The Authentic English Countryside

After spending two weeks in the hectic and uncouth scene of London, I had finally grown sick of the squalor and decided that a trip to the countryside was necessary for my health. Thus, I found myself on a train on Saturday morning, speeding me away from London and into the famous English countryside. Finally, I could breath again and not fear for my health from breathing all of those industrial fumes.

Well, this is sort of how my Saturday went but not entirely for the reasons I discussed above. When I was last in England, which was 11 years ago this summer, my family and I stayed at the home of a family friend. They, Mr Ellis, his daughter, and son-in-law, graciously took us all over England and were wonderful hosts/tour guides. Since I am the first one to return to England since then, I decided to get in touch with them to hopefully set up a visit. I was able to get in touch with Mr. Ellis who asked me to come visit him in Kettering. Kettering is located about an hour north of London in the country of Northhamptonshire. Thus, this is why I found myself heading into the English countryside on a Saturday morning.

I met up with Mr. Ellis at the Kettering train station and after a small mixup on the platform, we headed off. We lunched at a local English pub, where I had Fish & Chips and my first (and hopefully last) warm British beer. I love beer and that took a lot to muscle down. After lunch, he took me to several different spots in the area. First, we went to St. James Church in Grafton Underwood. Here, there is a very famous stained glass window that is dedicated to the 384the Bombardment Group of the 8th US Air force. They were stationed nearby at Grafton Airfield during WWII. It was a beautiful but tiny church, that dates back to (according to my online research) 1200.

A Triangular House!

Then we went on to Sir Thomas Tresham's Triangular Lodge. It was built by Tresham on his land during the late 16th century. Tresham was a staunch Catholic living in a country that had recently shrugged off the Catholic Church and was now Protestant. He built it to express his faith as a Catholic, and to show the mystery of the Trinity. Everything is in threes. The building has three sides, there are triangles all over the building, and everything is in multiples of three. There are three stories! It was very cool and still very mysterious. 

Then we drove into Tresham's Estate, which is now a hotel/spa called Rushton Hall. It was beautiful and quintessentially British. Stunning from the outside and on the inside. There was a wedding going on in the courtyard, but we were able to see the Great Hall, where they host tea for guests and visitors. Oh I totally want to stay there. Now I just need to find the money to do so. 

Yeah, I would like to live there.

This ended my tour of the English countryside and I once more returned to the busy streets of London. I returned in time to dine with some friends, before they headed off to the theater and I went home to rest and recuperate from my long day away. Tomorrow, we leave for Scotland, where I shall be until Thursday morning. Then I will be slowly travelling back to London over the next five days, where I shall finish out the last week of my trip. Two weeks to go! See you all in the North!

- Kate