Tag: Chartwell

Life
“A day away from Chartwell is a day wasted.” Proving his point, this is what one sees from his Dining Room window, looking across the garden out over the Weald of Kent. (Photo by Gareth Williams, Creative Commons)
Q&A: Churchill’s Philosophy of Life and Living

Q&A: Churchill’s Philosophy of Life and Living

“What was Churchill’s Phi­los­o­phy of Life and Liv­ing?” was first pub­lished by the Hills­dale Col­lege Churchill Project. For the orig­i­nal arti­cle with end­notes, click here. To sub­scribe to free week­ly arti­cles from Hills­dale-Churchill, click here and scroll to bot­tom. Enter your email in the box “Stay in touch with us.” No adver­tis­ing: Your iden­ti­ty remains a rid­dle wrapped in a mys­tery inside an enigma.

Q: On life and living

If I want to under­stand Sir Win­ston Churchill’s phi­los­o­phy of life and liv­ing, what books would you rec­om­mend? —B.A., via email

A: Lengthy sources

At first your ques­tion remind­ed us of the old fra­ter­ni­ty ini­ti­a­tion tech­nique: ask­ing pledges an unan­swer­able ques­tion.…

Read More Read More

Lalique
The large Lalique cockerel (circled behind the sofa) has enjoyed pride of place at Chartwell since de Gaulle presented it to Clementine Churchill during the Second World War. (Photo by Ciaran McKrickard, National Trust Collections with thanks to Katherine Carter)
French Magnanimity: De Gaulle’s Gift of a Lalique Cockerel

French Magnanimity: De Gaulle’s Gift of a Lalique Cockerel

“The conversation turned to the French Fleet, and Clementine said she hoped that its ships and crews would carry on the fight with us. De Gaulle curtly replied that what would really give the French Fleet satisfaction would be to turn their guns ‘On you!’ (meaning the British). Winston tried to mediate but Clementine interrupted him, and said in French: ‘No, Winston, it is because there are certain things that a woman can say to a man which a man cannot say, and I am saying them to you—General de Gaulle!’” After this verbal fracas, the General was much upset, and apologised profusely, and later presented her with the Lalique.

Read More Read More

Christmas
“Winter Sunshine, Chartwell,” circa 1924, Coombs 142. During a Christmas season, Churchill painted his Kentish home under snow. (Reproduced by kind permission of Churchill Heritage Ltd.)
Churchill’s Christmas, 1882-1947: Halcyon and Sterner Days

Churchill’s Christmas, 1882-1947: Halcyon and Sterner Days

At Christmas 1932, Churchill received as a present “a huge bottle of brandy, and decided to paint it, accompanied by lesser bottles," Johnnie Churchill remembered. "He sent us children scurrying around Chartwell to find them: 'Fetch me associate and fraternal bottles to form a bodyguard to this majestic container.'"

Read More Read More

swans
Two of Chartwell’s black swans. (Mike Scott, Creative Commons)
Black Swans Thrive at Churchill’s Chartwell

Black Swans Thrive at Churchill’s Chartwell

"Mr. Churchill frequently engaged the birds in 'swan-talk,' in which he claimed exclusivity. In fact, the swans would cry out to anyone who approached within a certain distance. Some time after this discovery that I was walking down to the lake with Mr. Churchill. I was a little in front, and watched carefully for the critical spot. I then called out in 'swan-talk' and the birds dutifully replied to me. Mr. Churchill stopped dead. I turned round and he looked me full in the eye for a moment or two. Then the faintest suspicion of a smile appeared and he walked on in silence. No comment was ever made that this secret was shared." —Ronald Golding

Read More Read More

butterflies
“Twelve million feathers on his wings, 16,000 lenses in his eye, a mouthful for a bird.” Indian butterflies. (Kailash Kumbhkar, Creative Commons)
Churchillisms: Twelve Million Feathers on a Butterfly’s Wings

Churchillisms: Twelve Million Feathers on a Butterfly’s Wings

Churchill was a keen collector of butterflies in India, but in later life he couldn't bear to kill them or even keep them captive in his chrysalis house at Chartwell. Strolling by the cage on one of his walks, he left the screening open. Secretary Grace Hamblin asked, did he do that on purpose. Churchill replied, "I can't bear this captivity any longer."

Read More Read More

Library
The Chartwell library today. On the far wall is a model of the Gold Beach Mulberry Harbor, conceived by Churchill to float up and down with the tide, facilitating the landing of tanks and heavy equipment for the 1944 invasion of France. (National Trust, Chartwell. For more interior photos see https://bit.ly/3Mpemp1)
What Happened to the Library at Chartwell?

What Happened to the Library at Chartwell?

In 1992 Michael Wybrow and I spent a day in the Chartwell library. Security was less of a concern then, and the administrator, Jeane Broome, kindly let us examine books closely. We were able to survey all the shelves and even to open (very carefully!) the odd volume. We did not attempt an inventory, but did learn the fate of many volumes.

Read More Read More

Stalin
First Meeting, Moscow 1942: WSC’s interpreter Arthur Birse, Churchill, U.S. envoy Averell Harriman, Stalin, Soviet Foreign Minister V.M. Molotov. (Photo by Mikhail Mikhaylovich Kalashnikov, Wikimedia Commons, public domain)
“Stalin never broke his word to me.” Were these Churchill’s words?

“Stalin never broke his word to me.” Were these Churchill’s words?

A mag­a­zine fact check­er writes ask­ing if Churchill ever said, “Stal­in nev­er broke his word to me.” The short answer is yes. The long answer shows how care­ful we should be when quot­ing Churchill.

The source of this quote is the jour­nal­ist C.L. Sulzberg­er (1912-1993), in his 1970 book, The Last of the Giants, page 304. In it Sulzberg­er reports his “five hours with old Win­ston Churchill” at Chartwell on 10 July 1956.

Churchill, wrote Sulzberg­er, thought Stal­in “a great man, above all com­pared to Khr­uschev and Bul­ganin,” and quot­ed Churchill as follows:

Stal­in nev­er broke his word to me.…

Read More Read More

1931
Ample time was always set aside for distinguished Americans at Chartwell. On 19 September 1931, L-R: Mr. Punch, Mary Churchill’s naughty pug; The Hon. Tom Mitford (Clementine’s cousin, friend of Diana and Randolph and only brother of the Mitford sisters, killed in Burma in 1945); WSC; Freddie Birkenhead (Second Earl of Birkenhead, who had succeeded his father the previous year and became a historian and biographer of his father); Clementine, Diana and Randolph Churchill; Charlie Chaplin. (Wikimedia Commons, public domain)
Churchill’s Daily Routine (Or: You Can’t Get Good Help Anymore…)

Churchill’s Daily Routine (Or: You Can’t Get Good Help Anymore…)

Q: When help was cheap

Mov­ing right along, the 1911 Cen­sus was recent­ly released in Eng­land. No address was “ex-direc­to­ry” in those days. Win­ston Churchill is list­ed at 33 Eccle­ston Square, Lon­don (sev­en­teen rooms) with wife Clemen­tine, daugh­ter Diana and eight ser­vants. The help com­prised a cook, nurse, lady’s maid, house­maid, par­lor maid, under-par­lor maid, kitchen maid and hall boy). Can this be so? —A.J., NSW, Australia

A: Absolutely.

By the 1920s and 1930s, when the Churchills were ensconced at Chartwell, the help had grown to fif­teen or more, count­ing gar­den­ers, handy­men, sec­re­taries and house­hold staff.…

Read More Read More

Randolph Churchill
RSC, ca. 1933 (by kind permission of Mary Soames)
Present at the Creation: Randolph Churchill and the Official Biography (1)

Present at the Creation: Randolph Churchill and the Official Biography (1)

“Ran­dolph Churchill: Present at the Cre­ation,” is tak­en from a lec­ture aboard the Regent Sev­en Seas Explor­er on the 2019 Hills­dale Col­lege Cruise around Britain, 8 June 2019.

Most every­body has an inkling of who Win­ston Churchill was. But how many know of his son Ran­dolph? How many British school­child­ren do you think have heard of him? Do they know that Arthur Conan Doyle cre­at­ed Sher­lock Holmes, who some think was a real per­son? They should, Sir Arthur was a great writer. Like Ran­dolph Churchill, who found­ed the longest biog­ra­phy ever writ­ten. In the words of Dean Ache­son, he was “present at the creation.”…

Read More Read More

D-day
Model of the Mulberry harbor on Gold Beach in the library at Chartwell.
Lectures at Sea (1): Churchill and the Myths of D-Day

Lectures at Sea (1): Churchill and the Myths of D-Day

“Churchill and the Myths of D-Day is excerpt­ed from a lec­ture on the 2019 Hills­dale Col­lege Round-Britain cruise. Hills­dale cruis­es with “lec­tures at sea” are an annu­al event, usu­al­ly occur­ring in May or June. For infor­ma­tion on the 2020 cruise to Jerusalem and Athens, click here.

I’m here to talk about Win­ston Churchill. I know this audi­ence knows who he was! Did you know a sur­vey of British school­child­ren reveals that one in five think he was a fic­tion­al char­ac­ter? And bet­ter than half think Sher­lock Holmes was a real person?

My book is about the non-fic­tion­al Churchill.…

Read More Read More

RML Books

Richard Langworth’s Most Popular Books & eBooks


Winston Churchill, Myth and Reality

Churchill by Himself

Churchill in His Own Words

Churchill and the Avoidable War

The Definitive Wit of Winston Churchill

The Patriot’s Churchill

Triumph Cars - The Complete Story
Links on this page may earn commissions.