23rd June: WWII at the Palais des Vaches

For the D-Day 80 Anniversary a new sculpture was unveiled at Lower Exbury and the Palais des Vaches art gallery mounted a WWII at Exbury exhibition.  I visited twice during the period that the exhibition was open to the public, on the 15th and 23rd June.  One of the exhibits was a mechanical bathythermograph which Nick de Rothschild said he’d “found in a cupboard” (presumably at Exbury House) and, since he’d only just discovered what it was, I was able to tell him what it was used for.

Nevil Shute’s sad novel “Requiem for a Wren” and the Exbury Junkers were represented in various exhibits.  The new sculpture, down near the saltings, also acknowledges the part played by the wrens on the Beaulieu River as well as the contribution of all the other women during war time.