Summer Flowers

A tour of Upton House this afternoon, the mirror lake is looking quite sad as it has been drained to allow for repairs to the clay liner which will run on through the rest of this year.  

The house itself is also looking quite drab as it has been put into a state to represent the years of the 2nd World War when the Bearstead family's bank was based there out of London.  

Lord Bearstead was the head of Shell Oil at the time and had a significant role to play in the wartime economy ..... worth a visit as it is perhaps something we don't normally think about, in that many functions of 'normal life' had to run on in the war to allow the forces to fight. It must have been quite a change for the bank staff moved from London to the rural Oxfordshire/Warwickshire border with their families still in London or perhaps evacuated. 

The gardens are set out as a dig for victory exhibition so these are some of the few flowers on display.