Winston Churchill's gift

I enjoyed reading Charles Meilaq's feature about Winston Churchill's wedding to Clementine Hozier (September 11).

I suggest he starts at Chartwell Manor, Churchill's country estate in Kent, if he decides to search for the whereabouts of the wedding present sent to Miss Clementine by the Malta Chamber of Commerce. The manor is open to the public and houses the many hundreds of presents sent from all over the world to Churchill and Miss Clementine during their long and happy married life. When I visited the manor a number of years ago, there was a shelf in one of the upper rooms exhibiting a number of presents from Malta, mainly silver items. Unfortunately, I could not read the inscriptions, with or without my glasses, as the shelf was about seven feet high. I do not remember whether the gifts included a Gozo sailing boat.

The manor itself is not very imposing; a road, nowadays, runs along its front with just a pavement between the road and the building. However, the grounds are marvellous and very extensive. They include a red brick wall some 15 yards long with no useful purpose at all. It was built brick by brick by Sir Winston as brick laying was one of his hobbies. Many years before my visit I had seen Sir Winston, in a Movietone News, laying a brick or two and the wall only partially built. And there I was next to the finished article. Further down there was the building used as a studio by Sir Winston to paint, with easels and paint brushes still in place.

I am sure that Mr Meilaq would enjoy his visit if he decides to start his search for the silver Gozo sailing boat.