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The
Churchill Name Lives On . . .
Arabella Churchill |
The
name Churchill remains one of history's most famous. Arabella Churchill
carries on the tradition of caring for the people of England…the
nation her Grandfather, Sir Winston Churchill, led to victory over
the Germans.
Today Arabella takes on the causes of England's children,
and trust me when I say I have never met a more gracious and forthright
lady in all my years of interviewing. She made me feel like a friend
who was catching up on her yesterdays, today, and her tomorrows.
When
last I chatted with Arabella on my Radio Talk Show, she was
getting ready to have a facelift done live on the Internet in
the United States. So I wondered if she had risen to the occasion?
It seems her contract had run out as discussions continued about
the procedure, and this gave her time to think about it. She had
lost weight in preparation for the procedure, and I loved how
she described her outlook on her new look. "I looked so much better.
I thought, I don't need this. Now I feel a lot younger anyway."
Bully for you, Arabella!
Arabella was just 15 when Sir Winston died at age 91.
Unfortunately, because of strokes and deafness, Arabella didn't
have as many conversations with her famous Grandfather as she
would have liked. But she lovingly shared one of her last memories
with me. It was at Hyde Park in London. It seems she and Sir Winston
were watching one of the many WW II films about his life. "He
sort of woke up," she related, "holding my hand and saying bloody.
He was tremendously excited." I could hear in her voice how special
this moment was for Arabella, as she told me they talked about
things they liked and disliked and school. He was well rounded
she told me. Not only was he a great leader and orator, but he
wrote beautifully as well. I could tell how important family was
to this extraordinary lady.
Speaking about family, Arabella is married to genuinely delightful
Haggis McCleod. This is her second marriage, and she's managed
to juggle all she does to perfection. You see, Haggis is one of
England's best Jugglers…for real! Together they have glorious
12 going on 18…Jessica. Arabella also has a lovely son, Jake,
from her first marriage to teacher Jim Barton. Jake lives in Australia,
and has just finished a Fish-Farm course at Launceston University.
Haggis, Jessica, and Arabella live in a pretty house on the outskirts
of the town of Glastonbury with wonderful views of Glastonbury
Tor, Glastonbury Abbey, and the surrounding countryside. They
have a dog named Gracie and two cats…Rumple and Badger. They enjoy
walking and playing Croquet, and they do a lot of traveling in
the winter months to places like Bali, Thailand, and Australia.
Keep in mind the town of Glastonbury, for it figures significantly
in Arabella's life.
Would you believe this demure lady of the new Millennium was
once a Flower Child of the 60's who dropped out? "I dropped
out and became a hippie," she admitted. "I ran away from London
and joined the Glastonbury Festival"…sort of the English version
of Woodstock. "It was great actually. I never regretted it at
all. Obviously, I'm not a hippie anymore, but I do believe in
many of those ideals," she explained. She helped run the first
Glastonbury Festival in 1971, stayed hippie-ish for a few years…in
a nice sort of way of course. "It was a wonderful pure and idealistic
time," she reminisced. "We really hoped we could change the world.
Didn't happen unfortunately." So did she go establishment like
so many of those idealists? "I'm not establishment," she made
clear to me, "I'm still idealistic."
And that she is, as she continues to make the Glastonbury Festival
of Contemporary Performing Arts huge today. Seems the arts get
cut short all over the world…even in England. The Glastonbury
Festival is mostly music, but with a wonderful Children's Theater,
Circus, Green Fields, Alternative Technology, etc. She runs 3
big performance fields full of Theater and Circus…3 large tented
venues…3 outside stages, and masses of ground performances and
street theater, parades, and major outdoor shows…more than 1000
shows over the weekend of the Festival in June.
She is also Director of the Children's World Charity she founded
in 1981. The Charity works mostly with children who have special
needs doing drama, movement, music, and puppetry tours for children
with moderate and severe learning difficulties. They have living
History Tours, a new Sensory Dome, and Garden Project to name
a few. They are the organizers of the Glastonbury Children's Festival
and the new Bristol Children's Festival. But, as you can imagine,
fundraising keeps this lady going strong. Oh, and one more thing.
Arabella also takes American visitors on guided tours around Chartwell,
the lovely house where her Grandfather lived between the wars.
It's now owned by a national trust. Gosh, I wonder what she does
in her spare time? Right!!!
When next we get together for "STARGATE" we'll discover more about
this renowned lady…Arabella Churchill…perhaps even some possible
political ambitions. Til next time keep looking ahead, for tomorrow
is the wonderful yesterday you'll soon be talking about!!!
So
till next we meet on STARGATE. STAY WELL AND BE WISE !!!
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