A Brilliant Day at Beauliea

Thursday October 7th
Today Mary said that two of us could come out for the day just like old times, so Pania and Ber lin came along. It was beautifully sunny and warm and they caught the bus to Lymington and then another one onto Beauliea. It went all around the little villages that they had loved to take people to when they lived down here. They were surprised at the narrow lanes that bus went down and there was some tricky passing when they met a car. They managed to get there by about 11.30 and after a coffee started to walk around the grounds.

They went to the Secret Operation Executive display first. This exhibition tells the story of the British and overseas members of the Special Operations Executive (SOE) who completed their secret training at the Beaulieu ‘Finishing School’ during World War ll. It is amazing to think that this little village down in the New Forest was used to train secret agents that went behind enemy lines.

From there they went to visit the main house. Formerly the 13th century Great Gatehouse of Beaulieu Abbey, Palace House is set in glorious grounds and gardens with immaculate spreading lawns and walkways overlooking the Beaulieu River. This charming house, kept in the style of its later Victorian additions, has been in Lord Montagu's family ownership since 1538, when Sir Thomas Wriothesley, later 1st Earl of Southampton, bought the Estate after the Dissolution of the Monasteries. It is a very homely house. Mary and Alan took us on a private tour of the private apartments and were given a very informative talk by a staff member who has lived and worked as a servant for the family for many years. We were able to see where the family lived day to day and she explained various art works and objects to us. In the main house that is open to the public to view all the time there was an amazing dining room. Down one end the children had their own separate dining area. There was a lovely rocking horse there as well and Ber Lin has his photo taken there.

One of the main reasons people come to visit Beaulieu is to see the National Motor Museum. Exhibits include some of the earliest examples of motoring to legendary World Record Breakers like Bluebird, ‘TV Star’ cars like Del Boy’s Reliant Regal and rare oddities like the giant orange on wheels. There are over 300 vehicles on display. Mary took our photos near a car that looked just like Gumdrop. It was a 1928 Austin Clifford Heavy 12/4 just like Mr Oldcastle owned and it was blue as well. There was also a replica of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang on display. The best bit though was the ride in the pods. Called “Wheels “, the trip in a space age pod takes you through a dark ride about motoring history. You travel through time from the dawn of man and the first stone age wheels to a vision of what the cars of the future may look like. It was really good and just like a Disneyland ride.

Outside they went and looked at the Top Gear cars on display and they had just lined up to go in when the alarm went off and everyone was asked to assemble by the bus stop. By the time they got things back to normal they had run out of time to go into the exhibition as it started at 3.50 and the bus was leaving at 4.07. Being the last bus of the day to take them back to Lymington there was no way they were about to miss it so sadly missed out on most of the top gear experience. There was time to take the monorail ride right around the grounds and through the museum as well. They also had time to look at the James bond Exhibition which includes many of the cars and artefacts from the James Bond films.


It certainly was a full on day with heaps to do and see and the ticket enabled them to go back again any time during the year as you can’t possibly do it all in one day. However they are not going back tomorrow.

When they got home they started making a contingency plan for moving on from down here without Hemi. Mary had rung the mechanic and he was so apologetic as the part had still not arrived on the courier. So Mary and Liz got on the laptops and looked at lots of possible options for getting to Winchester and London. Hamish is playing in a Squadronaires concert just out of Winchester tomorrow night and Mary and Alan have a night’s accommodation booked at the welfare house at Northolt. Liz can get us to Winchester and Hamish is going to find a way to get them back to London with him and on Saturday they will take the National Express (yes they will risk it again) to Ipswich to see all their friends over there. Hemi needs a few more things doing to make him saleable so tomorrow they will walk back to the garage and arrange for him to be made completely roadworthy with a new MOT. This will give everyone peace of mind and make him more attractive to a buyer if they know he had a clean bill of health.