On Sunday 9th August Area 22 spent a perfect summer’s day at Chavenage House near Tetbury in Gloucestershire. Billed as a tour of the house and gardens with a picnic to follow, that undersells the location and the occasion as a whole.
Naturally this summer the sun shone and that brought out a plethora of exciting Aston Martins to grace the lawns of this grand old estate. Picnic tables were set in the shade of mature trees and the view up to the cars and the house made an entirely fitting show case each for the other.
Chavenage is a deeply historic estate and wears its history comfortably alongside the recognition that the things that kept these estates alive in the past will not do so in the future. James Lowsley-Williams (a sparkling host for our tour despite the ravages of a family 25th birthday party on site the night before) and his wife Emma, are picking up the challenge of ensuring the estate prospers long into the future. You can find out a lot more on the website here and follow their journey on social media via the links provided.
At the heart of it this is first and foremost a family home. That 25th birthday party had taken place at this home and we were grateful that everyone was up and about by the time we arrived with the noisiest cars possible to disturb their Sunday recovery time!
Chavenage was a parliamentarian estate during the English Civil War, hosting Oliver Cromwell on more than one occasion to the extent that he still has his own room which is, of course, haunted! Successive additions to the buildings have not altered the historic character of the place and there is still a very pleasing symmetry to the way everything is laid out.
A significant income stream is generated by the estate offering itself as a film set, and most famously of course it is the location for the filming of “Rivals” from the Jilly Cooper book of the same name and part of the fictional (??) Rutshire Universe! Ity has also been used for other period dramas including Poldark and Agatha Christie’s The Pale Horse among many others.
An Area 22 summer picnic would not be complete without the table competition and this year the prize went to Ray & Theresa Wilkins who had thrown the kitchen sink at their effort to great effect. Everything was laid out and even included a bottle of 007 Champagne which, annoyingly, they failed to share with anyone else.
We are indebted to our own Events supremo Karen Bryant for making it all happen seamlessly and without a hitch.
You can see the photo album from the day if you are logged in to your AMOC account on the website under Members Area – Photo Albums – where they are listed in date order and at this link
Everyone departed gradually taking with them memories of a perfect summer’s day in the company of friends.