Welcome to the Castle Anthrax

Kurt & Pam's Silly West Country Adventure, Part 2

Main -- House -- History -- Cornwall -- Getting There -- On the Road -- The Roads -- London -- The Far West -- Boring Details -- Updates

If you're on this page, it's probably because you have been invited to join the most inconveniently-located house party in the Western hemisphere. Or, perhaps you're a web crawler bot, or a badly confused wanderer of the intertubes. A few years back, we vacationed in England's "West Country," in a home just outside Dartmoor, past the end of the motorway, in Britain's hinterwalden, and we invited friends to come and join us. A good time was had by most (though there was one guest whose stated highlight was seeing cattle get it on, so your mileage may vary), so we are doing it again. However, we decided that it was no longer sufficient to be past the end of the motorway, so this time we're a mite further out.

Godolphin House

The executive summary (are you an executive?) is this: For thirteen nights in 2018, beginning with the night of June 30th and ending the morning of July 13, we'll be staying at two historic properties: Godolphin House in Godolphin Cross, Cornwall (for the first six nights) and Silverton Park Stables in Silverton, Devon (for the next seven nights).

Godolphin House was the home of the Godolphin family, including the most famous of the Godolphins, Sidney Godolphin, who was a best pal of the First Duke of Marlborough back in the days of the War of the Spanish Succession. This has, of course, led to his being completely obscure; while nobody may expect the Spanish Inquisition, nobody remembers the War of the Spanish Succession. Trust us: it was a riveting tale, full of Blenheim and bluster.

Silverton Park Stables

Silverton Park Stables was the home of horses, not people, though we will not have to sleep in the stables as it has been modernized from Georgian stable-block to holiday home.

Godolphin House is a Tudor manor house in the literal sense: built back when the Tudors ruled England. Silverton Park is old, but not quite so old -- Georgian rather than Tudor. Godolphin sleeps sleeps 12, Silverton 14, and we welcome you to join us for any part or all of this adventure; we will pay for the house and stock the kitchen. Godolphin House is located in Godolphin Cross, Cornwall, waaaaay out in the south-western part of the country (which, unlike our Southwest, is disappointingly short of Saguaro cacti). Cornwall, though cactus-challenged, is a gorgeous part of England, famous for its rugged coasts, its fishing villages, and smuggling and piracy. Ahr, and all that. Silverton is in Devon -- not so far west, but still "ooh, aahr" land. On the way out to the West from London you can see wonderful things--the great megalithic complexes of Stonehenge and Avebury, the Roman baths at Bath, Salisbury Cathedral, the Holiday Inn and Tesco Extra in Swindon, et cetera.

Let us know if and when you can come. We will fill up beds on a first-confirm, first-serve basis and will be trying not to get into the awkward situation of having over-invited, so the earlier that you can tell us that you're coming, and when, and how many--or, for that matter, that you're not coming--the better it will be for our planning. If possible, let us know your dates before you confirm any flights, etc. so that we can confirm that we have room for you. We're going to try to have a plentiful crew at the house all the time so that we can have some lovely nights of good conversation and great communal meals with fine British beer. Join us! You can reach Kurt for more details at kurtdenke@gmail.com

More Details and Irrelevancies:

The following links will give you more information on all of the details you need to know (What have we forgotten? Tell us, and we'll try to add it):