April 14th, 1961 Meadow House/London/Bexhill

• April 14th, 1961
• Meadow House/London/England
• Rainy in a.m. Clearing and sunny later in the day.

Came up to London today from Brentwood.  Check our bags at the station and took the underground from Liverpool St. to Westminster.  Went through St. Margaret's Church, the original parish church of the abbey.  Foundations laid in 1000. About 200 years ago, it was separated from Westminster Abbey. Of course, to a Roman Catholic, all has a familiar and understandable air. Saw burial places of Eliz I, Mary Stewart, James I, and all the other notables. Also, the coronation chair.

Had a lovely lunch at St. Stephens Restaurant opposite the Houses of Parliament but did not go through as we had to meet Peter at 2:30 pm. Got to the Great Eastern Hotel in good time to connect with Peter and drive down to Bexhill.  He has a lovely new Jaguar which rides easily and has a speed capacity of around 130 miles per hour.

The ride down into Sussex and Kent is beautiful. The rolling landscape is much like Western Massachusetts.  We stopped at an ancient castle knoll containing 365 rooms and 52 staircases, 7 courtyards. As it takes an hour plus to go through we just visited the courtyards and Great Hall.  The castle dates from the time of King John 1199-1216. The Duchess of Windsor met her Edward there at some sort of entertainment,  Kay and Peter have a lovely spacious home in Bexhill. There is an air of family living which is very comfortable and easy.  It was a delight to see them all, and we spent most of the time getting acquainted all over again. The sea is only a few minutes walk from their home.

After a lovely dinner, we gathered in the drawing room for conversation and a bit of television.

The boys were pleased with the games we brought them, and James and I had a great time playing concentration.  Kay promises me an Old Castle for tomorrow.

Kay is Ervin's niece, Kathleen Putnam.  She married Peter Murray Willis, the Peter mentioned above.  Unfortunately, they didn't give the name of the castle they visited.  Given the clues they give, someone should be able to figure it out, but I haven't tried.