PP7, part 1

We departed from EKH in rather miserable weather and dreaded a repeat performance of Brighton/Romney Marsh. Today's itinerary, Stowe and Farnborough. However, out luck changed and by the time we arrived at Stowe it was pleasantly mizzly which suited the architecture and landscaping. Both the National Trust and Landmark Trust kindly waived their fees since the film will be distributed freely to schools in an effort to instill an interest in arts and crafts in today's youth.

The great excitement of the day (since neither of us are particularly potty about formal gardening on this scale) was the Batricar which Libby commandeered - terrific fun (seen above by the Palladian Bridge). And covering the distance we did with the usual amounts of equipment would have been almost impossible. Whilst Charles filmed the sights from Piper's viewpoints, Libby photographed trees and flowers, carefully avoiding the architectural delights (despite her architectural background).

What we did both enjoy hugely was the Pebble Alcove, almost every sq cm of which Charles made me photograph - oh look at the butterfly, that bunch of grapes, the zodiac signs etc etc. Here's the man himself enjoying the experience - I greatly fear Film Farm may sprout some similar oddity in due course!

Stowe took longer than anticipated (these things always do) but we HAD to get to the tiny village of Farnborough before dark to film the window Piper designed in memory of his great friend and colleague John Betjeman. The window was a delight, fresh, brightly coloured, absolutely joyful and fits so well into its surroundings. here's just a tiny part to whet your appetite for the completed DVD.

And thence to Chieveley where we had promised ourselves a big treat. Those of you who read our sister blog (frankbrangwyn.blogspot.com) will recall that on 6 February 2008 we dined at The Crab at Chieveley and considered the meal excellent. For those of you who have been there since on our recommendation - massive apologies! A change in management has introduced 'cheffy' food, lots of ingredients for the sake of it, and the result is just silly, a waste of time, not particularly tasty and not good cooking. If you've got good ingredients don't mess them up. Par example, I had traditional scallops for starters (OK) whilst my 'blonde' companion had scallops with 201 ingredients including white chocolate! No way Jose! VERY disappointing.