Michael and I flew to England to pay our respects at the memorial service for Margaret’s husband, Peter, who passed away in April. The service was a moving testament to a man well loved by family and friends. The wake was held at the Crown Inn, a beautiful, old pub (1874) in the nearby village of Chislehurst.
Afterwards, we decided to visit the Hop Shop in Shoreham, to see the lavender fields and to have some afternoon tea, as it was only a 20 minutes drive from Chislehurst. Two hours later we arrived! We were told it was near Lullingstone Park, and we typed Lullington into the sat nav by mistake. We had been driving down the highway for nearly an hour before we realised our error, and after turning around, we got stuck in the mother of all traffic jams, due to animals on the road and a break down. When we finally arrived at the Hop Shop, we discovered that they didn’t have a café. They did, however, have a lovely shop crammed with everything lavender you could possibly think of – soaps, candles, ice cream etc. We continued driving until we found the Honey Pot Tea Rooms where we enjoyed a very nice cream tea (albeit without clotted cream as they had run out). We returned to our hotel in Orpington and enjoyed our evening meal at the nearby Italian restaurant, Osteria Da Fabrizio . The meal was excellent and the owners must have been huge Elton John fans, as his music played non-stop throughout dinner (amazing how prolific a song writer he is).
The following day we picked James and Amber up from Orpington station as we were taking them on a pilgrimage to see where James’ grandmother had been born and raised in the village of Goudhurst. It was a picturesque drive through the countryside and I don’t think that they could believe how narrow some of the roads were. It was pretty hair-raising at times, as you can’t really see around the bends as roadside hedges obscure the view. We arrived in Goudhurst in good time and were delighted to discover that the village fete and dog show was taking place. Talk about perfect timing! We parked the car and walked to the nearby Glebe Field to the fete. We purchased some drinks (Pimm’s for the girls, beer for the boys), and set out to show James and Amber a real slice of English village life. We saw the Weald of Kent Morris Men performing their dances. One particular gentleman really relished clashing his stick (he reminded me of Private Fraser in Dad’s Army).
Then we watched the girls from the local primary school perform Maypole dancing. I had never seen Maypole dancing before and it was interesting to see them dance and make intricate patterns with their ribbons around the pole. There were dogs of all shapes and sizes, with some of them in fancy dress. We ate strawberries and cream and scones and really enjoyed ourselves. The weather was perfect and it was fun to see so many people having a great time.
Then we watched the girls from the local primary school perform Maypole dancing. I had never seen Maypole dancing before and it was interesting to see them dance and make intricate patterns with their ribbons around the pole. There were dogs of all shapes and sizes, with some of them in fancy dress. We ate strawberries and cream and scones and really enjoyed ourselves. The weather was perfect and it was fun to see so many people having a great time.
When we finished at the fete, we visited St Mary’s Church with its square tower on the top of the hill. This was where Michael’s mother attended church as a young girl. The church tower was open to visitors, so Michael and James ascended to the top to admire the views, leaving Amber and I to explore the church. We were amused to discover that a paper-plane competition was taking place in the aisle, with young boys doing their best to make their planes fly the furthest.
Lunch was at the 14thcentury pub, The Star and Eagle in Goudhurst. The weather was so beautiful that we were able to dine outside in the sunshine. Just when I thought the day could not get better, I found that steak and kidney pudding was on the menu – perfect with Kent ice cream to follow, all washed down with another glass of Pimm’s. It really doesn’t get more English than that!
We wandered around the rest of the village, pointing out the street where James’ grandma was born, trying to imagine what it must have been like to grow up in the little town. Now, of course, Goudhurst is very gentrified, but it would have been very different 70 years ago.
Driving back to Orpington, we saw a sign pointing to the Hush Heath Estate Winery and decided that we should take a look. We gained entry after first negotiating their new automatic driveway gates (they kept closing), and discovered a vast estate of 400 acres of vineyards, apple orchards and woodlands. The friendly staff offered us a tasting of 3 wines and we sat outside and enjoyed sampling the wines. Unfortunately, they had sold out of their red wines, however their white wines were very good. Michael as he was the designated driver sampled apple juice. It would be lovely to return there in a couple of years to see the new tasting rooms, which are being built.
Margaret and her family joined us for dinner at the Cow and Pig across the road from our hotel. It was a lovely meal and it was fun catching up on each other’s news. Margaret was also able to tell James a few tales from his grandmother’s youth.
James and Amber stayed overnight in Orpington, so the following morning we set off for the thirty minutes drive to Chartwell, the former home of Sir Winston Churchill. We arrived two hours later, having typed Chartwell into the sat nav. We now know that there are two Chartwells! Still, at least we saw plenty of pretty country lanes and even a number of greyhounds along the way. We were all pretty hungry by the time we arrived and were very happy to see that the café offered cream tea (clotted cream and all). Suitably refreshed, we took a walk around the extensive gardens, which were quite lovely. The views were stunning and there was a huge rose garden with roses of every colour in full bloom. There were lots of dogs there, as it seems a popular place for locals to come and walk their pets. We visited the studio where Churchill spent many hours painting and saw a large number of his works. The house itself is a rambling mansion and we were able to walk around the various rooms, which were crammed with interesting memorabilia and the like. There was also a very interesting exhibition on Lady Clementine Churchill, a remarkable woman. We all enjoyed our visit to Chartwell and it has inspired James to visit the Churchill War Rooms in London.
We had hoped to have lunch with James and Amber, however time had run away from us, so we dropped them off at Sevenoaks Station so that they could return to London. It was lovely to see them again and we had a lot of fun together.
More photos of Goudhurst and the surrounds
