A few thoughts…
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Weekend’s at Ditchley Park
Ditchley Park, Enstone, Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire Though I didn’t make the short drive from Oxford on Saturday afternoon to see Ditchley Park, I recently read an interesting story about it in the Churchill biography by Roy Jenkins. I’ve always heard that Ditchley Park was offered to Churchill during Second World War because the weekend house for…
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Churchill and the Order of the Garter
Winston Churchill received the Order of the Garter in 1953 This past May one of the commemorative events for Churchill 2015 was held at the spectacular and resplendent Blenheim Palace. In 1705, Queen Anne presented Blenheim Palace to John Churchill, the 1st Duke of Marlborough, on behalf of a grateful nation. Second World War Prime…
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Burning Moments that Can Change History
East Bergholt, Suffolk The country house ‘Stour’ was purchased in 1957 by Randolph Churchill, son of the Prime Minister, upon deciding to move from London. It’s still in private hands, and we were quite fortunate to be able to visit due to the generosity of its current owners, Mr & Mrs Kelly. The organisers of the…
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Churchill’s Beloved Chartwell
Chartwell, Westerham, Kent We had a visit to Churchill’s beloved Chartwell on Wednesday morning. One of his private secretaries related a delightful story about each time the PM would arrive at the gates of the driveway. As one makes the final stretch of the drive, you come up a hill and then wind down and around…
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Churchill Biography Available on Kindle
The official Churchill biography now firmly in the digital age The Churchill Centre announced today that the Official Churchill Biography, Winston S. Churchill, is now available for download on Amazon’s Kindle. Rosetta Books and Hillsdale College has published all eight volumes of Winston S. Churchill in digital format. Will the sixteen [yes, twenty three!] document companion volumes…
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The Australian Prime Minister and his Churchill Painting
A personal gift from Winston Churchill In a recent article in The Telegraph, it was mentioned that a Winston Churchill painting hangs in the office of the Australian Prime Minister. This was a surprise to me as I hadn’t heard any mention of this previously. So was curious to find out more detail on how the painting–if there…
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Time for a Pint at Ye Olde Bell
Hurley, Maidenhead, Berkshire This past Wednesday evening I had the opportunity to meet Randolph Churchill for the first time. What a name that would be to live up to. He’s the great-grandson of Sir Winston, grandson of Randolph and his first wife, Pamela Digby [later Harriman] and son of Winston S Churchill MP. His Grandmother is…
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The Duchess of M
Blenheim Palace, Woodstock, Oxfordshire At present, I’m sitting on the fast train out of Oxford Station heading for London’s Paddington Station. [Insiders tip: On the weekends you can buy a “Cheap Day Single” and upgrade to First Class for ₤5.] It’s late morning and after a lovely breakfast at the Randolph Hotel in Oxford where we’re…
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A General Connection – General Sir Eyre Coote
Ye Olde Bell, Hurley, Berkshire I’m sitting here in the pub of The Old Bell, or in Old English, Ye Olde Bell, in Berkshire, just a short walk from the river Thames. Thinking back about all that we’ve seen in the last couple of days, it’s difficult to believe how much has been packed into these…
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Full Rear Assault
White House Hotel, London I was pleasantly engaged in a chat with three fellow travelers on my journey and all of a sudden, from behind, a full rear assault by a woman of a certain age and a somewhat familiar face. She stormed me from behind and I didn’t see it coming whatsoever. She forced her…