Twenty-three met at the Onslow Arms in West Clandon for an excellent and convivial lunch before proceeding to the National Trust property nearby, Hatchlands House. We had planned to visit Clandon House, but as many of you will know, it was really tragically burnt down on 29 April.
Hatchlands was a fortunate replacement, with much of interest to see and after an introductory talk we looked round the House at our leisure. It was built in the 1750s for naval hero Admiral Edward Boscawen and his wife Fanny; since then it has housed wealthy families, a finishing school for girls and even a printing press. It is now a family home containing, besides three Titians, a portrait of Shakespeare and much fine furniture, tenant Alec Cobbe’s remarkable collection of keyboard instruments associated with composers like JC Bach, Haydn, Chopin, Elgar and Bizet. How evocative it was listening through the audio guide to these keyboards being played.
Most of the rooms were designed by the architect Robert Adams, whose ceilings and fireplaces are throughout the house.
This was our 14th annual outing since our first one in 2002. We have visited the Royal Artillery Museum and Mess at Woolwich, Wellington’s House at Hyde Park Corner, the King’s Troop of the Royal Horse Artillery, the Royal Chelsea Hospital and the Army Museum, The Painted Hall and Chapel at Greenwich, the Houses of Parliament and Speaker’s House, Wellington Barracks, HMS Belfast and the City of London Police, the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst, the RAF Museum in Hendon, the Kneller Hall Army School of Music, the Cutty Sark, the Churchill War Rooms and now Hatchlands House. All visits included a good lunch!