Restoration Intern Love Is In The Air

1 August 2015

When a wedding comes to Stowe, of course there is an aerial display.
As I marched (trudged, it’s about 3 miles to Stowe House from Buckingham) up the grand Stowe Avenue towards the Corinthian Arch, a smile stretched across my face as a love heart sketched across the sky. At Stowe every Saturday in summer is a wedding day. Today the happy couple celebrated in a way that would have suited Viscount Cobham’s symbolic vision. Love joined Stowe House, the Corinthian Arch and Buckingham Church Spire as a landmark along the path of life. Prominent on the South Front of the House are statues symbolising Peace, Plenty, Liberty and Religion. The spire of Buckingham points towards the heaven that awaits those who have lived a good life.
Only since 1995 has Stowe Avenue been revived to its former glory.  During the 1970s, elms either side of the Roman-straight road were felled just before Dutch Elm disease spread throughout the country. These have been restored with block planting of thirty each of beech trees, horse chestnuts, oaks and small-leafed limes. The overall impression is extremely effective, a pleasure to walk through, even more so when love and commitment a wait just on the horizon.