Sunday Day 3
Previous Days: East Sussex and Kent – Gardens, Castles and Country Houses EAST SUSSEX AND KENT: HEVER CASTLE, SCOTNEY AND THE GLORIES OF Sissinghurst
Said goodbye to delightful Gill’s Farm and headed for the town of Rye, 30 mins drive away.It was overcast and rainy when we arrived , parking easily in a side street at the bottom of town near the river.It perhaps wasn’t the best weather and time to arrive at this spot because the tide was out, the exposed riverbed was grey mud and everything was shrouded in a fine, misty rain. Damp and miserable was the best initial description.
Made for The Apothecary, a very characterful café on Rye High Street and the only place that seemed to be open this early on a Sunday morning.Busy too – a good sign! It had been the chemist’s shop in days old.Had a pot of tea and a tasty piece of Coffee and Walnut cake with Chris having his usual latte and a fried egg roll.Very enjoyable stop! Nice to be tucked in out of the drizzle.Several American voices in here too and young tourists from the Far East.
By the time we left, other places were starting to open up, the weather was looking more promising and our spirits had revived.
Made our way up cobbled Mermaid Street (what a great name) and finally began to see what all the fuss was – Rye was beautiful!
Half- timbered, medieval buildings lined the pretty street and we passed the very attractive looking Mermaid Inn which looked a lovely place to stay.
Interestingly, there was a house called Robin Hill and I wondered whether that name had been the inspiration for John Galsworthy’s house of the same name in The Forsyte Saga.
Quite fancied going in for another cuppa in the Mermaid Inn – any excuse for a tea stop somewhere atmospheric – but we had a full day ahead and didn’t have the luxury of dawdling too much.
Plenty of interest as we made our way up through the cobbled streets…
Followed the road up to the top of town where sat the delightful St Mary’s Church. Rye had captured us by this point– very lovely indeed! There were some particularly attractive beech trees in the graveyard and picturesque, restored houses lining the little street alongside Church Square.
And another tree I didn’t recognise but had lovely blossom on it…
At this top point of the town, we soon found ourselves at Rye Castle /Ypres Tower , built in the 13th or 14th.Rye has quite a history, having been a Royal dockyard, shipyard and port, sitting two miles from the sea.In fact, it was once one of the Cinque Ports.No wonder it needed defending! The castle is now a museum.
Wandering down well kept West Street street, I noticed another National Trust property , Lamb House , once lived in by the American writer Henry James. In we went and what an interesting place it was.The walls too, held many expertly sketched portraits of famous visitors to the house – including HG Wells, Rudyard Kipling and Rupert Brooke.
The garden is the largest in Rye and was a truly lovely space with roses and hydrangeas.
Very pleased that Rye had lived up to its billing as a handsome, interesting small town, we strolled back to the car and headed for our next stop, Bodiam Castle, a 25 min drive away.
We had debated whether to visit Great Dixter which looked to have a gorgeous garden but I had also discovered that Rudyard Kipling’s home , Bateman’s, was nearby and as I am a big fan of some of his writing, that won. Plus having been so bowled over by Sissinghurst, I felt that GD might not quite match that.
The sky was clearing as we parked at Bodiam, another National Trust property which gave us free entry. A ten minute walk along a good path brought us to a quite superb view of the castle rising from its moat.
Another wow moment!
Bodiam is an iconic 14th century medieval castle, built for defence (though apparently never stormed as such) and of course, surrounded by a moat. There was a beautiful drawbridge across the moat in which enormous white carp were swimming.Off we set through the impressive, twin towered gatehouse, 3 storeys high, then an explore of the ruined interior.Finally, we clambered up a narrow staircase onto one of the towers for views over the fields and woodland. I’m always keen to up the step count each day so we had a wander around the circumference of the moat, which gave us views of the castle from different angles. It really was a stunning sight.
The Jacobean, 400 year old house ‘Bateman’s’ was next and now only a 20 min drive away.Another free entry with our National Trust for Scotland cards (I sometimes wonder if free entry make you appreciate somewhere more easily, perhaps casting a less critical eye over things.) The car park was not too busy, there was no queue and we were soon making our way down the hill past the kitchen gardens to the house itself.
There was a lovely café where we sat outside by the garden and had a much – needed cuppa before doing anything else. I had some Tiffin and Chris chose Victoria Sponge with buttercream icing.I think Victoria Sponge is one of the best of all cakes but it has to be filled with fresh cream before I’ll choose it.As I bake quite regularly at home, I’m quite fussy about what is on offer in cafes! If it doesn’t look homemade, I’ll pass.
The café was a delightful wee place.It all felt a bit more intimate and in a prettier setting overall than Scotney’s café plus food quality looked better. I do like a good café, one of life’s great pleasures. The conversion of the various out- buildings was just so beautifully done too and I was delighted to find there was an excellent Iittle second hand bookshop.I could whittle away a lot of time in these!
Loved the house right away.The Jacobean style itself was so lovely and the hilly setting in the Sussex Weald was beautiful. The interior was very dark – many of the walls are covered in embossed leather with a gold sheen and Indian design(Kipling was initially brought up in India , a country he loved.)To see Kipling’s study – as if he had just left it – was actually quite emotional for me.
I’ve never been able to get through ‘Kim’ but some of Kipling’s short stories and poems are just wonderful, particularly ‘They’ and ‘The Gardener’ both about loss and grief.
Kipling suffered terribly following the tragic death of two of his three children and the superb documentary ‘A Secret Life’ reveals the depth of his grief and how this was expressed through various writings.’They’ is in many ways the fantasy of one day, seeing once more, an adored child no longer living.
His son John’s room is a re- creation of how it may once have been…
John’s military cap and medals were on display.He died at the Battle of Loos, his father having used his connections to secure his son a commission after he was rejected by the services due to his short sightedness.I always find loss during the Great War to be particularly tragic and get very emotional over that.Two of my own Great Uncles from North Uist, young pipers during the 1st World War, died within two years of each other in France and Salonica.
Time to head through the 33 acres of grounds, past the pond and the rose garden, then through the woodland to the old watermill. The whole place felt very peaceful and must be gorgeous in winter too.
Very glad to have seen Bateman’s – for me, a real loss if I’d missed it.
We now had an hour’s drive to Leeds Castle near Maidstone in Kent, another famous site that I was very excited to visit. This time, we were staying in the grounds, in the converted stable block.
Arrived at the reception building, surrounded by the Mediterranean garden.Nobody there and not for some time either! But finally after 10 mins and me going on a fruitless hunt to find someone to give us our keys, a girl appeared and we got booked into our 1st floor room.
A very pretty, classically decorated en suite it was too.No castle or garden view sadly but looking onto the courtyard which, at 5.30pm, was still very noisy and going like a fair! I hoped it would settle down soon, as I was hoping for a quiet, peaceful evening and a chance to see the grounds when everything had died down a bit.
It was a lovely sunny day now so after making a cup of tea, we headed out down the path to the river where Leeds Castle shimmered in golden stone across the lake.
I read an article recently which talked about the ‘power of awe’ in our lives….regularly seeing sights which have that ‘wow’ quality.The belief is that this is essential for good mental health, inspiring us and lifting our spirits.
Well, that first view of Leeds Castle was another of many moments of awe which had lifted us daily during our short trip. The beauty and grandeur of the place! Not a soul about as we crossed over the drawbridge and had a wander round the interior courtyard.
This area was actually out of bounds to us, unless we had actually been resident or a paid visitor to the castle itself.We got away with strolling down to a walkway beside the lake too before a security guard politely pointed out we shouldn’t really be there! Ah well, if you don’t try…we were just too late to view the interior formally though I had read that it was relatively modern inside.
Strolled along by the river, past Egyptian Geese and their fluffy goslings.Aggressive birds when they have young so we gave them a wide berth.The grounds really are delightful and in our short time of course we couldn’t do them justice.Explored the formal gardens..the Mediterranean terraced garden and the Culpepper Garden, both gorgeous with views over the river.Looked out for Kingfishers but no luck.
Showered then made our way to the outdoor terrace with its fantastic views over the lake.We had booked for dinner which also came with a glass of fizz, very welcome, so we spent some time outside enjoying our drinks, thinking what a terrific spot this was from which to enjoy dinner.
Unfortunately, our gas was soon out at a peep when we were told that the terrace wasn’t open for dining because there were too many flies and wasps! So, although the temperature was perfect for sitting out, we’d have to dine indoors.Still, they gave us a great table looking onto the castle through picture windows, so we were happy enough with that.
We were both so looking forward to dinner but our evening went downhill from this point on.Food was of disappointing quality.We each ordered steak but the peppercorn sauce which came with it was so salty as to be almost inedible.
Desserts were poor(I really look forward to a good pudding) – a flourless chocolate sponge ( which should be mousse like) was served in broken pieces because it was so dry and my apple terrine was very stodgy and heavy, to the point that I couldn’t eat it.Chris did mention all of these things pleasantly to the young waitress but she seemed very uninterested.Settled the bill and thought…if we visit again we will not eat here! I suppose that’s always the danger with a big operation like Leeds Castle, food quality isn’t always the best.
But really what another grand day overall!
Final Day: Chilham village, Canterbury Cathedral, Audley End and ThaxtedEast Sussex and Kent(Final Day)
THE BEST OF SCOTLAND 
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