Kenwood: December, 1968.

Just to prove that it wasn't all quibbling about Indica, somewhere in amongst all that hair are John and Yoko, in the garden at Kenwood in December 1968, enjoying a quiet winch (to employ the argot of Airdrie).

Kenwood: summer, 1968 - part 6.

Near the western perimeter of the grounds sat the greenhouse, familiar from June 29, 1967, when John decided to do the dead Che, a few months before Che himself did, on John's birthday, October 9, 1967. But I digress:


The greenhouse gradually fell into a state of disrepair throughout the 1980s, eventually being demolished, inevitably, during the wholesale reconstruction in the mid-90s (Rubbish - as it turns out, the thing was still there in 2006, though it's now gone (I think)). Not far from where it stood, the north perimeter steps can be found, leading up past the old swimming pool to the side of the garage; they, at least, are still there, just about. This is how they looked in the summer of 1968, as captured by Cathy Kelleher Sarver:


As previously seen, John and Yoko were also caught in that very locale, out for a stroll in December, 1968:


The next photo in this sequence, taken having climbed the perimeter steps, answers another question about the Lennon-era house. I'll deal with that in the following post.

Many thanks again to Cathy for taking these pictures, and to Lizzie too.

Kenwood: more June 29, 1967.

...and as if on cue, a "new" June 29 shot appears; a particularly splendid example it is too. Though it's a mistake to read too much into these things, it does at least seem to encapsulate the sense of isolation reportedly felt by John at Kenwood. Either that, or he is "doing a guff".
At any rate, this pic allows the exact placing of those other photos of John sitting in the grounds. I'd thought these were taken right at the bottom of the garden, beyond the path, but in fact the garden chair was on the path itself. The bank behind him was much more overgrown in those days - the whole area was cleared in the mid-90s. Joe Baiardi's video captures the spot, and shows that the oak tree visible in one of the pics is still present and correct:


In other "news", Sara's blog has turned up another account of a fan visit to Kenwood, which is worth a look.

Kenwood: garden, December 1968.

Two beautiful shots of John and Yoko out for a stroll in the garden from December 1968 - a bumper time for Kenwood pics. You can see the pool area fence in the first one, and the reason why one was needed.

Kenwood: garden, 1967 & 2008.

The area at the bottom of the garden comes with a number of tales attached, tall or otherwise. Rumour has it that John, gripped by a sudden TM-fuelled desire to renounce the stuff, buried a huge quantity of Owsley acid down here. (Apparently, it had been sitting in a couple of pint bottles on the shelves of the sunroom.) It's still there, somewhere, or so the story goes - John forgot where he had put it. Whilst I very much doubt that one, there is another rather more believable anecdote told by Klaus Voormann concerning a visit he made to Kenwood in 1966. Strolling in the garden, John suddenly started confiding how generally bad he felt, and that he was very unhappy with his lot. As he spoke, he began absent-mindedly ripping a plant to shreds, which earned him a jocular admonishment from the ex-Exi. The outsize boot from Help was down here somewhere too - possibly situated roughly where the elephant is in the comp from Joe's video. Here too, some more splendid shots from the Bryce session on 29 June, 1967. (Once again, apologies for the poor quality patching on one or two of them).