A New Zealander at Windsor and Eton.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XL, Issue 1, 4 January 1908, Page 47

A New Zealander at Windsor and Eton.

(By

BARRY CONEY.)

Windsor with its historical associations, and Eton with the halo of centuries of learning encircling its venerable walls, are places that appeal strongly to most people from a young country like New Zealand, so having been in London two weeks, I thought it was high time I made a pilgrimage there, and in company with several others, young New Zealanders, and on a beautiful autumn day, set out for those parts. After a rush to catch the 11.20 train, which we managed with a minute to spare, we Were soon away from dear old smoky London and among the green fields and lovely suburbs of the city. At one place we passed what I presume is a nursery garden, and it was ablaze with beds of petunias, roses, and sunflowers—a beautiful sight after bricks and mortar. One is struck with the intense green of fields and trees in the English country, and the dense foliage of the trees. Beautiful and grand as our New Zealand scenery is, there is nothing to compare with the quiet sylvan beauty of England; I should say there is nothing like it elsewhere in the world. Nearing Windsor we had a splendid view of the central tower of the castle and the town of Eton with its quaint irregular red buildings clustering round the castle base. Some of the oldest buildings in the town are so low that one of our party, who is six feet four inches high, could almost touch the upper windows. I do ..not think the ceilings of the ground floor rooms can be more than six feet high, that is, from the footpath; the floors are, perhaps, a foot below road level. After a walk of half a mile or so, in the course of which we crossed a bridge spanning the Thames, we came to the wonderful old College, the first part of which was built as early as 1441. The masters’ houses are on both sides of the narrow street, and are mostly threestoried brick and stone buildings with pretty leaded windows; the walls are, in many cases, draped in lovely Virginian creepers, which are jusz now glorious in reds and browns. The street seemed alive with college youths, the younger ones, dressed in the regulation Eton jacket, the elder in morning coats, all wearing silk hats. .' - The chapel was the first part of the college we came upon, and it is a high impressive-looking building with immensely strong-buttresses, part of it being, I believe, of Tudor architecture. On entering the north door we found ourselves in one of the most beautiful interiors I have ever seen. A glorious stained glass window, almost completely fills the east end, below which hangs wonderful tapestry, worked with glowing colours and depicting Biblical subjects; in front is a dark marble altar with bronze ornamentations. All the flooring of the chancel is of black and white marble. The dark oaken seats in the nave are placed longitudinally and above those against each wall are high spiral, carved domed backs, which must be twenty feet high. An arch at the west end is filled by a large organ, with very finely coloured pipes, which are placed some ten or twelve feet from the floor. Passing under the organ we came to a small ante-chapel, with its walls decorated with the coats of arms of many regiments, to which Etonians have belonged. There are some splendid monuments erected in honour of famous headmasters and provosts, and the white marble effigies are beautifully sculptured. In a vestry are many stained windows, also dedicated to famous men of the college, the earliest bearg the date 1447. Coming out of the chapel we wandered through the quadrangle of the school and down to the spoj’ts grounds, which adjoin a beautiful park beside the river. The Thames was looking its best, and numerous punts, skiffs,launches, and also numbers of white swans, made as pretty a picture as one could wish to see. We were surprised to see a very up-to-date little white motor launch come along bearing the name “Maori Chief,” and flying the New Zealand flag. Most of our party got quite excited, and wanted to hail the occupants with Tenakoe, Tenakotu, Haeremai, or some other word from their limited Maori vocabulary; however, they managed to restrain themselves. i Lunch haying been discussed, we bent

our way towards Windsor Castle. The castle quite beggars description, and its great grey stone towers and buttresses are indeed a royal slgnt, and dwarf its surroundings into utter insignificance. It is worth a visit to Windsor if only to see the view from the terrace, which is high above the surrounding country, and presents the most exquisite scene of sylvan beauty it is possible to imagine. Just below are immense elm, chestnut, and other trees, their tops reaching to the level of the stone parapets which surround the Terrace, and as far as the eye can see, there is a huge park closely planted with a forest of grand old trees shading the expanses of beautiful closely shorn grass. The park is intersected here and there by gravelled walks, one I noticed ran in a straight line for two or three miles. On the north side, where the King's apartments are situated, there is a very pretty Italian garden with quaint conventional flowerbeds, which are bright with geraniums, and have artistically designed borders in purples and greens, while many pieces of statuary placed add to the appearance. Parts of the castle grounds are in a state of chaos at present, as drains are being repaired, and things generally prepared in expectation of a visit from the Emperor of Germany. A large quadrangle, facing which are the apartments lately occupied by the King of Spain, is being sown in grass by our King’s orders. It was formerly gravelled. Unfortunately we were unable to gain admittance to the Royal Chapel, so had to be content with an examination of the exterior, which is ornamented with the most hideous gargoyles imaginable, to represent the flight of evil spirits from the sacred edifice. Some I noticed are in the form of repulsive-looking animals, others distorted dwarfs with mouths wide open, or having elongated noses, which have numbers of holes and upon which, by the position of the hands, the dwarfs appear to be playing as musical instruments. Between these monstrosities are placed the Tudor roses and portcullises, pointing to that as the period in which the chapel was built. Having made a complete detour of the castle, we made our way back to the river, where we rested, after our exertions, and watched with much enjoyment the numbers of people punting and shifting on its smooth surface. It was with regret that we boarded our train at 4.30 p.m., and so back to the city, after a most delightful day spent in historic Windsor and its picturesque surroundings.