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Living the Surrey life, by a Surrey Girl

lindaglamour
Apr 2, 2019
5 min read

The Cotswolds even in the depth of winter provide a stunning location to both rest and experience English country living however it was time for me to return to Esher in Surrey and my second home. My home away from home isn't mine but it feels like it belongs to me. I am familiar with how it looks and how everything works. There is no struggling with getting the washer to run and I know to turn on the freezer unit when I arrive for the ice blocks to go in the G&T's! I know that the nearest Waitrose is only a few minutes drive away, along with a good pub and the essential coffee hit. I know the downstairs shower room has better water pressure than upstairs and the best place to plug in the phone recharge and still be able to see the TV. I can unhesitatingly see the view from the back bedroom window in my mind. So all in all, each time I am here, it feels like home.

The other benefit is that my abode is a short walk away from a train station that has a direct line into Waterloo Station. This means that everything London has to offer is only a half an hour train ride away. So, having stocked up on the essentials at Waitrose and a glass of bubbly in hand, I plan what adventures I shall have in the coming week. Earlier in this time in the UK, I had explored Kensington Palace with my travel buddy AW and had walked along the glass bridge across Tower Bridge. We had also had cocktails at the top of the Gherkin and I was thrilled with the theatre performance of Six! The Musical. The coming week however was undecided but it didn't stay that way for long.

A plan evolved which included the newly opened Westminster Galleries at the Abbey, the local farmer's market at the nearby village of Ripley, a Sunday morning service at The Chapel Royal at Hampton Court Palace, a walk through the gardens and house of the National Trust Polesden Lacey in Surrey, lunch at The Shakespeare Pub off Trafalgar Square (and highly featured on IG) then a trip to the Victoria and Albert Museum for the Tudor displayed items and the Dior fashion exhibition. It seemed like a full plan but there was room in there for some serendipitous discoveries and adventures as well.

The first day dawned bright so the initial adventure became the delightful Polesden Lacey situated near Dorking in Surrey and a short drive from Esher. It is a substantial Edwardian property and one of the National Trust's most popular. Gifted to the Trust by its owner and famous society hostess, Margaret Greville, it houses quite a collection of fine artwork and is extravagantly decorated. The house had been the focus of social life for the upper crust for a number of years. Mrs Greville began remodelling the original Regency period property in 1906 and brought in the Ritz architects Mewes and Davies. It took three years before the property was ready to entertain its first guests in 1909.

It is also renowned for being the honeymoon location for the Duke and Duchess of York who later became known as King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother. There is a wonderful picture of the two of them standing at the Southern Terrace and it looks just the same today. (Picture from NT website)

One of the delights of Polesden is its large estate and gardens. Arriving in the morning for when the property first opened I missed breakfast at home but consoled myself with the thought of a cream tea brekkie in the tea rooms instead! What a wonderful way to fortify oneself for a morning of glorious property and garden walking! I was duly replenished with a large warm scone, raspberry jam and clotted cream and a pot of English Breakfast tea. I have always been a jam first girl in the great scone debate however today I had to submit to the other side! The clotted cream was SO thick it wouldn't spread upon the jam so cream first it was!

It is about a five minute walk from the tearoom through the grounds to the house itself. I strolled slowly enjoying the wide paths, green grass laid out to support the broad expansive view as one comes round the bend in the road to capture one's first glimpse of the property. It sits nestled into the countryside, a confection of lemon walls, white windows and trims and a dark green ivy snaking its way up the walls. In Edwardian style there is a classic symmetry but not to the point of Georgian predictability of design. I eschewed taking the tour of the interiors first by walking around the perimeter of the building to take in its size and situation. Standing at the Southern Terrace like Queen Elizabeth, I gazed out upon the rolling hills and blue sky. A gathering of darkish clouds didn't dampen my spirits nor fortunately the birds chirping away.

The gardens of Polesden are lovely. Not early enough to yet claim it to be Spring, the grounds nonetheless showed signs of early promise. Violet and blue crocus were pushing up through the soil amidst small yellow flowers, such a delightful contrast of colours under the protection of a long established tree. White snowdrops added their impact to the flower garden. Such flowers are rare in Australia and so for being more 'british' I appreciated their prettiness and delicacy.

Did I mention it was nearly Valentine's Day? Perhaps not. Polesden Lacey was not adverse to getting into the romantic spirit of the day so out on the south terrace lawn stood a tree decorated with paper hearts. Upon arriving at Polesden one could take a heart and write one's beloved name on it and decorate the tree. I did but in a forlorn sort of way. There is not much to remember except love lost thesedays but still, my paper heart fluttered in the breeze.

The interior of the house is a delight. There are a number of grand rooms open but still more closed than not. In recent years more of the servants area has been opened up including the kitchen. The tour guide, a lovely dapper English gent, friendly and knowledgeable, guided my small group I had joined through the property telling great tales of the social life and the history of the rooms on view. I particularly liked the dining room set up ready for dinner, each place set with a name. I could envision myself as one of the Churchill's ready to dine, dressed luxuriously, flirting with the dapper gents of genteel society. After dinner, a drink in the Salon? or perhaps a stroll down the long corridor admiring the artwork.