to be annoyed once again by all the silly noises (aka sound effects) with which the place had been decorated. We do not see head to head competition with Disneyland being a proper part of the business of a serious heritage operation like Historic Royal Palaces - but I dare say they have got some smart new business man in charge who has other ideas. I associate to the knowledge that at one time the director of the Royal Parks in London used to be an eminence from the gardening world - while fully expecting that he is now just another business man on the make. But then, the Deputy Chief Royal makes a great deal of money out of his grocery brand, so who am I to complain?

Some of the rooms seemed very cold and some of the trusties had been issued with personal heaters, to supplement their smart red overcoats. Electric oil filled radiators rather than heritage one bar electric fires, as occasionally spotted in Ely Cathedral.

As usual, we took in the Cumberland Gallery. Another peek at Cupid and Psyche. Another peek at the Gainsborough, for which I am getting my taste back. See reference 3 for a not very good reproduction: the colours all seem a bit sharp to me. Not to mention the Rubens-Snyders of the earlier post.

Hinge

Curious hinge in the panelled room featured, I think, in the favourite of reference 4. Was it original or was it an attempt to keep an old door in one piece?

Foot of pilaster

I thought that the detailer had been a bit lazy with the foot of the pilaster above. Faking a pillar is fine, a well known and popular device, but the trim should not stop in quite such a blatant and visible way when it hits the wall behind. A hitting which needs to be blunted, softened somehow. Particularly when one had more, contrasting trim to the side, as here. BH was much more interested in the selection of the favourite's dresses which had been put on show.

Asparagus

Snapped for the folded linen asparagus which reminded us of the chocolate asparagus someone had given BH for Christmas. See reference 5. We also wondered, probably not for the first time, about the laundry arrangements. Did they have to be dismantled to be washed? Had Mr. Dyson come up with a special vacuum cleaner with which to suck the inevitable dust off?

Fireplace one

Fireplace two

We admired the extravagant fireplaces in the W&M part of the palace, with the second of the two above being particularly odd. Including irritating visual effects on the wall and what I thought were recorded fire noises from the grate. Perhaps they should go the whole heritage hog and have real fires in the grates? Using heritage logs from the park outside? The trusties would no doubt be glad of a blaze, but I suppose the health and safety crew might have something to say about it.

Pie and mash in the café near the old kitchens. Pie satisfactory but the mash, as I recall, rather spoiled by having too much milk or oil added to it. Entertainment provided by a robin hopping about on the lookout for scraps - this being some way from the nearest outsides.

Seagulls

Out to admire the long water, slightly frozen, with lots of seagulls parked up on the ice. And looking rather spectacular when, from time to time, they all took off in a cloud before settling down again. Thought once again that the trusties got the trees right here, chopping down all the old ones and replacing with new. I recall there being a lot of discussion at the time, almost as bad as Brexit, with one camp punting for brutal renovation and the other camp punting for kind renovation. The brutals, as can be seen above, won.

Window tax

One might have thought that the Royal Family would have been exempt from window tax, so unless they were showing solidarity with all their window filling cousins, there must have been some other reason for filling in all these windows. Perhaps one of the many make-overs. I suppose every new queen wanted to make her mark on the place, rather like new headmasters in schools, or new ministers in ministries.

Ugly car

One of several very ugly cars in the car park at Hampton Court station. Why do people buy such things? Do they work on the principle that any notice is better than no notice, in the way of some advertising agencies?

And so home. I forget what we took for tea on this day.

Reference 1: https://psmv3.blogspot.com/2018/09/palace.html.

Reference 2: https://pumpkinstrokemarrow.blogspot.com/search?q=lycras+tarting.

Reference 3: http://psmv3.blogspot.com/2016/02/diana.html.

Reference 4: https://psmv4.blogspot.com/2019/01/favourite.html.

Reference 5: https://psmv4.blogspot.com/2018/12/festal-cheese.html.

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