We decided to take a chance on being able to get in to Highclere Castle today. D&K had come across a reference to there being a limited number of unbooked tickets available on the day. We therefore drove up early and were around the fourth car there at 9.20 with the house opening at 10.00.

We actually walked the Capability Brown gardens for an hour. Last year was the 300th anniversary of his birth, and a lot of work was put into "tidying-up" the gardens, and they are stunning. Apart from the formal gardens and landscaping of the estate, a simple field of wildflowers was magic.

He was renowned for creating artificial lakes, hills and planting of trees to draw the eye to features. The best example I could see was a meadow in the middle of a forest. It is placed on a slope, so it kind of tilts the view toward you, and with many grazing sheep, it was idyllic. Similarly, a folly peeping through the trees. As a folly, it's just the façade of a building.

We were fortunate in that it wasn't too crowded when we went into the castle and did our tour. Despite the fact that Lord Carnarvon pretty well exhausted all his wealth on archaeological digs in Egypt … yes, he's the one, who with Carter discovered Tutankhamen's tomb ... the family seem to have recovered financially. The revenue and publicity from Downton Abbey has helped enormously and it is one of the few stately homes still in family hands. Most others are National Trust. The family still live here, and don't open on Fridays and Saturdays (it's there time). Also only open for two months over summer. It's pulling in the revenue to maintain the state. Despite the signs saying "Do Not Touch", we were in the dining room when Lady Carnarvon bustled through and started rating around in some drawers. She totally ignored us. All the rooms that we saw in Downton Abbey were open, as well as many others too small to be used in the filming. We identified the hallway where Mary, Anna and Cora carried Kemal Pamuk's dead body, back to his bedroom. It looks down on the main hall which is probably the most stunning room in the house. Originally an internal courtyard, it was roofed over with the newly invented reinforced glass and a fireplace built. Sir Charles Barry who designed and built the Houses of Parliament was responsible for Highclere Castle looking his way it does today with the turrets and Bath Stone facings. Descending the stairs, there was a tourist standing in the shadows in an alcove and Ches was startled and said to him, "sorry, I thought you were a statue". I passed him bye and said "great wax". Better wax was downstairs where they have a Tutankhamen exhibition. There were Lord Carnarvon and Howard Carter presiding over room after room of artefacts and replica artefacts. As Drew observed, after the Downton Abbey rooms upstairs, it was a bit much. All the rooms holding the exhibit were the downstairs/kitchen rooms, so it was a shame not seeing them furnished in Downton Abbey style. There is however the Bell Pull board in the hallway. It's the board that registered the room in which the bell pull had been pulled. Got it? I counted 20 rooms on the 2nd floor of the wing above the kitchen. We had only toured the ground and 1st floors of the castle. The 2nd Floor is where there are 40 or so of the 61 bedrooms, of 300 rooms in the castle.

We retired to the Tea Room for Scones and Tea/Coffee as the drizzle settled in again. We had been blessed with two hours of sunshine …. Enough to get some great photos of the castle and gardens.

We contemplated dropping in on Winchester again on the way home. As it had been late in the afternoon and raining when there on Friday, we really hadn't had a chance to see it properly. It was still raining, so no.

Home we all had a nap in preparation for the Big Quiz. One of the pubs, around 30min walk from home, has a Sunday night quiz. Given it would have a largely domestic quiz, we need to fill out our team with some Poms. Keith arranged for his boss and her husband to join us. It saved us from humiliation but not enough to score more than 39 against the winners 76 (and they were a team of 2 people).

Good food, not so good ale and good larger, it was a fun night and we didn't make it home till midnight. Not sure where we will go tomorrow.

On my mother's side of my family, my Grandfather, GGrandfather and GGGrandfather were Tom Colston Coggan. My Uncle, Kevin Colston Coggan. GGrandfather was born in Bristol, a third generation "Master Marbler & Wood Grainer". The middle name Colston was in honour of the greatest benefactor of Bristol, Sir Edward Colston,

Colston (1636-1721), was a Bristol merchant and Tory Member of Parliament who endowed a school and almshouses, and who was commemorated each November at a service in Bristol Cathedral where schoolchildren are issued with buns…"Colston Buns".

Not only has his name now been expunged, so has the bun. It is unavailable and unknown by every baker in Bristol. The only remaining description is a Yeast-raised sweet bread plump and round with sweet spices, lemon and a little dried fruit and candied peel. Made in a large size with (typically) 8 division markings and a small, individual, form known as a starver. There is also a photograph from the mid 60's of schoolboys eating them.

I found only three recipes and these are two of them …. The other was vegan and I refuse to acknowledge "soya milk" and particularly "vegan margarine" …. Really!!!!!

While both call for orange rather lemon, which the original description suggested, I'm happy to go with orange as Tom Colston Coggan (Grandfather) invented the Orange coating on Jaffas.

Colston Bun
600g Strong White Flour
1 Tsp Salt
1 7g Sachet Fast Acting Yeast
3 Tbsp Dark Soft Brown Sugar
300ml Milk
40g Butter
1 Egg
60g Raisins
30g Dried Cranberries
45g Dried Apricots
15g Dried Pineapple
1 Tsp Honey
Zest and Juice Of Half An Orange
1 Tbsp Cinnamon
1/2 Tsp Mixed Spice

In a small bowl place the raisins, cranberries, chopped apricot and chopped pineapple inside. Add in the zest and juice of the orange and stir so all the fruit is coated. Add in the honey and stir again. Leave to soak for 20 minutes.

Heat the milk and butter together until the butter has melted, leave to cool to a lukewarm temperature.

In a large mixing bowl, place the flour, salt, sugar, yeast and the spices and whisk together. Drain the fruit off and save the orange juice to use in the dough. Place in the fruit and whisk together until well combined. Make a well in the centre of the flour mixture and pour in the orange juice, milk and butter mixture and the egg. If you have an electric mixer with a dough hook attachment then I would recommended using it, place on a low speed to form a dough and then build up to a higher speed to knead the dough. However, if you do not own one mix everything together to form a dough and then knead on a floured surface for 10 minutes until the dough is springy.

Place in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with a damp tea towel, leave in a warm place to double in size, this should take around one hour.

Knock the dough back by kneading for a few seconds. On a lightly floured surface shape the dough into a smooth round loaf. Place on a lined baking tray and flatten the top slightly. Use a sharp knife to score eight equal sections and then place the damp tea towel over it and leave to prove in a warm place for 20 minutes. Preheat the oven to 170C, gas mark 3.

Bake in the oven for 25 minutes until golden brown and that the bottom of the bun sounds hollow. Leave to cool on a cooling rack.