Cliveden Astors) at the Cliveden swimming pool led to the Profumo Affair which so damaged the Macmillan government. Spring Cottage was awarded Grade II listed status in 1986, and in 1997 the hotel company which leased Cliveden House from the National Trust also acquired the lease to the cottage. A reported £750,000 was spent restoring and refurbishing the dilapidated building before it reopened in 1998 as a self-contained luxury holiday let. The cottage and its garden are not open to the public. Cliveden Reach, between Cookham Lock and Boulter's Lock, is one of the most scenic stretches of the Thames. A
Secretary of State for Defence Secretary of State for Defence Her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for Defence (Defence Secretary) is an official within Her Majesty's Government and head of the Ministry of Defence. The office is a British Cabinet–level position. The post was created in 1964 as successor to the posts of Minister for Coordination of Defence (1936–1940) and Minister of Defence (1940–1964). It replaced the positions of First Lord of the Admiralty, Secretary of State for War, and Secretary of State for Air, as the Admiralty, War Office and Air Ministry were merged into the Ministry of Defence (the Secretary of State for