A STONE FRIGATE...

Well, it` a glorious late Spring day here in deepest Kent and it reminds me of the times we have been to stay in the New Forest and the times we have visited Exbury Gardens, just a couple of miles from where I spent much of my boyhood.  At this time of the year the gardens - renowned for their azaleas and rhododendrons - are at their absolute best .  I don`t know but I imagine the gardens might well be closed as the corona virus continues to bite.   Anyway we greatly enjoyed wandering through the gardens and ending up at the rather splendid cafe for yet another dose of tea and cake.

But Exbury has not always been the haven of beauty and tranquility you see today.  In 1942 the Exbury Estate, owned by a member of the de Rothschild family, was requisitioned by the Royal Navy for use in connection with the D-Day landings.   As the `stone frigate` HMS Mastadon, throughout the war the house became a training base. 

It was reneamed HMS Hawk, then HMS King Alfred before being finally derequisitioned  and returned to the family in 1955.  After the war, restoration and development of the gardens was continued until the gardens were opened to the public in the early 1950s and since 1988 they have been run as Exbuty Gardens Ltd, on a long lease from the present freehold owner of the whole estate, Mr. Edmund de Rothschild`s 1966 Charitable Trust.

I hope my photo does at least some justice to it all.......