East Sussex and Kent – Gardens, Castles and Country Houses  

I had always wanted to see Sissinghurst, once described as the most famous garden in England and July was the time to see it. Around that objective, this long weekend trip in July 2023 grew arms and legs.

Second thought…it seemed terrible not to have seen Windsor Castle yet, especially since Chris and I were great fans of The Tudors series about Henry VIII. And Hever Castle  – Anne Boleyn’s one time home! Plus, how did we manage NOT to see Kew Gardens, given so many London visits? So much to see in our southern neighbour.I always enjoy a visit to England but this very southern portion would largely be a new area for us.

By the time I had it all mapped out I was really excited about this – albeit short – explore of Southern England.

The plan was Windsor Castle – Kew Gardens – Hever Castle – Scotney  Castle – Sissinghurst – Bodiam Castle – Rye village – Bateman’s/Great Dixter – Leeds Castle – Canterbury Cathedral – Audley End

Plus anything else that caught our fancy on route and as time allowed.That said, Chris wondered if we would very quickly be castled – out.Hmmm…hopefully not!

Days 2 and 3 here: EAST SUSSEX AND KENT: HEVER CASTLE, SCOTNEY AND THE GLORIES OF Sissinghurst East Sussex and KENT:Rye, Bodiam, Bateman’s and Leeds castle

THURS PM – OFF WE GO

Flew out of Edinburgh with Ryanair, our flight 40 mins late and arrived Stansted 9.10pm. Had some lovely views coming into land of lilac-coloured fields which I assumed were lavender?

Took an age, but finally found the stop for the courtesy bus to Stansted’s Car Rental Village where we picked up our Corsa from Alamo.We were the only customers – nice to get sorted out so quickly AND free SatNav thrown in to the bargain too. I really dread the often endless queues to pick up cars in Europe, plus the process takes so long, it’s as if they’re signing out the Crown Jewels.

By the time we drove off it was 10pm, later than planned. Got onto the M11 then the M25/London Orbital, taking us to Windsor and our first night’s accommodation.

I ‘d forgotten the sun goes down earlier this far south compared to up north, so the 1hr 15 min drive was in the dark pretty much from the start. I’ll admit it WAS a bit of a thought to have this drive so late on but our idea was to miss any awful traffic around London which would definitely be our lot if we’d delayed flying until tomorrow morning.It also meant that we could hit the sites early doors Friday. A good shout, Chris decided, once we arrived at Windsor at 11.15pm with no road delays at all.

Our little Airbnb en suite in a quiet, pleasant street, was very attractive and I liked it immediately.I like nice places to stay even just for the one night and do quite a lot of research beforehand; always good to arrive and feel happy and relaxed in a place.

Made a quick cuppa, not caring whether I’d be up more often during the night (ah, age doesn’t come alone) as tea is such a big comfort drink to me.I drink gallons of the stuff.

However, I soon retracted the ‘quiet street’ thought as the first jet aircraft roared overhead, descending into Heathrow.In fact, it was the first of many coming into land every15 seconds or so- what a racket! This turned out to be a feature of the whole town- and poor Windsor Castle- jumbos and long haul jets thundering past constantly.I suppose locals (including the Royals) must get used to it.

No need to set an alarm as it turned out because we were woken at 5.35am by a jet thundering overhead.Welcome to Windsor!

Met our hostess at breakfast, a very friendly German lady who kindly offered to drop us off at the Castle for our 9.30am entry ( tickets pre booked.) It was only around a 25 min walk but we were grateful for the lift, letting us get our bearings a bit.We were able to leave the car on her street so would walk back and pick it up after our visit.

Windsor Castle – wow!! It completely dominates the town centre, an absolutely superb sight with enormous walls and towers.It’s the oldest inhabited castle in the world, built around 1070 by William the Conqueror.

At 8.45am we were second in the queue but the lines soon became enormous with huge day tour groups bussed in from London, accompanied by loud talking guides/drivers.

Thankfully, these groups entered via a separate door/ system so this had no effect on individual visitors like us. A very authoritative lady at ‘our’ entrance however, decided we were all too relaxed and in need of a shake and began to bark at us ( we were about 20 people) – ‘stand back! Back! You’ll get crushed by the gates when they open!’ It was all a bit OTT and we joked with an American couple we’d been chatting with , about what a uniform does to some people.

Bang on 9.30am, the gates opened and thankfully, no one was crushed. Then through the airport- like security, manned by smiling staff , tickets checked and in no time, we were wandering up through the grounds. 

There were lovely vistas across the quadrangle then more queuing as we waited for the State Apartments to open at 10am.A day of queuing!

Loved the little Crown on the top…

As we waited, our attention was drawn to the sound of marching boots.Sure enough, a group of Household Guards clipped past us, impressively armed and staring ‘eyes front.’

Once open, we took the left turn inside and filed (slowly ) past the beautiful Doll’s House, designed by Lutyens.Although a wonderful creation, I have to admit, I could have given this a miss.Then through multiple grand, regal rooms  including the cavernous, gilded dining room which seats 120 people.Some fine Holbein portraits to admire ( an artist much featured in The Tudors). I was glad we each had audio guides as there were no info boards as such.There was an interesting collection of gifts given to the Royals during foreign tours.Particularly striking was a colourful Hawaiian shoulder cloak made of birds feathers – a real work of art- but tragically, the king and queen of Hawaii contracted measles on their visit here and died.

Finally, St George’s Chapel opened at 11am and this was THE highlight of Windsor for me.

Absolutely magnificent , grander again than King’s College, Cambridge.There was a striking marble sculpture of Princess Charlotte who died in childbirth after a 52 hour labour, the baby stillborn.It depicted weeping ladies’ maids and a female figure with her hands raised to heaven.The fingers of the dead Queen were visible beneath her exquisitely carved shroud.The whole piece was so powerful , it moved me to tears.

Then we filed respectfully past the last resting place of the Queen and Prince Philip.Chris and I were in Grindelwald , Switzerland when the news came of her death and were so saddened. A great lady. Having a monarchy, to me, is a great balance to the short-termism of our politicians and provides such a strong historical link too. The pomp and circumstance is a spectacle and stirring.

My husband Chris was presented with an award for his Duke of Edinburgh Expedition work with young people over many decades.I attended with him (as a ‘hinger on’ ) at a Garden Event in the grounds of Holyrood Palace.Prince Philip chatted pleasantly to Chris about his work, then asked:

’Ah… your expeditions…where do they go?’

‘ Through your land, Sir,’ Chris answered promptly, as he used to use a route that went close to Balmoral and across Crown territory.

‘Goodness!’ exclaimed Prince Philip, clearly taken aback at how close his famous Expedition Scheme was coming to his own summer abode!

The Quire was superlative with the crests of the Knights of the Garter displayed at the top of each chair.

And that was us finished at 11.30am…first objective ticked off and what a fantastic castle it was.

We headed back to our accommodation via the Long Walk which gave wonderful views back to the castle and better revealed its scale and splendour…

Picking up the car, we now had a 40 min drive to Mickleham where we had booked an Airbnb apartment in the tiny village.From there, the plan was to drop the car and take the train to Kew Bridge, with a shortish walk to Kew Gardens.

Well, we soon realised that we’d lost the quiet roads of last night – even at 12 noon, the M25 was a nightmare! Every lane was at a crawl but at least the traffic was moving. Goodness knows how much worse it would have been if we’d visited Kew straight from Windsor(a shorter journey which we’d considered)but then had that road to face in the late afternoon.

The hold up took us an extra 20 mins so it was 1pm before we arrived in Mickleham near Dorking.Nice, characterful accommodation it was too but it was a case of a quick bag drop, short drive to Dorking station, £7 popped into the parking meter (ouch) and luckily, jumping on the train almost immediately.

It was a rather long uninteresting journey of an hour or so to Clapham Junction where after a wait, we changed for the 20 min journey to Kew Bridge.Given the wait, travel time and the 15 min walk to Kew Gardens it took us about 1 hr 45 to reach Kew – and of course, the same back.Long!

As members of the Royal Botanic Gardens of Edinburgh, we were entitled to 2 for 1 entry to Kew, a saving of 20.

It was 3pm when we finally strolled through Kew, on a warm, sunny afternoon.A quick peruse of the map and we worked out a plan for wandering round most of this World Heritage Site.

The whole place was immaculately maintained, not a weed in sight. I’m not a big fan of humid glasshouses with their palms etc so we went through those quite quickly.I don’t know what it is…I find them a bit depressing though quite memorable were the giant Mexican water-lilies – simply for being so exotic and unusual.Outside, the long border was lovely too.

Chris had read that Kew is 300 acres.In comparison, our local green space is beautiful Pollok Country Park at 400 acres; several years ago, it was given the ‘Best Park in Europe’ award.We walk in it most days, a haven for wildlife too – otters, kingfishers, gold-crests, roe deer and of course, the famous Highland Cattle herd. 

All in, I’m sorry to say that we were disappointed in Kew.The rose garden wasn’t very impressive ( my son and daughter in law up in the north of Scotland have a much larger and lovelier display) and the Mediterranean garden was quite a dull space and in need of attention.

Even the Giant Redwoods/Sequoia, trees I adore, were very young specimens apart from one.We regularly see much finer examples in Dawyck Botanic Garden in the Scottish Borders.

Sat with some tea and coffee in one of the fairly packed cafe outlets, managing to nab an outside table; the whole place was heaving and noisy, a bit litter strewn too.Quality of food didn’t look great.

Conclusion – glad to have finally seen Kew but wouldn’t visit again.I’m afraid I was expecting much more.

Back at Dorking by 7pm.Stopped off at a supermarket to pick up some wine and snacks, then grabbed a quick shower and change before driving a short distance to the King George pub nearby.This turned out to be a delightful place and was recommended to us on the TA Forum. I always think this is something that England does so well – a really good collection of atmospheric Inns, many doing good food.

It was busy but we were given a good table on the garden terrace, with a nice view of the sun going down over Denbies Vineyard, one of England’s largest.An excellent spot to end the day.

Dinner was good…steak and good chips for Chris and a tasty smoked salmon salad for me, just what I felt like.Couldn’t resist a sticky toffee pudding after that…very good!

Really enjoyed our meal here apart from being charged £6 for a cup of tea! We’d been charged twice in error (the service had been a bit chaotic) but weren’t offered the money back…never mind, couldn’t be bothered with any fuss so left it at that.

Our lovely apartment was part of a very pretty conversion in a cobbled courtyard at the back of Mickleham and away from the main road.Chris popped open a bottle of fizz and we drank to a good holiday.Very excited about all the places still to come!

Slept well, super quiet place – nae jets😊

TOMORROW – HEVER CASTLE, SCOTNEY AND SISSINGHURST