The tour of Buck House

I was teased by a friend this morning over the fact that we are planning to put two bedrooms in the loft, when we already live in a 6-bedroom house. True: this is an extravagance, but as we have to put a new roof on anyway it makes sense to at least set it out at the same time. And we are losing three (smallish) bedrooms into one + ensuite so we'll balance out in the end. (That's my excuse anyway.)

It got me to thinking again about Buckingham Palace and the Queen. On our holidays one of our biggest expeditions was to Buck House. We arrived early, as I really wanted to see The Changing of the Guard, which I thought was at 10am. I have tried to see TCotG twice before. The first time was in February 1981, on a brief half-term family visit to the capital. In the winter they only do it every other day, and we were there on that other day. I was a sulky 10-year-old who was not happy. And the next day we caught the train home, sharing the underground carriage with a troupe of cub scouts. Imagine my horror when, that evening on the news, I saw the scout leader being interviewed outside Buckingham Palace ... because Charles and Diana had just got engaged!

My second attempt also occured on an 'other' day, but in May or June (or at least some time of year which I thought might qualify as summer).

This time I was determined to get it right. Beginning of August - surely now summer (!), surely it would be on every day?

Well, yes, but ... not until 11.30, so we decided to fill the gap with the tour of Buckingham Palace we were planning to do afterwards and thus ventured in to Betty's home. The prescribed route takes you around the state rooms which are, as you would expect, most impressive, eventually coming out at the back in the gardens, which I thought were stunning.

Quite early on you come to the Throne Room. This is a large room with a few steps up to a platform at the far side, on which are two chairs: his and hers. The Queen's has her logo on, of course, and Philip's a big 'P'. Presumably it will be reupholstered when Charles gets a chance at the job. Like all the rooms, it is extravagantly decorated, extremely tall, a massive chandelier adorned with candles and yet filled with light from the vast courtyard towards the front. The ceiling has shields showing all the heraldic elements of the monarchy: the lions, the harp etc. etc. There is a lot of plush red velvet and silk wall hangings, with a few extra chairs set at the furthest corners of the room from the thrones.

But I did wonder when Q uses this room. Does she greet all new heads of state from here? Surely not: I would think she uses the grand staircase and entrance hall. She doesn't do the investitures here: they are in the ballroom (later in the tour). Does she maintain her authority by insisting the Privy Council sit on the basic chairs in a semi-circle before her throne? Does she bring the Sunday Papers here and settle down for a good read?

I doubt Her Majesty reads my blog (if she does, I'd love her to tell me what she thinks of having a throne room!) but, despite all the grandeur and palatial room proportions, it really struck me as useless in this day and age. To us mere mortals having a music room or a white room or a dining room to seat 40 is more than we can dream of, but at least I can appreciate their uses for a head of state. The Throne Room was just that step too far.

But thank you, Liz, for letting us in. You gave us lots of ideas for our new home (!!) and my daughter and I loved looking at all your ballgowns in the Commonwealth travels display. My daughter, of course, would love to be a princess...

The Green Man

"Right! There's the green man! Time to cross."

The Withenay family step out into the road. London traffic has reluctantly drawn to a halt, most of it behind the white line.

"Come on, children! Keep moving!"

The persistent beeps from the pedestrian light have ceased. I am aware one child lags behind. Mystified, I stop and stare at her.

"What on earth are you doing?"

My daughter is walking in a fixed fashion, one arm forward, the other back, and trying to make progress with legs in a similar position.

"I'm being the green man," she says.

Something new every day

Last week we sold our house.

Not this one - not the one with the carpets.

No, our home in London. Its final hurrah! for us was our holiday at the end of July.

Now I have to be careful - I've discovered my solicitor reads my blog. But over the years I have managed to own houses in England and Scotland (very different systems for buying/selling) and rent them, and rent from people in England, and rent in Zambia. I have had quite a lot of experience of purchase and sale, of hiccups in the system.

But this sale was the most remarkable. The day of completion of sale: the buyers' solicitor informs my solicitor that he's only just discovered that there was a mortgage involved in the purchase. No paperwork completed: no sale today, thank you.

This is when I realise the true benefits of using a solicitor when buying and selling property. (Of course, I have to say this - he's reading the post...!) He does all the legal stuff to inform them that as of 14:00 they will be breaking the contract and will have to pay interest on the outstanding amount.

Meanwhile, no doubt, our buyers are running round like headless chickens, chasing the bank, the solicitor, the mortgage provider, desperate to get the money to our solicitor. Eventually it arrived - but after 14:00 on a Friday, so that counts as Monday in legal terms, resulting in an extra three days of interest.

Thankfully for us we were not financially dependent on this: the money is earmarked for the renovation of our home here (have you seen the carpets??) - which has only got as far as finalising plans with the architect. But not completing an exchanged contract was a new problem for me. Just goes to show, even when you think nothing more could happen, something new is always around the corner.

Our holidays

Withenay Wanders was set up to describe all our travels and the various things that I wonder about. Having been absent for a couple of weeks on holiday I thought I should update you on what we did.

We went here -

- to London!

We lived there before moving to Zambia and it transpired that we had just the perfect gap between our tenants moving out and our buyers purchasing our house for us to have a family holiday. So, even though we are somewhat camping in our new home, we went to camp in an empty house in inner-city London. Having only moved house two months ago finances were a little tight but this seemed to fit the bill.

My holiday requirements were simple: no cooking and no washing. The cooking was evaded by eating out every night (after all, we were saving on renting a cottage or flying abroad and even on hiring a car). The washing was fully delegated to my husband (what a lovely man!)

So this is what we did:

(take a deep breath!)

• Walk up King's Road
• Saatchi Gallery (only a few items to steer the children quickly past)
• Window shop in Kensington
• Science Museum
• Day trip to the Red House (built for William Morris)
• Walk around Danson Park
• Visit Buckingham Palace
• See the Changing of the Guards
• Natural History Museum (dinosaurs)
• Have a nose around The Conran Shop
• Visit 2 Willow Road (NT house, Erno Goldfinger's 1930's creation)
• Walk around Hampstead Heath
• Returned for a full day's geocaching on Hampstead Heath (in the drizzly rain...)
• Visit our old church, catching up with friends.
• Return to child-friendly pub for lunch (had taken daughter there when just 6 days old!)
• Laze around on Clapham Common (and play cricket there with children)
• Spend day with son's best friend from old school, who moved at Easter
• Watch end of Edgbaston Test on big screen in central London
• Go to Docklands Museum - take part in the Big Dig
• Walk along South Bank (daughter found pottery on 'beach' of Thames)
• Return visit to Natural History Museum (Butterfly Jungle)
• Return visit to Science Museum (Wallace & Grommit)
• Shop on Oxford Street for long-promised DS games for children
• Visit British Museum - prepare for son's Egypt topic next term with study of mummies, etc.
• Go to the games shop (Playin' Games) to buy husband's birthday present
• West End Show: Sister Act (stalls, second row; thankful reference to orgasmic sex washed over the children...)

Not bad for 10 days?

We've now been home for about the same period of time and we have .... well, nearly recovered!

The wonderful thing about London (combined with our National Trust membership) is that so much is free. Having got a travel card for the period (children under 11, so travel free) we could go pretty much where we liked. A lot of our time was spent walking around, pointing out the sights to the children (St Paul's, The Mall, Eros, etc.) and then going into fantastically free museums. Of course, there was the odd indulgence... but we were on holiday.

And what did the children decide would be a treat? Going to McDonalds and Burger King!