'..And Bully's Special Prize...'

Greetings one and all, another late blog, although you're used to it by now, so I'll take your forgiveness!

It was Mom's birthday last saturday, and to make a day of it, we decided to go to Blenheim Palace. Now, I was always under the assumption that Blenheim Palace, because it is so huge and seems so regal, has loads of things to do with the royal family, but how wrong I was.

I have been to some truly magnificent buildings in my short-but-eventful life, but, next to the Vatican, this has to be the most awe-inspiring building I've ever been to.

The story of the building goes like this. In 1704, the First Duke of Marlborough led the British army over to Europe to fight the French during the wars of the Spanish Succession. The French Army was the most feared army in the whole of Europe, having won every battle they've fought for over 40 years (not a bad record really). Anyway, the Duke led the allied forces over to South Germany, and more specifically, Blindheim, and beat the French, ending up personally taking the surrender of the French Commander.

As a reward, Queen Anne basically gave him Oxfordshire! On behalf of the nation, she gave him a large part of West Oxfordshire and a house to keep him and his family in for the rest of their lives. Now, the Duchess of Marlborough didn't want anything fancy like a grand house, she just wanted a small cottage on a plot of land somewhere in the grounds, and as a result, had huge arguments with the architect about his plans, resulting in him walking out on the building project mid-build. As she was a strong-willed woman (they always were in those days, not a chav in sight, bliss!!), she fell out of favour with the Queen, and for a short time the family even left the country to get away from the unwanted attention the Duchess had brought them (typical!). After a while, and many re-writes of the plans later, the Royal funds dried up, and in 1712, building work stopped.

The Duke eventually finished the project at his own expense, and I think you'll agree, he's not done a bad job of it...

.. and yes, before you ask, the architect did get his own way!

The name of the first Duke was John Churchill, and it doesn't take a brainiac to work out which recent historical figure came from that clan! Theres a huge collection of artwork on the man himself in the house, with a fascinating insight into life at the house, which is just brilliant.

The house and gardens are a World Heritage site and its easy to see why. The entrance fee sounds quite expensive, but in fact you get such alot for your money that its worth every penny. You get an interactive tour telling you about the house and gardens, plus entrance to the many gardens, most of which were designed by Capability Brown, so very worth your time and money, and the art collections, and unlike other historical houses, you can go round as many times as you like.

Here's some more photos! (I think I took about 400!)

Thats the view from the end of the drive, to a quarter of the way across the estate!

I could tell you I walked right the way down there and u can see me waving, but I know none of you would believe that!

Now, the huge structure being built in the centre of the shot is the huge marquee that John Terry tied the knot on Friday in, and I must say, even for a footballer, the guy has taste!

I won't go on about the history of the place, because trust me, there is more, and I really wanna stop typing and get on with my coursework, so I can finish my next assignment and blog again, but I would urge you to either go on the website or get in your car and travel down there, because its probably one of the best places in England to go to, and I've been to a few great places!

Suffice to say, Mom had a fabulous time, and as a little surprise for her, I treated us both to go to a Michael Buble' gig at the NEC in November, which should be great, as we are both big fans of the canadian-crooner, so that should be fab!

So, until next time, tatty-bye-bye!