BOXES 160-161: England and Back Home.

I don't often get invited to garden parties where tuxes are required, not to mention elegant gowns for the ladies. As a matter of fact I paid my own way on this occasion. This is the lawn at Glyndebourne, the estate south of London where world-class opera is performed every summer. Normally the performance begins in late afternoon, so that picnics on the grass can be enjoyed during a long first intermission. Incidentally, the sheep in the background are not likely to come wandering onto the lawn: there's a ha-ha just beyond the last picnic table: a ditch that keeps wooly intruders out while making them seem part of the pastoral picture.

Let me backtrack for a bit. In the summer of 1984 Max and I had met in Milan, driven to Bordeaux, and taken trains, ferries and taxis to the apartment of our friend Dede in London. We had a great time, and at some point Max returned to the States while I stayed on for some days. The only photos I have of this part of the trip are of two solo excursions out of London.

The first was to Knole, the huge country estate belonging to the family of Vita Sackville-West, the intimate friend of Virginia Woolf and general figure of importance in early 20th-Century English literature. Knole (or parts of it) was open to the public. I don't remember taking a train there, but I must have; my first photos are of a path through some woods and past a deer park. (Was I with a tour group or just wandering on my own?)

In any case, here is my first view of Knole sprawled in the distance under an English sky:

And here are two closer views of parts of the enormous rambling structure:

Unfortunately I didn't get to tour the famous gardens (closed that day for some reason), though I did get a glimpse of part of the gardens through a window of the house:

I see that I have one rather less interesting photo of the fields and woods of the estate. But my favorite pictures of Knole are of a cricket match that happened to be playing as I was walking away from the house, on my way back to the station. The two photos below give an idea of the gigantic size of this stately home, and could hardly be more "English" in the game and the weather:

As for the trip to Glyndebourne, I had long wanted to attend an opera there, and the prices weren't outrageous--the problem was that they were sold out for the day I could go. The kindly person on the box office phone told me to call back in a couple of days for possible returns, and I did, including on the morning of the show. After calling twice that day--again, no returns--I was startled to hear the woman on the phone say, "Tell me, sir, are you a sporting man?" I knew she meant "gambler" and what else could I say but "Sure"? "Well, if you are a sporting man, you might consider taking the train to Glyndebourne to see if there is a last-minute seat." How could I pass up a suggestion like that? My guess is that she meant the theatre was holding back a seat in case a critic or VIP needed one. So I took the risk of an hour-long train ride from Victoria Station to the town of Lewes in East Sussex, then a 4-mile bus ride from the town to Glyndebourne. And sure enough, a ticket was available for me. I felt embarrassed by my shabby sport coat and ratty tie--not exactly a tux--but they let me in, and nobody stared haughtily at me (that I noticed, anyhow). The performance was great (Richard Strauss' Arabella, conducted by Bernard Haitink), and though I didn't purchase the fancy picnic supper to take to the lawn, I had a fine time strolling around.

My last photo of this trip is one of a London street: I have no idea why I took it, unless it was where Dede was living, or maybe I just thought it looked like a quintessential London street:

Back in the States I continued my visit with my family. (I'd left from Cleveland.) My older nephew, Jamie, was learning to ride a horse. I took these pictures at the ranch or summer camp where he was being taught.

I started off my posts of the 1984 trip with photos of my other nephew, Jay (see BOX 154), and this post concludes with more Jay pics. Here he is with his mother:

. . . and here posing in some grassy spot:

In 1985 I took more trips==another drive out west to L.A. and a flight to see friends in South Carolina--but the slides boxes seem to have gone missing years ago. At least I have a record of a third trip--to Niagara Falls and Toronto with my mother, sister and Jay--so I'll show those pics in my next post.