 Hello, thank you for joining me. Today I'm walking up the drive of the Vash estate, which is a country estate near Chalfalls and Giles in Buckinghamshire. We've already been and looked around Chalfalls and Giles Village Centre when I did my Mizzborn series, so have a look on screen now. There's a link to that video where I explore the Village Centre. So today we've come up here to the Vash estate. Most of the estate is private, but there's one bit up here You're allowed to go and see. So I'll give you a bit of history of the estate. In the 1660s It was home to the Fleetwood family and George Fleetwood He was found guilty of Regicide against King Charles I and he was sentenced to death. Now he Was spared the death sentence, but all of this estate was confiscated from him It was given to the Duke of York who was the future King James II. Now, so that's the 1600s. Then in the 1700s the next bit of more interesting history comes along That was where Admiral Sir Hugh Palister lived on the estate. Now He was a friend of the explorer Captain James Cook and Captain James Cook Came to visit Admiral Sir Hugh Palister on this estate many times And then when eventually Captain James Cook passed away Admiral Sir Hugh Palister decided to build a monument to him on this estate and it's that that we're coming to see So what we're going to do we follow The footpath up the drive up here and we get up here soon There's a path that goes off takes us around the back of the house. The house is still here But he's all private so we might be able to see some bit in the distance, but we're not Going to look at the house. I do remember When would it have been in the late 1990s a company called Martin Grant Homes built a courtyard of houses Three and four bedroom houses. I remember we came here to look at the show house when I was a child So I have been into the estate as a child And I've come here a few times to see the Captain Cook monument because it's a really spectacular monument and That's what I thought I'd make this video and let you see it. So as we come up here In a minute, there's a gate. We're going to go up down down the little footpath and soon We shall find the Captain Cook monument So I've just come through the gate. So it says Captain Cook's monument. So before a little path and We're going to go and find it. So I'm really quite excited about showing this to you It's like I say, it's a really spectacular monument. So I'm now going to follow the footpath down here It takes about five to ten minutes So I'll show you the monument or the end of the footpath to monument when we get a bit closer I'm really quite enjoying this walk up through the estates I've gone goes around the back of some of the outbuildings this path and now we're more out in the wider estate in the park lands and We're very nearly at the Captain Cook Memorial So the path comes up to here Where is it? Yeah, we're nearly there. It's just just behind these trees. I have to say I think this is one the most Impressive and exciting monuments. I've ever seen to anyone and just you wait till you see it Begins to revere itself Through the bushes and the trees Here it is in front of us Now of course Captain Cook He did a lot of sailing so he sailed all around the world So suppose one thing that's appropriate is For the monument to be on an island so they've created this is Lyland. There's the monument up there so this pond Circles the whole of the monument There's a little bridge which we're gonna cross We're gonna go up to see the monument over there. That's the Vash house. That's the closest we can get to it So let's go up and have a look inside So, I mean, it's a monument. It's also a folly a folly, you know being a small sham castle I just think this is this is brilliant. I've always enjoyed, you know follies and I love how the fact They're not actual castles, but they're built to look like a castle. So here we are. So we come up inside This post here. I might show all of you but it Shows a story of Captain Cook's life. So it's all written in old English So I'm not gonna read it out, but it's worth having a look at To the memory of Captain James Cook So here we are up here on this little island looking out into the yew trees one way and You get quite a nice view That way went to the Vash, but of course most exciting thing is you can go up on the roof So let's do that You know, she's just I just love things like this where you can, you know Go up these little steps and onto roofs and enjoy the views Exciting so come out here Here we are on the roof of the Captain Cook Memorial where we get Really nice views over the Vash estate. So there's the house down there You can see the Parkland Around us. It's a really lovely place. It's um, yeah, I just I just really like Estates and Parkland and I just love it when they have follies and temples or anything on them but the fact this is a memorial to a historic figure and You can come and enjoy it is what I really like I suppose that would have been one of the farms on the estate once so Let you enjoy the view again So if you're ever in Charleston Giles, it's not too far to walk to from the Village Centre The Village Centre obviously has Milton's Cottage. It was where the Dad's Army film was filmed the original one. It's a really lovely Village Centre It's not too far to walk up the hill to here So why not come to Charleston Giles have a day out visit Milton's Cottage and walk up here to the Captain Cook Memorial Thank you very much for watching. Please do feel free to like subscribe and comment from on the roof of the Captain Cook Memorial Thank you very much for watching. Goodbye