Tuesday 8 November 2011

Day out at Downton Abbey

Here I am, along with Gorgeous Husband, outside Highclere Castle, the filming site for the Downton Abbey series.  Sorry about the people in the background: they are part of the Australian film crew who were filming us for an Australian TV series.  Apparently it is a serious hit "down under"!

Highclere was actually closed for the season, and was open only by special appointment made on behalf of the Australian film crew.  That is why myself and the rest of the folks on the coach tour, organised by Helen Porter of P and P Tours were dressed in Edwardian costumes.  We got to "play" Lord and Lady for the day!  It really was my "cup of tea": a big house with servants.  Maybe it was me in a past life?!

We watched the final episode of Downton not only following the plot and watching the sumptuous costumes, but also nudging each other, and saying, "that is the staircase where we were filmed.  I remember that fireplace!  There's the hallway that Bates and Anna met up.  And the scene in the entrance where Matthew and Mary had their romantic dance!  Wow!  We had tea there, whilst being interviewed by the host of the Australian TV programme.

Also loved seeing the Egyptian exhibition in the basement of Highclere, as it was Lord Carnarvon who financed the expedition that discovered the tomb of Tutankhamen.  Fantastic artefacts, some of them real, and some replicas from King Tut's tomb.  And we were the only ones there, so could easily pore over the cases and be entralled.  We were only restricted by time, not by hoards of other Egyptian fanciers!

Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take photographs inside the house, which I thought was a real shame, as it was a 10 out of 10 in the gorgeousness scale.

2 comments:

The Style Crone said...

The two of you look grand, with the castle in the background. Lord and Lady suits you!

Tiffany said...

Appreciate this bblog post