We drove to a campground in Maidstone, where we spent the night. In the morning we left for our first tourist stop. That destination was Chartwell, the home south of London that Winston Churchill had purchased in the 1930’s and lived in most of his life.

Several things stand out about our visit to Chartwell. First, there were hundreds of people on the property, and we probably brought the average age down! That’s a bit discouraging, but it was a Wednesday and school isn’t over yet.

On a more historical point, while the Churchill family was obviously a lot wealthier than most people, this was not only what is referred to in England as a "stately home". It was a very large house with beautiful, extensive grounds, but it was also a home that was designed for a family to enjoy eating meals in, or entertaining, or writing, or painting--all things that Churchill did in abundance. It was full of things that belonged to the Churchill family. Lady Churchill had arranged everything in the house as it had been in the 1930’s. Then she turned the building over to the National Trust. It is perched on a hill overlooking one large pond, and a couple of smaller ones, a perfectly even croquet lawn, and several gardens.

Ronald’s favorite sight was a hand written letter from the Prime Minister to General Alexander, Commander of British forces in the Middle East. In quite elegant language, it told the General in two short paragraphs that he was commanded to defeat and remove all traces from North Africa of the Nazi and Italian forces under General Rommel. Underneath his note was Alexander’s later handwritten reply. It said something like, Sir, your instructions have been carried out!

Adelle’s favorite was the picture of the Churchills in 1916. They were already obviously middle-aged then. The picture underscored the fact that this man didn’t become Prime Minister until he was 65 years old. While we always knew that, somehow this picture made it more real. And of course, the fact that hit her was that he became Prime Minister at such a critical time in history when he was only five years younger than she is now.

We learned a new Britishism while we were parking the RV. A volunteer helped us fit into a small space. He told us about a brand of auto that they have in England called a "Rolles Canardly". That is: rolls downhill, can‘ardly go up’em! How appropriate for our aged chariot!

at