Scope and Content
"At last I can get down to writing some letter, and I have a new typewriter to do them on. They gave me £6. for my old one in part exchange, which was more than I expected.
I arrived back here just over a week ago after a very enjoyable time in France. I spent Easter with some French cousins at a village S.Pierre-sur-l'Orne, near Caen. Being all Roman Catholics, I had to go to Mass with them on Easter Day, as the nearest English church is in Paris. A new generatation of distant relatives has sprung up since I was last there, just after the War. They have a lovely stone built house by the river, and though the village and the surrounding country suffered terrible damage during the D-Day and after business, the house came off luckily: Monty used it as his HQ for a time. After returning to Paris, I went with my old friend Valentin Vinogradoff in his car for a few days down the Loire Valley, and so down to the Riviera. Whenever I visit France, I am always tempted to pack up here and go and settle there. The thing one notices more than anything else is the sense of SPACE. It is like England was in the 20's. There is plenty of room to move about, and there are not the frightful crowds everywhere that one finds here. The roads too are not packed with traffic, except near Paris. And the general standard of living, the restaurants and cafes, is much superior to the snack-bar grubbiness that confronts one so much here, especially in London. However, I always return to my home on the cliff top with pleasure, and everything is looking very pretty now, the only snag is the chilly wind.
This is going to be a year of travel for me, as my future arrangements are: to Spain on June 13th. returning July 4th. In August I am going up to Scotland to the Staverts, and on August 26th. I sail for Russia, via Copenhagen, Stockholm and Helsinki. I have been talked into this by a friend who has just read Gunther's INSIDE RUSSIA and can't rest till he gets there. It ought to be very interesting, and the art galleries of Leningrad have some of the finest pictures in the world, which will be very much in my line.
Then next winter, leaving in December, I am intending to go to Sicily for two or three months, and explore it thoroughly. But this is of course a mere idea at the moment. I had thought of going to New Zealand, but I don't like long sea voyages without a sight of land, and the fare alone return is £600. first class which will keep me in Sicily all winter.
I notice your Whitsun holidays begin on 15th.May to 25th.May. I shall be here during that time if you like to fix a date to come. Or, if you prefer to wait till July, I expect to be here for the week after your holidays begin (July 24) as well as Bank Holiday week. I don't expect to go to Scotland until the second week in August.
My god-daughter Patricia Stavert is expected to pay me a visit for a few days this month, but no date has been fixed: and anyway in the last letter I had from her she said she might be going to Canada.
I had a heap of Ampthill News'es from Perton awaiting me, and a Beds.Times from Valder with the article about the Bartons, as well as your cutting of the same. The article is very interesting. How strange it seems to think that all the old Victorian ladies who were such a feature of Ampthill when I arrived there have all gone. But of course over a quarter of a century has passed! I am interested to see that a new Rectory is proposed. I expect Mr.Cooper finds that house and garden and stables etc. too much: and that in spite of electricity instead of gas. I always used to say I could have coped with the Rectory if I had had electricity. I had made plans when the war broke out for bringing it up from the main street: but of course it had to be shelved. The present Rectory is quite charming in summer, but in winter I found it a nightmare, and terribly expensive to heat. It has a wonderful position, and I think a new house built on the site will be very attractive.
I must remember to thank you for the Beds. Magazine, which is wonderfully produced. I notice the Cunninghams are leaving. I could never understand why such an eminent man could settle down in that dreary little cottage at the back of Turner's. I never met them. I don't think they had any interest in the church. Who lives in the house Mrs. Seabrook had at the top of Oliver Street now? Where did she go to live?
I was in London for a few days last week, and went to see WEST SIDE STORY at Her Majesty's which certainly has a terrific impact. But I also went to see my favourite DIE FLEDERMAUS at the Coliseum, which is much more in my line: delightful lilting music and graceful and elegant. There is such a deliberate cult of ugliness nowadays, it is a treat to see something which portrays the civilised values.
I also visited the re-built Temple Church, and walked into the re-built S.Clement Danes in The Strand at noon just as they were playing "Oranges and Lemons"! I admire the newly built Wren churches far more than I did the old ones, which were cluttered with Victoriana and dreadful stained windows.
Do go and see S.Bride's, just off Fleet Street, if you have the opportunity. You will have seen the new altar in S.Paul's. I think Sir Albert's garden at the East end of S.Paul's really charming. The fountain was playing when I saw it: all the seats were filled with City workers: it is a real oasis of beauty. What a pity he couldn't have been give the job of re-planning all the City, like Wren! Some of the huge office buildings going up are dreadful. They had a wonderful chance to remodel London, and Heaven knows there was enough talk about it in the years just after the war: but as usual it has ended in muddle.
Yours sincerely,"