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9 August 1912 — 3 Savile Row | |
Friday. 9th August [1912]. Nela & I went off by the 9.30 train from Victoria to Canterbury to pay a visit to Lord Kitchener at Broome Hall. We reached Canterbury at 11 & found the whole town in fête it being the Canterbury cricket week. However we had telegraphed to the stationmaster to have a taxi cab ready for us so we found one waiting which conveyed us to our destination. The town was decorated with Zingari Club colours, red & yellow wh brought back to my mind old days long past when the Zingari club used to come down to Canford to play against my brother Ivor’s eleven & we had large party in the house & dancing in the evening. We reached Broome in about 20 minutes & drove into the park over a rather broken road. There was a camp of boy scouts just within the gates spending a happy holiday. On getting near the house we found Lord Kitchener superintending the levelling of the ground on a slope from the front door. There is the porch I knew so well having helped Lord K. to buy it at Moisé della Torre’s shop in Pal. Brandolin on the Grand Canal. It is most effective & a great success. Lord K. took us into the house of which at present only the outside walls remain. He is lengthening the long hall, & making fresh partitions. The whole fabric is held together by iron girders & at present one can look up to the roofs while standing in the hall. From there we went into the Adams drawing room which altho’ beautiful is an anomaly in a Jacobean house & in making of wh the builders have spoiled the façade of the building. There are 2 staircases to the upper floors which are being removed & will be rebuilt. In fact the work to be done is immense & will take years which is what Lord Kitchener likes as he enjoys this part & does not look forward to living in the house. He took us round the shrubbery & to the kitchen garden wh is very large & well kept & then he showed us where he is at present living in the agent’s house close by & where he had arranged to give us luncheon—but the room is so small that he thought it pleasanter that we should lunch under a tree in front of the house & tho’ the rain threatened it happily held off & we were able to do so. Lord Kitchener delegated the carving of the chickens to Nela who acquitted herself with credit & we had a merry meal & enjoyed ourselves. After lunch Lord Kitchener took us into the part in front of the house to show us where he is going to erect iron entrance gates & make a drive straight opposite the front door of the house, & so the time passed happily till the motor returned from Canterbury & conveyed us back to the station in time to take the 4.23 train back to town. We got tea baskets before starting & consumed their contents on the journey getting back to town about 7. Dined at home. | |
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