Tel: 01892 770035
Email: Meg Stafford
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Places to visit in the area surrounding our accommodation near Hartfield
All the "Enchanted Places" including the famous "Poohsticks Bridge" are found in the parish of Hartfield which stretches deep into the picturesque Ashdown Forest. When A. A. Milne wrote the Winnie-the-Pooh stories back in the 1920's his son, Christopher Robin, visited the shop every week with his Nanny. The little shop, built three centuries ago, has the largest selection of "Pooh-phernalia" to be found anywhere in the world. The village has two pubs, a tea room and general store. Open: Mon - Sat 9am - 5pm Sun and Bank Holidays 1.30pm - 5pm Tel: 01892 770456 __________
Beautiful formal gardens boast a series of 'rooms', together with extensive herbaceous borders and the classical 17th century moated manor as its backdrop. High above the walled garden lies The Enchanted Forest; here are secret, mysterious gardens to challenge and delight your imagination Open: April - Oct 9am - 6pm Directions: SW Tunbridge Wells on B2110 Tel: 01892 863999
Wander at your leisure through this beautiful and extensive "garden for all seasons" with its four large lakes linked by cascades and waterfalls. Trace the history of the garden which was laid out by Lancelot "Capability" Brown. Open : Jan - Feb Sat & Sun 10.30am - 4pm Mar - Oct Tues - Sun & BH Mon 10.30am - 6pm or dusk if earlier Nov -Dec Tues - Sun 10.30am - 4pm Tel : 01825 790231 Sheffield Park Gardens Website __________
This farm is home to a large herd of llamas and alpacas, as well as sheep and goats. There is a "World of Wool" museum, farm trail, picnic area, tearooms and gift shop selling an extensive range of alpaca knitwear. Open: 1 April - 30 Sept Tues - Sun and BH Mon 11am - 5pm 1 Oct - 31 March Sat & Sun only 11am - 4pm Tel: 01825 712040 __________
The Bluebell Railway operate steam trains between Sheffield park and Kingscote. Sheffield Park station is situated close to Sheffield Park Gardens on the A275 between Lewes and East Grinstead. The station has parking for cars and coaches, locomotive sheds, a museum, buffet and shops. Horsted Keynes station has car parking, a large picnic field, and a licensed Victorian buffet. Bus service 473 connects East Grinstead and Kingscote stations. Trains Run: Weekends throughout the year May - Sept and school holidays daily Tel: 01825 722370 (timetable) Tel: 01825 723777 (enquiries) __________
This is more than just a vineyard. It has beautiful views and walks through the vineyards to see llamas and donkeys. There are restaurants, tearooms and a gift shop where the estate produced Barnsgate wines can be tasted and bought. Open: Daily 10am - 5pm or dusk if earlier. Tel: 01825 713366 __________
Wakehurst Place, managed by The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, is an inspiration of colour throughout the seasons. Woodlands contain native and exotic temperate trees from across the world, including birch, southern beech, giant redwood and Japanese maple. The woodland walk is particularly fine in summer, with native orchids and other wild flowers. The Water gardens display a rich mixture of plantings including large groups of blue poppies and giant Himalayan lilies. An elevated walkway through the wetland habitat allows you to observe the wildlife and plants of the Sussex Weald. Ornamental gardens surround a fine 16th century mansion, including walled gardens, a winter garden and a wonderful spring border around the mansion pond. The circular route winds through more than 170 acres of ornamental gardens, woodland, wetland and meadow. Open: Daily from 10am. Tel: 01444 894066 __________
Named "the best small zoo in England", Drusillas has masses of hands-on activities for children and a wide variety of animals, including a walk-through bat enclosure. There are keeper talks, Animal Encounters and a Discovery Centre. Open: All year round except Dec 24,25,26 10am - 5pm __________
The pretty colonnaded walkway known as the Pantiles has become probably the most well known view of Royal Tunbridge Wells. Once the playground of the gentry and royalty, the Pantiles remains a pleasant place to browse, shop, eat, drink and stroll. The Pantiles and Tunbridge Wells itself, owe their beginnings to the discovery of the Chalybeate Spring in the early 17th century and the popularity of the spa water amongst the gentry and royalty of Georgian England. As Tunbridge Wells grew in popularity as a spa resort, so did the area surrounding the Spring - eventually leading to the building of the colonnaded walkway in the 18th century, later known as The Pantiles. In its heyday in Georgian times, the "Walks" as they were then known, were the place to see and be seen for visitors to Tunbridge Wells. A strict protocol was adhered to - gentry on the 'Upper Walks', the colonnade, and everyone else on the 'Lower Walks'. Richard Beau Nash, a dandy of the day made it his business to ensure that this protocol was adhered to by acting as a kind of Master of Ceremonies during 'the season' in Tunbridge Wells and in the town's rival, Bath. Things are much more relaxed nowadays and the Pantiles is now a very attractive and stylish part of Royal Tunbridge Wells. Much of the colonnade has been renewed since its beginnings in the 17th century but most of the surrounding buildings date from the 18th and 19th centuries. The Pantiles is now home to a fascinating variety of small specialist shops, antique shops and open-air cafés, restaurants and bars. Click here for further details of the wide variety of quality shops and restaurants in the Pantiles. The Spring situated at the northern end of the Pantiles still flows, and the reputedly health-giving water is served in the summer months by a traditional 'Dipper'. In the summer months a series of open air music concerts take place, as well as a 5-day Georgian Festival - Scandals at the Spa - celebrating the Georgian heyday of this the historical centre of Royal Tunbridge Wells. The Pantiles is also where visitors will find the Tourist Information Centre in the Old Fish Market building, and the A Day at the Wells exhibition situated in the Corn Exchange Shopping Arcade, which tells the history of Georgian Tunbridge Wells. __________
One of the world’s most celebrated gardens, the creation of Vita Sackville-West and her husband Sir Harold Nicolson. Developed around the surviving parts of an Elizabethan mansion with a central red-brick prospect tower, a series of small, enclosed compartments, intimate in scale and romantic in atmosphere, provide outstanding design and colour through the season. The study, where Vita worked, and library are also open to visitors. Opening arrangements: Garden Shop Restaurant Notes: Open BHols 10–6.30. Last admission 1 hr before closing or before dusk if earlier. Shop and restaurant open from 10 Sat & Sun Sissinghurst Castle Gardens Website
Bedgebury Pinetum has the finest collection of conifers in the world providing enjoyment to visitors who come to appreciate the beauty and tranquillity of this unique attraction, which nestles quietly among lakes and valleys in the Kent countryside. Open 365 days a year, there is plenty to enjoy around the seasons. A shop and information centre is open daily and refreshments are also available. __________
Most of the original church in Withyham, St Michael and All Angels, was destroyed by fire in 1663. Only small areas of wall and the lower part of the tower remained. It was subsequently rebuilt by 1672.
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Be inspired to go and visit this thirteenth century romantic castle - once the childhood home of Anne Boleyn. Set in magnificent gardens from the majestic formal Italian Garden and topiary, to the informal meanderings of the lakeside and Sunday Walk. The Water Maze on Sixteen Acre Island and the Yew Maze challenges both adults and children alike! Daily 1 Mar-30 Nov. Gardens open 11am. Castle opens 12 noon. Last admission 5pm. Final exit 6pm. Mar & Nov 11am - 4pm. __________
Built on an island in the centre of a motionless lake, 'the loveliest castle in the world' near Maidstone in Kent, has become a national treasure and one of England's best loved tourist attractions. Once a Norman fortress, a royal residence, a palace to King Henry VIII and even a family house until as recently as 1974, this beautifully preserved Castle was left to the Leeds Castle Foundation on the death of Olive, Lady Baillie, the Castle's last private owner. It now welcomes close to half a million visitors a year.
A varied programme of special events runs throughout the year and includes an internationally renowned hot air balloon weekend in September, a Festival of English Food and Wine in May, Easter Celebrations and Open Air Concerts in late June and early July. A number of themed dinners are also offered in either our seventeenth century Fairfax Hall or within the rooms of the Castle itself. The Castle Grounds also boast a nine-hole 'pay and play' gold course, gift shops, restaurants and tea rooms. 10am - 5pm Mar - October. 10am - 3pm Nov - Feb. __________
One of the most famous and evocative castles in Britain, Bodiam was built in 1385, as both a defence and a comfortable home. The exterior is virtually complete and the ramparts rise dramatically above the moat below. Enough of the interior survives to give an impression of castle life, and there are spiral staircases and battlements to explore. 1 Jan – 22 Feb 10 – 4 Sat Sun __________
The Scotney Castle Garden in Kent was originally created in the 1830's by Edward Hussey III who had the imagination to incorporate the ruined medieval castle as the centrepiece of his Picturesque style landscape design. The original castle or fortified manor house was built by Roger Ashburnham in 1378 apparently in response to the threat of invasion by France. For 350 years Scotney Castle was the home of the Catholic Darell family. In 1778 Edward Hussey bought the castle after family squabbles and lawsuits drained the Darell's resources forcing them to sell. Between 1783 and 1792 Edward Hussey pieced the rest of the old Darrell estate back together. In 1835 his grandson Edward Hussey III moved back to Scotney and built his new home in the Elizabethan style on a terrace overlooking the old castle which he then incorporated into the landscape with the assistance of William Sawrey Gilpin. Scotney Castle Garden was eventually left to the National Trust by Edwards grandson Christopher on his death in 1970. The garden has good displays of colour through most of the seasons, starting with carpets of spring flowers followed by massed clumps of rhododendrons and the intense blue of Hydrangeas in late summer, finally the rich autumnal foliage of reds and golds. Scotney Castle is located on the A21 in south Kent. Garden Old Castle Shop Estate walks Open BH Mons. Closed Good Fri. Last admission 1 hr before closing. Garden closes 6 or dusk if earlier |