The things we do to continue to bring you some summer delights from the UK to brighten your cold winter gloom in Aus.

We planned on a morning at Blenheim Palace and the afternoon in Oxford. The weather forecast was for occasional showers, primarily around 3.00pm and rain at 4.00 pm. Should be plenty of time to explore the Capability Brown gardens.

We set off on the 40min drive to Woodstock, a pretty village beside the Palace, which we also planned on exploring.

Approaching Chipping Norton we came across an old tweed mill sitting out in the fields. "The main 5-storey spinning building is faced with local limestone and styled to resemble a country house, with square towers at each corner topped by stone urns. Unusually, a large chimney for the furnace to power the mill's steam machinery issues from a dome at the top of a circular tower built into one façade. The chimneystack is styled as a tall Tuscan column."

I had originally planned on a separate visit to Chipping Norton however we saw enough to decide that it wasn't special enough. On to Woodstock.

We arrived shortly after 10.00 to find that we were among the first to arrive in the carpark A thee day English country life festival begins tomorrow, so even though better weather was forecast, we figured the crowds would be overwhelming.

A call of nature meant we had to enter the palace pretty well straight away and once inside, we decided on tours inside first and gardens last. A guide told us that the early free tours were always packed and that they got thinner around lunchtime. We therefore decided on a paid tour of the "Downstairs" or below stairs. 70+ servants from early 1900's days have been replaced by 9 core staff. What with modern appliances and casual staff when needed, the family can get by with 9.

We were the only two on this tour with a guide and security guy. Don't know why he was there as the silver was all in the vault behind bars … we saw but couldn't touch (lift). Because the "downstairs" are part of the family quarters, we were not allowed to photograph. They stay upstairs when hosting events such as shooting parties but otherwise in another home hidden away on the estate, but still have their meals and laundry done "downstairs" and delivered to their house.

The current Duke of Marlborough is Jamie Spencer-Churchill. He's in his early 50's, and when he succeeded his father two years ago, it was reported that that the estate might not survive him. He's served two shortish prison terms; for forging prescriptions (drug habit) and for a road rage incident.

It would seem that apart from the 1st Duke of Marlborough, who some rate as the finest military leader England has ever had, his wife Sarah who project managed the building of the palace, and the 4th Duke who had Capability Brown build the gardens, none of the other Dukes have achieved much in life. Harsh? I guess you could say that even the 4th Duke simply had the money to spend on landscaping, but didn't actually pick up a shovel. Various Dukes and their children engaged in the arts and science, with the 7th conducting experiments with electricity and had electric lighting installed when everyone else was using gas lighting and telephones to replace the "bell pull" system for summoning servants.

Then there was Winston Churchill, a cousin who arrived 2 months early when his parents were visiting the palace. He also proposed to his wife when they were visiting the palace, so that's enough of a connection for him to feature largely in the exhibits at the palace.

Next we took a self-guided tour called "The Inside Story". This is probably the best exhibit we have ever seen. The first door opens and we enter the King's mistress's room. She is sitting up in bed with a sheet pulled up in front of her and shaking in alarm as the king knocks on the door. He is demanding entry. The voice of the Queen's maid is then heard explaining that John Churchill is hiding in the closet. Despite cuckolding the King, or maybe because of it, he becomes a favourite of the Queen (Ann). After winning some of the finest ever victories against France, she makes him Duke of Marlborough, parliament provides enough money to build a memorial palace. Better a palace than a useless victory arch.

The next door opens and on entering, John's wife Sarah is facing a mirror and in it, there is a hologram of her in conversation with a builder on top of scaffolding (timber polls lashed together with rope) discussing the design of the moulding . The maid's hologram appears in a corner and she explains that Sarah was the "project manager from hell" and tried to use recycled or cheap materials wherever available.

We continue to enter rooms where the following generations of Duke's discuss their life at Blenheim Palace. Around 40 minutes of fascinating social history.

Still occasional drizzle outside so we had lunch looking out on the Italian gardens where the wind was blowing the fountains water horizontal.

Still drizzle so took the guided tour of major state rooms on ground floor, including the three rooms where the King would stay on visits. All feature tapestries of John Churchill's military victories. There are very few paintings as profligate later Dukes had to sell them and the family jewels to keep the palace afloat.

Still raining, so we visit the Winston Churchill rooms.

Still very light drizzle approaching 3.00 but we can't put off a walk around the Capability Brown gardens. I was able to use wifi in the castle shop as we were about to begin our walk. Forecast, 3.00pm light showers, 4.00pm rain. The weather bureau got it right on time. We walked through light showers and at 4.00 the rain. Trying to photograph with Ches holding the umbrella over me and the camera and when we reached the final viewing spot called "The finest View in England" which takes in the lake, place and bridge, the umbrella disintegrated and the view vanished into a "whiteout".

Enough's enough.