In 1962 Sir Winston Churchill received a ginger cat with four white socks for his birthday. Churchill named the cat after the man who gifted it to him – Sir John Colville. Jock became an important part of Churchill’s life.

When Chartwell became part of the National Trust Churchill’s family stipulated that a cat that looked like Jock must always have a home at Chartwell. Jock mark 7 arrived in 2020. It was a pleasant surprise to encounter him just after the property opened a couple of weeks ago. He clearly takes his duties very seriously.

I knew that Churchill was an animal lover before I visited Chartwell. During the war, for instance, he was often accompanied by a poodle called Rufus. I read somewhere that he refused to keep animals that ended up on his plate working on the theory that if you’ve said good morning to a creature of any kind it shouldn’t end up on your plate. What I didn’t know was that he built a butterfly house at Chartwell and had the borders planted with flowers to give them nectar.

Today the grounds are also home to black swans descended from those gifted to Churchill by the people of Australia. The ponds were built on the instruction of Churchill during the 1930s – and there was I thinking they just wanted somewhere quieter to live than Leeds Castle.

I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to Chartwell and I particularly liked one of the Churchill quotes he made about the delights of painting – ‘Every land every parish. has its own tale to tell.’ He was describing painting as a pastime but it seems to me to be an excellent quote for anyone interested in history. And inevitably I shall be using it at some point. There is an exhibition of Churchill’s work at Chartwell as well as an exhibition in London currently exhibiting at the Wallace Collection.

Churchill became a prolific artist when he discovered it at the age of 40. He used it as a way of keeping depression at bay. He believed that skill wasn’t important but that enjoyment was. A valuable lesson.