Downton Abbey's back.

The autumn equinox has passed and with it has come the return of two of the highlights of my year; Strictly Come Dancing and Downton Abbey. Who cares if it's cold and dark outside when you can sit in the comfort of your own living room and lose yourself in the glamour of spray tans and sequins on a Saturday and dramas of the people at Downton Abbey, both below and above stairs, on a Sunday. I've been eagerly awaiting the start of Downton, as once again, I've been fortunate enough to be on site at Cogges, alias Yew Tree Farm, during the filming that took place here earlier this year.

Hugh Bonneville

On a cold , but sunny day in March, the Victorian kitchen at Cogges, was once again transformed into the home of Farmer Drewe and his family.

The following day, the actors arrived. Farmer Drewe, his wife Marji and the twin girls, who play Marigold, were among them. This intrigued me as at the end of series five, Marigold was happily living up at the big house, with Lady Edith. What was even more intriguing was the presence of Lord and Lady Grantham, aka Hugh Bonneville and Elizabeth McGovern, and Laura Carmichael, who plays Lady Edith. 

Most of the filming took place inside the house so we couldn't really see what was going on. But there were a couple of scenes filmed outside, in front of the house. In one of them, Lord Grantham arrived at the farm driving a car that also contained Cora, Edith and Mr Drewe. During one of the takes of this scene, I was in the toilet block near where this was being filmed and had to stay in the block until the filming was finished.


 After this, I saw Cora and Edith sitting in the car while Mr Drewe and Lord Grantham were in the house. I assumed that they were just keeping warm. But in the second episode of series 6, there is a scene where Lord Grantham goes into the house on his own , leaving them waiting in the car. I should have realised that it was part of the filming as, earlier on they had all been standing around wearing identical full length, white padded coats over their costumes to keep them warm between takes, and they were in costume when sitting in the car. 

Road leading to the house which Lord Grantham drove along.

The technicians had set up the sound and recording equipment behind the wall where the filming was taking place. I was standing beside them and during a break in filming Andrew Scarborough, who plays Farmer Drewe appeared beside me. He was wearing his full length padded coat as, where they'd been filming was in the shade and he'd become very cold during the filming. But where I was standing, the sun was shining and it felt much warmer. He struck up a conversation with me about how much warmer it was in the sun. I was a bit star struck and muttered some inane comment about the weather, but he was very down to earth and friendly and put me at ease.

Cogges/Yew Tree Farm mug

Later on that day Mrs Drewe and the two Marigolds, made their way into the house to do some filming. By this time my mind was in over-drive trying to figure out what the storyline might be. Why were Lord and Lady Grantham and Edith at Yew Tree Farm? Why was Marigold there?

At the end of the day's filming,  Hugh Bonneville and some of the others, said 'goodbye' and 'thank you', as they passed through reception on their way back to the car park. But before she left, Emma Lowndes, who plays Mrs Drewe wanted to buy one of the Yew Tree Farm mugs we sell in the shop. She wanted one as a souvenir as this was to be her last time filming at Cogges and she'd enjoyed her time here very much. Colin, the Director of Cogges gave her one free of charge. So now we knew that she at least was leaving the series.

After they'd gone, I was chatting to Colin about what the storyline might be. I came up with the theory that Lord Grantham might want the Drewes to leave because he was worried that Mrs Drewe might cause trouble as she was so upset about losing Marigold. Well, guess what happened in episode two? I should be a script writer. 

A little hint maybe?

Later on in the year we had three more Downton actors, who'd never been here before, filming at Cogges. I can't say anymore at this time as I don't want to give the story away. Suffice to say, I was once again correct in my predictions. 

In total, they filmed on four separate occasions and I was around for most of them, I was even involved in helping on the last day of filming. One of the hair and make up guys had forgotten his hair spritz bottle and I improvised one for him out of an empty bathroom cleaner bottle. I also had to do my usual gig of chicken wrangling. The chickens naturally, wouldn't stay in shot during filming, then wouldn't stay out of shot when they were no longer required. The Director said that, 'they had fallen under the Downton spell.'

Me in costume doing my tour duties.

It was a very sad day for us all when the Director called, 'cut' for the last time. I'll miss the excitement of knowing that they're coming once again to film. But over the past couple of years we've started having groups of Downton Abbey fans coming to see the location of Yew Tree Farm. This summer, I started working as a Downton Abbey tour guide, taking groups of these fans around the house and grounds, showing them where the filming has taken place and telling them some of the funny incidents that happened during filming. At least I'll still be able to do this for the foreseeable future. 

I still haven't given up hope that Julian Fellowes will change his mind and decide to write another series.  Maybe I should contact the producers and offer to continue to write the scripts for them. Now wouldn't that be an adventure?

If you would like to visit Yew Tree Farm, you can find out all about us at:- http://www.cogges.org.uk/ If you click on the videos link. you'll be able to see a time lapse video of the kitchen at Cogges being transformed into Yew Tree Farm.

isabelj327.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/how-cogges-becomes-downtons-yew-tree.html?m=1

Photos Isabel's own or taken from photographs kindly donated to Cogges by Downton Abbey.

Isabel Johnstone 2015 ©

Cruise Review

Home for the next 10 days.

In my last blog, A Duck's Tale,  http://isabelj327.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/a-ducks-tale.html
I mentioned that I'd recently been on a cruise. One of my friends asked me to write about the cruise as he's considering going on one and is interested to know what it's like. But I thought that I'd write about my experience of cruising, rather than one specific cruise.


I'll never forget my first cruise. We were looking for something

Setting sail from Venice on a Greek Isles cruise.

special to do to celebrate our silver wedding anniversary and, in my opinion, we couldn't have chosen anything better. It was a classic Mediterranean cruise sailing to and from Barcelona. We were treated like VIP's from the moment we stepped off the plane, although having done quite a few cruises since, this isn't always the case, but we've never had a bad experience, just a bit more of a hectic one shall we say.

The Legend of the Seas from Mykonos.

When we arrived at the cruise terminal my jaw literally dropped at the size of the ship, It was called the Splendour of the Seas and it certainly lived up to its name. I couldn't believe that this was going to be my home for the next 7 days and nights. My excitement and wonder continued to mount each day. From Barcelona, we sailed to Villefranche, in the South of France, where, if we'd wanted to,  we could have visited Monte Carlo or Nice. Instead we opted to go ashore and explore the local market and seaside town.The next day we arrived at the port of Livorno, in Italy, where we spent the day exploring the sights of Pisa.

Our cabin on the 12th deck.

During the course of the week, we also visited Rome, stopped off in Naples, the nearest port for Pompeii and Herculaneum, and Valetta the capital of Malta. I couldn't get over how amazing it was to see all these places I'd dreamt about, without having to pack and unpack every day. Instead, we returned to the ship, dressed for dinner, watched a West End style show, danced under the stars and enjoyed a night cap in a sumptuous lounge before retiring to bed. And ladies, you get the chance to wear your posh frocks if you want. but it's not compulsory.

The ship is like a floating all inclusive hotel, with all the facilities

Flow rider on the Explorer of the Seas

that you would expect from a 4* or even 5* hotel. There was even an on board lecturer giving talks for those who like to know a bit about the places they are going to visit,The food is worthy of any Michelin restaurant and there's plenty of it. You can find something to eat 24 hours a day, if you want. But the good news is, there is a gym and jogging track if you want to enjoy yourself, but not gain too much weight.

Me getting into character for the Thriller dance

Even when having a day at sea there is something for everyone. There's bingo, quizzes, basket ball, mini golf, a rock climbing wall and on The Explorer of the Seas, the last ship I was on, there was an ice rink and flow rider, so you can even skate and surf at sea. Once on a trip from Baltimore to the Bahamas, I spent a couple of days at sea, learning Michael Jackson's Thriller dance, with some of my fellow guests and members of the entertainment team. Then on the last evening, we performed it in front of the entire ship. One of my 'adventures', it was awesome.

Chillin' in Gran Canaria

One of the concerns I've heard is that people worry about being stuck on a ship with so many people. But I can assure you that there's plenty of places where you can go if you want some alone time. You can do as much or as little as you want.The trips can be a bit full on, but in a lot of places you can disembark and just wander or sit and watch the world go by in a local café. We've had a couple of great times just getting off and jumping on a local open top bus. Everywhere seems to have them.

Cruising is a great way to see some of the Wonders of the World, without having to spend too much time in one place. I've seen the Colosseum, the Vatican, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, Pompeii and even where the film Troy was shot, and all in one trip. Plus, I've no particular desire to visit Cairo, but was able to see the Pyramids at Giza.

You may have gathered by now that I'm a big fan of cruising. So much so, that we've booked up another cruise next year to celebrate my 'significant' birthday. There's so much more I could say on the subject, but I think that's enough for now. If you've thought about cruising, I'd say to go for it. After all, you only live once.

For those who missed it, here is the video my hubby took of the Thriller Dance. Enjoy.

Photo's and video, Isabel's own.

Isabel Johnstone 2015 ©

A duck's tale.

Our cruise ship.

recently returned from a lovely cruise sailing from Southampton to the Canary Islands. It had been a bit of a stressful year and I was really looking forward to the break. Even the morning that we were due to leave, one of my cats was found to have an open wound from a burst abscess. Despite being 15 years old, he still insists on defending his territory. An emergency trip to the vet and we were finally able to send him to the cattery and set off.

The cruise was amazing. But for some reason I found it difficult to relax. Normally it's my hubby who takes a few days to unwind, but this time it was me. But eventually the cruise atmosphere worked its magic and I had a lovely time. I had planned to write about it, and I may yet, but for some reason since I've returned from the cruise, I'm been in a bit of a funk and have felt unable to write.

So what's changed? 

Our little visitor

This afternoon I walked into town to do some shopping. My walk into town is particularly idyllic. It involves me walking past the historic buildings of Cogges Manor Farm, where I do my Downton Abbey tours. Then I pass an old church and cross two bridges before reaching the town centre. There are ducks, swans and moorhens on the river. The ducks are common old Mallards, but a few months ago, on the first of May in fact, on my way into town I spotted a different type of duck. As soon as I arrived back home, I googled images of ducks and thought that our little visitor was a Ruddy Duck. I also found an article that said that some Ruddy ducks had recently escaped from a wildlife sanctuary and were causing havoc among the local duck population.

I'd taken a photo of him and I posted the image on Facebook and Twitter. A few people begged to differ with my conclusion as to the type of duck he was. Someone said he was a Mallard who's mother hadn't been too fussy in her choice of father, another that he was a Call duck. So we had a bit of a duckgate situation going on. At this time I was sticking to my original thinking that he was a Ruddy duck.

A Ruddy duck

At first always seemed to be on his own. The local Mallards seemed to be either shunning him or at times bullying him. Someone called in to Cogges and asked if we could take him and wanted to get the RSPCA involved. But as it was at the time of year when drakes fight among themselves in order to attract a mate, I didn't think that he was being singled out for bullying. St ill,he wasn't being accepted either.

My first sighting of the 2 Call ducks together,

One day on my way into town, as I crossed the bridge I looked out for him and this time, when I spotted him, he was with a little white female duck. I took a photo of her and shared it on Facebook. A friend responded by saying that this was a female Call duck. My little friend had found a mate and this convinced me that he too was a Call duck.

I was so pleased for him. Now when I walk into town I look to check that they are still together. I'm happy to report that they are. Not only that, but the other ducks seem to have accepted him now. In fact I've seen him on occasions 'hanging out with the lads.'

Still together.

Seeing the pair today really cheered me up and inspired me to tell their story. Call me an old romantic, but I think it's lovely the way that these 2 ducks have found each other. I believe that there is someone for everyone. Nature has shown this to be true.

I don't know if they'll stay with us? I hope so. I also hope that next year we'll see some little Call ducklings. This would be the perfect end to my Duck Tale.

See below a little video of them together, I defy you to watch it and not smile. I know I did.

Photo of Ruddy duck courtesy of:- http://ow.ly/Sc3kP

Other photos and video:- Isabel's own.

Isabel Johnstone 2015 ©