Belvoir Castle, Bonkers Hall and garden bus tours

Thanks to a reader for drawing this report in Historic Houses to my attention:

Capability Brown’s spectacular ‘lost landscape’ design for Belvoir Castle in Leicestershire now features in a number of new garden bus tours designed and narrated by Emma, Duchess of Rutland.

I showed it to Lord Bonkers with the following result.

  Lord Bonkers writes exclusively for Liberal England:

I don't know about you, but I have always found the Duke of Rutland's seat Belvoir Castle rather flashy. Nevertheless, when the Duchess showed me around I was he soul of politeness and remarked "Nice Belvoir." 

The gardens at Bonkers Hall are also to be preferred; the local tradition is that they were laid out by Capability Brown's younger brother Incapacity. 

And we were into the garden tour racket long before the Rutlands. I well recall the first Lady Bonkers taking the wheel of a charabanc and chasing Meadowcroft around his favourite shrubbery. 

How the passengers cheered!