Perhaps you were swept away by “The Dig,” the new film released at the end of January on Netflix, starring Ralph Fiennes, Carey Mulligan, Lily James and the archaeological dig at Sutton Hoo in England.
Perhaps you’ve been transfixed by “The Crown,” and its semi-documentary recounting of several generations of the British Royal Family.
Or maybe your first post-COVID dream is to travel around England and poke around in some of the magnificent “homes” that are the setting for so many wonderful British films, modern and costume.
If those conditions apply, you might enjoy a documentary series that you can stream for free on what YouTube calls its Documentary Base.
The series is “Crown and Country: A History of Royal Britain” and it was produced by and features Edward, the youngest of the four children of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip.
This is the part where I confess that my attention was never really captured by “The Crown,” so I don’t know to what degree Prince Edward and his lovely wife, Princess Sophie, are featured in it. I think one of the notable accomplishments of this royal couple is that they’ve done a remarkably good job of staying out of the headlines; perhaps this is why Town & Country magazine claims that Edward and his wife are Queen Elizabeth’s favorites: They are dependable, reliable and discreet.
I’m not a huge Royal Watcher, so I have no idea how Edward is generally perceived. I do know that he takes a lot of abuse about the documentaries he produced during his nine years at the head of Ardent Productions, which he founded and then retired from in about 2002.
I personally don’t care. I think this is a really enjoyable series and I’m perfectly fine that Edward is not as funny and lively as, say, Graham Norton. He’s certainly as personable a tour guide as the popular Rick Steves.whom I also like.
Five seasons were produced, beginning in 1998. In each 25-minute episode, the prince takes us on an informative tour of a famous site in England.
In the first episode, we travel to and learn about Sutton Hoo, site of “The Dig.”
The British press are pretty vicious about Edward and his work. I came to it not knowing about the scorn and I have to say that I found Edward to be a good story teller and a good historian. I’ve watched a lot of tours of England on the internet, and I’d rank this series at the top. There are maybe a few too many Dramatic Recreations, but they’re brief and they stay largely in the background.
And yes, Edward does have a noticeably posh accent, but it didn’t bother me. In fact, it reminded me of the way the actress Honeysuckle Weeks speaks in “Foyle’s War,” and I find her diction to be very easy on the ears.
In the 30 episodes on YouTube you learn about famous properties including White Hall and Hampton Court and Kensington.
When Edward describes the fate of their residents, you do feel as though he feels a connection to these great people, these historic events and these fabulous (and sometime excessive) examples of English design and architecture.
After all, Edward has lived in some of these houses and if he wasn’t related to all these kings and queens, he certainly has more in common with them than I do.
And every now and then he or someone will make a subtle joke about his royal status.
“Not to make too fine a point of it, but this is what your lot did to my lot,” one historian says as he shows Edward the graves of paupers and criminals at Sutton Hoo; their bodies were mangled or disfigured during or before burial.
If you’re interested in English history and houses, give “Crown and Country” a look on YouTube (Amazon Prime also has a few episodes).
Built in 1820, 1168 Bangall Amenia Road sold for $875,000 on July 31 with the transfer recorded in August. It has a Millbrook post office and is located in the Webutuck school district.
STANFORD — The Town of Stanford with nine transfers in two months reached a median price in August of $573,000 for single family homes, still below Stanford’s all-time median high in August 2024 of $640,000.
At the beginning of October there is a large inventory of single-family homes listed for sale with only six of the 18 homes listed for below the median price of $573,000 and seven above $1 million.
July transfers
79 Ernest Road — 4 bedroom/2.5 bath home on 6.87 acres in 2 parcels sold to Matthew C. Marinetti for $1,225,000.
29 Drake Road — 3 bedroom/3.5 bath home on 2 acres sold to Harper Montgomery for $850,000.
6042 Route 82 — 4 bedroom/2 bath home on 1.09 acres sold to Spencer Thompson for $795,000.
125 Tick Tock Way — 3 bedroom/2.5 bath ranch on 1.9 acres sold to Fleur Touchard for $475,000.
August transfers
102 Prospect Hill Road — 3 bedroom/2 bath home on 6.35 acres sold to Karl Creighton Pfister for $565,000.
252 Ernest Road — 2 bedroom/1 bath cottage on .85 acres sold to Meg Bumie for $465,000.
1196 Bangall Amenia Road — 4 bedroom/2.5 bath home on 2.16 acres sold to Roderick Alleyne for $875,000.
Hunns Lake Road (#759929) — 59.1 acres of residential land sold to Argos Farm LLC for $3,325,000.
* Town of Stanford recorded real estate transfers from July 1 to August 31 provided by Dutchess County Real Property Office monthly transfer reports. Details on each property from Dutchess Parcel Access - properties with an # indicate location on Dutchess Parcel Access. Market data from One Key MLS and Infosparks .Compiled by Christine Bates, Real Estate Advisor with William Pitt Sotheby’s International Realty, Licensed in Connecticut and New York.
Hunt club members and friends gathered near Pugsley Hill at the historic Wethersfield Estate and Gardens in Amenia for the opening meet of the 2025-2026 Millbrook Hunt Club season on Saturday, Oct. 4. Foxhunters took off from Wethersfield’s hilltop gardens just after 8 a.m. for a hunting jaunt around Amenia’s countryside.
Joining in the fun at the dedication of the new pollinator pathway garden at The Millbrook Library on Saturday, Oct. 4, local expert gardener Maryanne Snow Pitts provides information about a planting to Lorraine Mirabella of Poughkeepsie.
MILLBROOK — Participating in a patchwork of libraries that have planted pollinator pathway gardens to attract insects and birds to their native plantings was one of the accomplishments being celebrated at the dedication of a new pollinator garden at the Millbrook Library on Saturday, Oct. 4.
“A lot of work went into it,” said Emma Sweeney, past President of the Millbrook Garden Club, who started the local library’s initiative two years ago.
The Pollinator Pathway program is a national effort to plant native plants that native insects depend upon for sustenance and preferred plants for their own seasonal reproduction.
Jana Hogan of Ridgefield, Connecticut, Executive Director of the Pollinator Pathway program, was on hand to present a plaque to the library for its successful participation.
“A garden is not just a garden,” said garden designer Andy Durbridge of Wassaic, designer of the library’s garden. “It may serve as a model for other gardens along the line.”
Speaking to the 50 visitors at the dedication, Durbridge said that the library’s garden has a mission, that it is a working garden, planned to serve insects and birds over their seasons. The earliest plants support pollinators, while the full range of plants continues to serve the needs of those they attract, offering habitat, shelter and food.
A pollinator garden is akin to a prairie, rather than a formalized European garden, Durbridge noted.
The garden project was supported by the library’s Friends group using funds raised during the Holiday Silent Auction and ongoing book sale. A grant from the Millbrook Garden Club also provided support.
Amenia Town Hall on Route 22.
AMENIA — After gathering comments from the Planning Board and the Zoning Board of Appeals, as it considers adding alternate members to those boards, the Town Board discussed possible changes to local laws governing those boards at its meeting on Friday, Oct. 3. The meeting date, usually on a Thursday, had been changed to accommodate a holiday.
In recent weeks Town Board attorney Ian Lindars has been compiling comments from the affected boards along with comments from the Town Board. The new laws may bring the appointment of two alternate members to each board. Alternate members are likely to be required to attend all meetings and be prepared to be seated if needed and be familiar with the applications being discussed. They would also need to take training required of all board members.
Lindars will prepare a draft of the new local laws to be reviewed by the Town Board and the affected boards.
As the Town Board begins work on the town’s annual budget negotiation process and anticipating an increase in some budget lines to accommodate major projects, the board unanimously approved three resolutions. The first will override the tax levy limit imposed on municipalities by the state of New York, a limit generally tied to the rate of inflation.
A public hearing on the proposal to override the levy limit was set for Thursday, November 6, beginning at 7 p.m. at the Town Hall.
