Articles from May 2025

In which we dip into history.

The day started again looking grey but with a forecast of 18C, dry and clouds to burn off. We fueled up at the buffet breakfast and with instant coffee brought with me (I have learned not to go near the hotel coffee) we loaded into our behemoth bus, myself with high anticipation of watching the bus wiggle through very curvy, narrow roads en route to Chartwell House (Winston Churchill’s residence). I remember coming here before with concern that even the car would make it around some of the corners! Happily, there is obviously another route for coaches as we arrived with no problems and Sam, our driver, didn’t have his backing skills challenged. There were a lot of cyclists on the road, apparently it’s the day clubs do their rides (Sunday); definitely strength in numbers. With so many out on the narrow roads with no shoulders, I would be much happier in a bunch and all the drivers would be more used to the need to slow down on one designated day.

On arrival, we were given a specific time to enter Chartwell house, closely monitored by the National Trust, and sent on our way. The gardens were quite lovely, especially with the contrast to the brick. There were a lot of people milling about, and we suspect it’s a destination for a day out for many as there are lots of walks to take in the grounds, places for kids to play etc. The house tour is cleverly set up to be interesting for kids as well, and the volunteers in the rooms are largely very helpful and volunteer information though a couple were very stuffy!

The entrance garden

pond near entrance -photo courtesy Lisa Berry

The family was very well off, and had 26 servants during Winston Churchill’s time including three secretaries. Each room on the tour had a volunteer stationed in it answering questions and when I asked how much was taxpayer supported he looked horrifed and said “none”. I would have thought his government duties would at least have supplied a secretary…. but clearly they were not hurting. The estate includes 800 acres of rolling property.

terraces from top to bottom encompassed lovely countryside views

Cristy’s

Peony needing propping!

clematis on one of the many walls offered to climbing plants

particularly lovely clematis

definitely room to wander thoughtfully and be contemplative

The Walled Kitchen garden was more impressive than last time I was here, and I am still amazed at how far ahead their artichokes are!

herb section

As well as pheasants which scattered with the onslaught of tourists that arrived with us onto the lawns, there were black swans in the lake. We picked our way carefully through the field of goose poop to have a look.

Amazingly, no stragglers at the appointed exit time and we exited Chartwell exactly as scheduled. Next stop, Hevers Castle, very close by; but we had to go a roundabout way due to the size of the bus and even this route was interesting. It involved a very tight squeeze across a narrow bridge with a sharp right turn entrance onto it and the scraped brick at the top indicated previous passage of those not quick so adept, or lucky. At the other end of the bridge we needed to turn sharply right and this was accomplished by driving into a pub parking lot, backing up on the road (!!!) and then proceeding on our way. Drivers are amazingly patient while these manouvres occur, albeit truthfully they have no choice!

Hevers Castle, the childhood home of the unfortunate Anne Boleyn, was the next stop and we were all delighted to see that the craft fair was still on as we’d had few shopping opportunities up until this point as most shops had been closed by the time we were let loose on them!

We were ushered immediately to a sit down lunch, after a fairly crazy walk through the grounds of Hever Castle to the far side, through huge crowds attending the craft fair, the hog roast, water maze, costume dressup and other events going on today. Again, apparently a family destination on a weekend. A glass of prosecco started the meal and the starter was a nice mix of tempura veggies nicely presented, but alas things deteriorated from there. Awful fish and chips with peas, desert was a fairly decent raspberry mousse artfully presented with lemon balm leaves. It was a long and slow affair though. One sip of the coffee was enough to rocket us out of our chairs and into the Italian garden; we had passed through a lovely watery grotto enroute, and the Italian garden was large. Unfortunately it was impossible not to notice the sooty mould on the clematis leaves and the profusion of aphids on the mostly still budded roses in the rose garden. Obviously the gardens don’t get the care and attention of the castle.

There was a long cascade of pools like this all down the walk to the Pavilion – really lovely and would be heavenly on a very hot day

camelias all along the wall to the right for an extensive distance – unfortunately covered with sooty mould

Some roses were out, though many weren’t and I suspect bud damage will occur with the profusion of aphids

the lawns are mowed by robovacs, one of which was parked discretely in a corner.

and as always the walls provided a milieu for their own displays. Yes, there were grape vines as well!

Pineapple bush; the flowers looked and smelt like pineapples!

Then to the obligatory castle tour. The castle was taken over by the Astors (American) in the early 1920’s and refurbished. Some of the original work was restored, but much was redone in a more modern (and frankly liveable) renovation. Overall though the castle was dark with pokey rooms, and not a place I’d love to live in..

There were two significant floods which had water significantly up the wall of the first floor, and ruined the documents in the lower level.

castle courtyard

bedroom

dining room

gallery woodwork – happily above the flood line!

Unusual colouring

We wandered over to the water maze, which is apparently wildly popular, and empathized with the older man patrolling it, shouting at the wild kids trying to climb the centre rocks, and running on the wet concrete to stay safe while their parents watched unmovingly on the sidelines… we decided that looking was adequate once we figured out how it worked (weight on a slab produced a water jet directed at one). Likely lovely on a hot day…

Next a beeline to the coffee stall near the craft tents, where real coffee was obtained for the first time of the day albeit breaking the <2 p.m. rule (it was about 4:30 by now). We wandered over to the craft tents only discovering then that they were packing up in anticipation of closing at 5 p.m. Ooops. Sorry folks at home, that was a missed opportunity for a souvenir for you LOL.

A quick sally back to the bus for 5:30 and we arrived back at the hotel at 6:20 p.m., late for the only appointment I’d made the whole trip! Met up with second cousin Stuart and partner Stella who live nearby and we had a quick local beer (Harvey’s bitter) at a nearby pub and it was a lovely catchup.

Back to start packing – glad we aren’t moving often! Logistically challenging as the day pack I use for the gardens carries a LOT of my important luggage such as electronics and all the stuff I carry on the plane as they would be a pain to replace. Have to figure that one out in the morning.

In which we finally get a proper guided tour, and find some gorgeous seeds.

Finally, a decent sleep. Makes a world of difference! The internet here is marginal, though I guess most folk come here to become unplugged.

Another lovely day today – warm sun saw us quickly shedding our morning cardigans and helped with the picture taking!

The first stop today was at Great Compton, about 45″ away – down another one car wide lane but a decent coach parking area, TG, no tricky backing needed. The oncoming cars down the lane had no hope of passing our bus and would have to back up to someone’s driveway, but after letting a delivery truck out we luckily didn’t encounter anyone else on the way in (on the way out someone saw us coming and ducked into a driveway). This garden is known for its’ salvia specialist, now mostly retired, and we had an excellent tour by its’ new head gardener, Christina. Knowledgeable, super enthusiastic… it was wonderful to learn from her.

near the entrance; learning the house history (couple from London developed the garden over 10 years then left it to a charitable trust who now runs it on a shoestring with only 1.5 gardeners and a host of volunteers).

The developing Italian garden

the Italian garden – courtesy Gary Lewis

meadow near the entrance

there is no irrigation system in the garden, and the hope is to get a grant for restoration and to install one. Sounds familiar a la Earthwise society!

A very friendly garden, with layering and many benches to sit and contemplate (or forest bathe if you are so inclined!)

house is currently uninhabitable and in need of major repairs

the folly – faux ruins built by the owners from foraged materials

the rhodos were in full bloom

they also specialize in magnolias but those were mostly done. It is an all season garden so different flowerings each season.

some of the specialty salvia

They are also repository for a rosemary collection, one of which was ginger rosemary – lovely aroma

aliums of many varieties used extensively in English gardens

meadow rue against a wall in the Italian garden

Italian garden

A very pleasant ploughman’s lunch in the courtyard patio ended the tour and we were left to wander for another hour.

enjoying the view from in front of the house – courtesy Gary Lewis

Next stop was Wakehurst, the twin to Kew Gardens, a small 500 acre garden housing the millenium seed bank. It was fascinating, with a great explanation of the process involved with storing seeds.

Most of the important parts of the building were underground.

A relic from dinosaur times – Woollemia pine. Discoverd in New South Wales Australia in 1994 after a ranger abseiled down a canyon and discovered several trees. Thought to be extinct, a paleontologist eventually identified it and it has been propogated since for posterity, apparently doing well here! I LOVED that every tree had a tag with its botanical name.

Walled garden near Elizabethan manor (like Great Compton, under restoration but they are a bit further ahead of Great Compton and have received funds already!)

bluestars within the walled garden

glorious patches of colour – knapweed

Lovely scents prevailed as we walked through the walled garden

wisteria arbour

gloriously scented!

heading towards Himalayan glade

Girnormous rhodos at Himalayan glade

valley at Himalayan glade – the rhodos were tree size, as they are in Nepal and Bhutan

Wetlands section

artfully planted

candelabra primulas – courtesy Gary Lewis

others out enjoying the woodlands! There are many long walks to be taken in the park, with dog friendly areas and even an off leash park. Would definitely have a season’s pass if I lived nearby here!

other miscellaneous treasures along the way- native English bluebell, courtesy Gary Lewis

the gift shop was surprisingly underwhelming, except for the seed section which saw enthusiastic tour participants. It would be hard to leave without plants from the nurseries at every garden, if one lived locally. Photo courtesy Gary Lewis.

Back into the bus, coralling stragglers yet again, and back to the hotel for a free evening. Alison and I walked into town to see the Pantiles, which was very underwhelming, along the promenade which is now tourist mecca with upmarket wine bars. We nipped into Sainsbury’s to pick up some oatcakes (and start the chocolate collection for taking home) and tucked ourselves into a bench at the promenade like poor cousins to eat the last of our ploughman’s lunch. Into a pub to try a local beer – watery dark ale, not impressed, then a hike home through the forest, ending the day with a medicinal tot and some samples from Maison Samadi chocolates.

In which we visit two very different gardens, a charming Mediaval village and have some interesting bus driving.

After a fairly sleepless night (3 a.m. wakeup for me, 4 a.m. for Alison; clearly jetlag is not done with us!) Alison and I went for a morning walk to explore the grounds of the Spa Hotel. The top acre was curated, very pleasant with trails, rhodos in bloom and benches, then below was uncultured meadows and woodland comprising the rest of the 14 acres advertised. We then got a tour of the spa facilities which include communal and seperate single sex saunas, a lovely pool in a conservatory like environment, a wet sauna and an extensive gym from weights to exercise machines. Also of course treatment rooms for various treatments from reflexology to hot stone massage (prices comparable to Spa Utopia in Canada).

The buffet breakfast was good, complete with typically English cold toast with either full breakfast or granola/yoghourt/fruit versions. The coffee was foul, glad I had brought my own instant with me…. we had thought last night it was just the decaf made hastily that was bad but confirmed this morning it’s all coffee at the hotel.

Off we went at 10:15 to Sissinghurst, a 45 min drive with informative and entertaining info provided along the way by Lynn, the local guide. We were briefed on what to see at the garden, and its’ background. There was a booked entry time of 11 a.m. and we were welcomed by the National Trust representative on board the bus then piled out towards the entrance. There we were given our tickets and – what? let loose?

Big disappointment, I had shelled out the big bucks for this tour assuming that we were getting a guided tour from an expert. Instead, I was told that he was there to answer any questions, but – go to it. Alas the cell signal from my carrier, Three, was fairly poor so frequently when I asked “Picture This” to identify a flower, it would decline, citing poor connection. So once again, we wandered around admiring the scenery, but not entirely sure quite often what flowers we were looking at. So much for brushing up on perennial names and learning! Definitely a big minus, and frankly, a swiz.

It was, however, quite beautiful, and a lovely day to boot with warmth and sunny skies but not too hot. I recall the last visit was in summer heat, but I think there was more out during that visit. And not to say that we didn’t thoroughly enjoy the visit, albeit the white garden was very underwhelming after a big buildup (perhaps better in a couple of weeks?). White lupines were pretty cool though. But overall, not what I had expected at all. I took pictures of the unknown named flowers with the expectation of running them through “Picture This” when back to a better cell connection, but alas there are too many and it’s now too late in the evening to contemplate starting. Maybe on the trains on the way upcountry… I was surprised to see how far ahead the vegetables were; artichokes already formed, and the beans 2′ tall.

Part of the garden from the tower

Some of the other garden parts were pretty, and happily there weren’t masses of people about – it got busier when we left at 1:15 p.m. after having queued for a sandwich and REAL coffee, eating on the lawn.

The underwhelming white garden but the white lupines were unusual…

in the xeroscopic garden

Borders!

lovely juxtaposition of dogwood + roses

wisteria row

And so, off to Great Dixter…. I was really looking forward to this one, having had a couple of lectures in the master gardener meetings and spring conference by the head gardener, Fergus Garrett. He came out to meet us and talked a bit about the garden and its philosophy of biodiversity beside a bed of giant fennel plants (seeds from Turkey).

Fergus Garrett in the centre giving some background to the garden.
Great Dixter was an amazing exploration, of flamboyant growth and artfully crafted borders and beds. It was easy to understand why it got such a high number of species in the biodiversity audit. I’ve included a picture of the famous compost pile!

Borders of all colours and shapes:

The house of Christopher Lloyd, the original curator of the garden.

Christopher Lloyd was also famous for enthusiastic use of container gardening. The conical chimneys are oasts, indicating hops are being dried in here. Kent is famous for it’s craft beer and hops are prolific.

Look what I found in the garden!

So many lovely places to sit and contemplate the riotous growth around.

Lily of the Nile

spectacular espaliered fig

Orchid in the meadow, photo courtesy of Gary Lewis

Even the steps down to the tropical garden were artfully sporting growth. My flagstones just sport weeds!

The sunken garden. It was very apparent everywhere that the insect population was healthy, with pollinators buzzing everywhere.

Sweet rocket and weigla

Too much to see and admire! When we were all eventually coralled into the bus (several stragglers) the bus driver attempted to turn the large coach around – we were puzzled why he hadn’t spent the two hours we were away doing this… it was a long and protracted process involving a 100 point turn (we all had several suggestions afterwards for better and easier places it could have been done) . He eventually gave up and backed slowly and painfully up a length of lane, turning at the entrance and achieving it finally with applause from both inside and outside the bus as everyone was blocked in both directions during the convolutions! In general though, I don’t envy the bus driver’s job manouevering the huge coach through narrow streets with parked cars on either side, and sometimes U turns in the road. We were told by Lynn that the Beatles’ song “The long and winding road” was written by Paul McCartney who has a country house near here, upon one of his many journeys there from London. Very apropos.

We headed last to a medieval smuggling town at the confluence of three rivers, Rye; it had much power during the 100 year war with France as a ship building area and between that and smuggling did very well monetarily. It was charming, with many original buildings and some lovely looking gift shops which were unfortunately all closed by the time we got there. Alison and I did manage a quick trip down to Costcutters for a bottle of single malt, to add a medicinal tot to our itinerary after the long days on our feet ahead.

Entrance to Old Town

Each house had its own quirky name

Wattle and daub building technique

Likely more hazardous to navigate in rain and winter weather!

Wall overlooking churchyard sporting it’s own garden

Churchyard at the end of the street

They’ve obviously adapted the Christopher Lloyd techniques of container gardening!

See if you can spot the earrings in here…

Chemist turned poke restaurant…

Some more interesting bus manipulations as the driver waited for us to get back then spent ages attempting to turn around in a huge (we thought very roomy) parking lot before once again giving up and backing out a considerable distance. He might not have passed this part of the driving test….

Along some more winding roads an hour home, our dinner was pushed back to 7:45 p.m. Excellent again, but we were all starving by the time we got it, some having not stopped for lunch at either of the gardens (or grabbed food to go). We dispersed after like dandelion puffs in a wind, everyone very tired after a long day of walking.

PS the medicinal tot of Glenfiddich pre-dinner was very helpful for my sore legs! Better than an advil.

Not much to report today, lots of time spent waiting around… got packed up and to the airport by 11:30 a.m., and met up with Alison shortly thereafter (she’d flown in from Edinburgh where she recovered from jetlag with her family). She had picked up two others on the flight, identified by their green “worldwise quest” baggage tags, and over the next hour or so others trickled in to the Cafe Nero. The AC flight was on time and decanted the tour leader and a couple of others so we left to liase with the bus shortly after 2 p.m. After 20 mins standing out in the underground area with a cold wind whistling by, the local tour leader announced that the bus driver was stuck in a massive traffic jam so we all piled back to Cafe Nero to wait out another half hour.

Finally loaded in, we set off for Tunbridge Wells, about 1.5 hours away by road, in a huge bus. (40″ from central London, as I later found and cursed myself for not going there directly). Curious how it will make its way around the narrow winding roads around Chartwell House…..With traffic slowdowns it took us about 2 hours but we had some good info enroute from our very pleasant & knowledgeable local tour guide Lynn, about the local history and garden history of Kent. A smooth checkin saw us have a few minutes to hang up some clothes and then we assembled for a pre tour meeting which included intros and general instructions. A well educated bunch… mostly retirees, lots of grey hair. Many keen and knowledgeable gardeners, I will learn a lot I suspect! Some on a third or fourth tour with Gary, the study leader.

Dinner was a set menu and excellent food & presentation albeit late – we finished at 9:30, well past my bedtime LOL. I suspect this will be the pattern. The hotel is quite lovely, with a generous room size complete with desk and sitting chair, and large bathroom with huge deep bath, access to the spa and swimming pool included and 14 acres of grounds to wander in should we not get enough walking in the gardens tomorrow…. It’s an old manor that’s been refurbished, with lovely wallpaper and tasteful design- happily I’m on the third (top) floor so no feet overhead.

And so, we begin. Tomorrow is Sissinghurst, Great Dixter and Rye.

No pictures today but that definitely won’t be the case tomorrow!

In which the suitcase becomes heavier…

Darn, I meant to turn on the distance tracker. I am sure there was a fair few km covered today.

Started in Leicester Square/Covent Gardens area, visiting Maison Bertaux patisserie (good croissant, awful coffee but fun chat with owner). They get consistently mentioned as the oldest patisserie in London and have good ratings, but didn’t seem extraordinary to me apart from the outstandingly bad coffee. Apparently they were trying out new beans which weren’t working out (address of coffee bean supplier earnestly supplied by owner!). Interesting art installation at Heaven’s Gate outside Tottenham Court tube station, passed the Banksy store on Charing Cross Road and sent a picture to friend Richa who took me to the Banksy exhibit in Vancouver last month (lots of fun!). To my amazement Foyle’s bookstore is still going strong, and as one of my favourite haunts in the past on a London visit it was great to browse around again. Acquired a paperback that looks promising for the next book club selection, written by and about someone who dropped off the grid…wishful thinking? In search of a Marks and Spencers with clothes I walked around to three, covering a fair bit of ground, before concluding that they are completely out of everything but the food business now, and that too is a pale shadow of its former self. Sad. No college cream biscuits to be had and the selection otherwise strictly limited.

Trying to find a store to get a watch and reading glasses was a challenge – eventually got a cheap Timex at Argos to replace my triathlon timex whose button to change the time to local time has ceased functioning. Works still for Canadian west coast time but is stuck there now. Reading glasses another challenge but finally acquired; dept. stores appear to have all disappeared here as well. Window shopped at one chocolate shop in Soho but decided it wasn’t worth going in.

Tons of Harry Potter shows and fun HP stores in the area… it’s obviously been good for the economy.

Next to Pierre Hermé for another chat with the girl behind the counter who trained as a pastry chef but didn’t like the pressure… alas no patisseries in the London store. Or perhaps that’s a good thing? as the next stop was Cedric Grolet to pick up the pre-ordered passion fruit patisserie. A very tony place in The Berkeley across from Hyde Park, minimalistic decor and one couple (sounded American) paying 125 GBP each for champagne and patisserie selection at the counter. The patisserie I got was also overpriced but absolutely exquisite piping of Chantilly cream and full of delicious fresh passionfruit… I’ll have to finish it at breakfast as it won’t travel, but it’ll count as fruit and dairy? as so much passionfruit inside. Yummm.

Back to my ‘hood for a (finally good!) coffee and Indian takeout (which was meh) before heading off to the last chocolatier on my list, Maison Samadi. Really interesting flavours, and the root cause of the worldwide pistachio shortage right now – literally – pistachio Dubai style chocolate bars went viral and have sucked up pistachios worldwide, leaving the market dry and the prices inflated. These are chocolate bars with pistachio cream filling +/- kunafi. Kunafi is a very interesting flavour, a lovely crunchy contrast to the chocolate; alas they only had these with white chocolate fillings right now… andanother chat with the girl on the floor resulted in a few samples and more research acquired for future tasting….

I limped home with the advil not yet cutting in, but the German wheat beer at the flat was far more effective for the pain than the advil! Or maybe it was the combo?

Had to sit and rest my sore leg, back to doing stairs one at a time, but that was dangerous as it is sleep time at home. Wrestled through by doing some hand washing and hope to get another decent nights’ sleep tonight to put me solidly in this time zone before joining the tour group tomorrow. With mixed feelings…

Getting from “a” to “b” nowadays can really suck.

The flight left at 8 p.m. giving the entire day to get ready which was great; no pressure to get out the door early in the morning. Even had time to vacuum the garage and discovered a wet patch on one wall complete with black mould… oh joy. Something else to deal with when I get back.

Plane boarded on time, and row after row of people poured on…it was a huge plane and nearly full. I had to buck the flow at the beginning to find a staff person as there was food plastered on my seat that hadn’t been cleaned up, and on the intake fan by my feet as well. The seat got spot cleaned by the stewardess and I sat on a blanket after but the intake fan did not get touched…Then we sat on the tarmac for an hour and half before finally taking off, due to a broken bathroom door that needed fixing. At least we were able to get off and walk around the bridge for the duration, which was kind. The meal served was far and above the worst I’ve had for decades on a plane…then we all thankfully settled down about 11 p.m. to catch some sleep…. The fellow behind me had been rocking my seat intermittently since the start – I was about to talk to him about possibly not jabbing the screen as it is a touchscreen after all but he was fast asleep by the time I got to it so snuggled down. Woken by vigorous kicking on my seat which ebbed and flowed for awhile – wondered if he was sitting up reading or watching again but it got worse so I turned to talk to him and he let loose. Apparently he was unhappy that the seat ahead was tilted, as it was apparently cutting into his legroom and he felt he was exceptionally tall (maybe 2″ taller than me?) so was entitled to more room. Buddy, we have paid extra for the tiltability in this section, and you can book a bulkhead seat if you need to; plus, reclining your own seat solves the problem. Eventually had to go find a stewardess to talk to him – at one point he also had his runner and foot between my seat and the window, alongside my arm rest. Oh my, some people. I agreed to reduce the tilt some to give him more room, mediated by the stewardess but apparently not enough for his comfort as the kicking started again as soon as she left, to get it to where he felt comfortable. Needless to say, not much sleep was had. And BTW had he asked nicely in the first place to reduce the tilt….Breakfast was equally dreadful with no coffee served… and this is premium economy. Never been so glad to get off a plane. What a boor. Apparently he and three other friends were going trail running in various places in the UK – one of his pals was sitting next to me and was quite lovely. He looked uncomfortable during his pal’s perturbations. I had listened to the boor in the lounge before boarding also (well we couldn’t help but do so due to the volume and number of things he had to say) so good luck to those who are travelling with him, maybe they’ll be able to run away from him on the trail…?

LHR was quiet, and got the oyster card topped up easily. Flat was easy to get to, albeit the two flights of stairs were felt after being cramped up for so many hours – the right hip has flared again thanks to it and going upstairs is very painful. A quick trip to Marks and Sparks, a shadow of its’ former self, and Tesco which can literally be seen from the apt., for dinner and it will be an early night tonight. It’s sunny and warm today in London. May it continue balmy!

May is not a good time to leave an active garden…. early hardening off, planting out before usual times, and setting up watering systems is all on the books right now. All with a big dose of wishfulness that the current warm and summer-like weather continues until they are well established… I will miss the planting windows for a few veggies, such are the sacrifices of travel!

Countdown has started, with the “to do” list before departure as usual way longer than the time remaining. The search has begun on chocolatiers and patisseries to visit in London; research for future development of course will require tasting :-). First patisserie ordered from “Patisserie Cedric Grolet” for pickup on Wednesday. I suspect from the tour itinerary we’ll be walking it off quite quickly. As Morag said, the itinerary is “mad”. All with 25 others, the biggest group I’ve travelled with so fingers crossed.

More to come!