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The Churchill Name Lives On . . .
 Arabella Churchill |
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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