Sunday Times Where Was I? Holiday Competition

Near as I can figure it, through the possibly flawed perceptual filters of my own reality tunnel, the most likely answers this week, seem to me to be:


Q1. Sezincote


Q2. Hidcote Manor Garden


The initial clues seem to place us in a relatively unexplored part of the big British island called 'The Cotswolds ', specifically at a four thousand five hundred acre estate called 'Sezincote', around a mile and a bit south west of the town of Moreton-in-Marsh. The puzzle author is not joking about it having a palace, from the photographs on the Sezincote website, it looks absolutely beautiful, and is built in the style of the homes of the Mogul emperors in India, complete with onion domes and orangery. They appear to have a herd of muley cows there also. The gardener who liked to keep his designs in red books, is probably Humphrey Repton and he does get a mention on the website, as having helped design the landscape around the house. The poet laureate John Betjeman stayed at Sezincote in the 1920s with his friend John Dugdale, who's father owned the house at that time. A lord chancellor appointed c 1929, whose biographies claim was born in Moreton-in-Marsh c 1866, was John Sankey.

The second estate, which lies a mile or so north west of Moreton-in-Marsh, is most likely 'Batsford', their website claims that it is fifty six acres in area and has a large arboretum, with many exotic trees and shrubs. Batsford was at one time owned by David Bertram Ogilvy Freeman-Mitford, 2nd Baron Redesdale. The Baron had six wild daughters and some of them liked to hang out with the potty Austrian gefreiter and the completely hatstand Oswald Mosley. The author, who has was as good at quips, banter and repartee as Oscar Wilde, is most likely Nancy Mitford (born c 1904), who published a work called 'The Pursuit of Love', which has a character called 'Uncle Matthew', c 1945.

The garden referred to in the hints is probably 'Hidcote Manor Garden', according to some of his biographies, this was designed as a series of outdoor 'rooms', by Lawrence Waterbury Johnston, who was born in Paris c 17th October, 1871. Hidcote Manor lies about three miles north north west of the town of Chipping Camden but I did not find much in the way of evidence that Nancy Mitford lived there. The quote "stranger than dreams and far, far more disordered" appears to be from one of Nancy Mitford's novels, 'Christmas Pudding', published c 1932.

N.B. Due to the number of people who normally write poison pen letters in green ink posting on his page, the Eastender has moved to moderated comments but rest assured, if you have a comment or quip relating to the puzzle and its solution, he will endeavour to publish it.