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disturbed his writing. The farmers refused,
and Cassel had to intervene, asking them to
stuff straw in the bells to muffle the noise.
The writing Churchill subsequently produced
included a biography of his father.
“I have waited a week so as to write with
certainty about the effect which this place
produces,” he told his mother in August 1904.
“It is wholly good. I sleep like a top and have
not ever felt in better health. Really it is a
wonderful situation. A large and comfortable
four-storied house, complete with . . . every
luxury that would be expected in England, is
perched on a gigantic mountain spur 7,000ft
high, and is the centre of a circle of the most
glorious snow mountains in Switzerland.
The air is buoyant, and the weather has been
delightful. The days pass pleasantly and very
rapidly - I am astonished to think I have been
here a week. Far below in the valleys which
drop on both sides of the house, the clouds are
drifting, and beneath and through these, green
plains and tiny toy churches and towns . . . ” The
Villa was one of Churchill’s treasured places, “Far below in the valleys which
definitely his favourite place in Switzerland, drop on both sides of the house, the
and is still sometimes called “Churchill’s Swiss
retreat”. clouds are drifting, and beneath and
through these, green plains and tiny
Pro Natura Centre – the first Switzerland
nature reserve toy churches and towns . . .”.
After Cassel’s death in 1921, the Villa was used
as a 25-room hotel, and many famous people
stayed there. However, in the ‘60s, its remote
location made it unsustainable, and it was due special flavour. At that time, not so long ago,
to be demolished when it was bought by the the Glacier was still much bigger and higher,
Schweizer Bund für Naturschutz, and in July so it was easy to go down and take a tiny slice.
1976 Villa Cassel reopened as the Aletsch This is, of course, no longer possible.
Forest Conservation Centre, the Pro Natura
Centre Aletsch. It was the first nature reserve If you look away from Villa Cassel, across
in Switzerland, and is dedicated to protecting the huge canyon, you will see a village with
the natural flora and fauna in the Aletsch a chapel and might even see the stone wall at
Arena. The Villa still retains its unique features, the village edge. Travelling to this other side is
and the main dining room is dedicated to its difficult - a hike can take up to 7 hours (level
history, with many original artefacts including T3 difficulty), which is why it is better to get
the piano that was carried up here on villagers’ there from Brig. The area is called Belalp, the
backs 120 years earlier. wall is a viewpoint called Aletschboard, and
Some of my colleagues, who are fond of the they are among the most legendary places in
place, remember travelling four hours uphill to Switzerland.
this Villa, with their luggage carried by mules. Belalp and Aletschboard (viewpoint no. 4)
It was a special event to stay in Churchill’s The easiest way to Belalp starts in Brig, then
room, and having a slice of Aletsch Glacier as goes up to Blatten, where a big gondola takes
part of the evening ice-cream dessert gave a you the rest of the way to Belalp, a Unesco

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