by Sir John Betjeman

Stay traveller! With no irreverent haste
Approach the mansion of a man of taste.
Hail Castle Howard! Hail Vanbrugh's noble dome
Where Yorkshire in her splendour rivals Rome!

The Englishman's castle has been his home. So has the stately palace and the Georgian terrace, the village cottage and the industrial back-to-back, the suburban semi and the tower block. And with his home there's usually been a garden-formal and elegant, or a Capability Brown landscape, or just a patch of lawn at the back.

In this film Sir John Betjeman surveys house and garden through the centuries from an unusual vantage-point. His bird's-eye view is romantic, poetic, and sometimes quite outspoken.

"The idea of juxtaposing Betjeman and a helicopter is bizarre, but it worked triumphantly" (The Observer)
"Such a rare quality of romance in this delightful 50 minutes" (Daily Express)