Exploring :: The South East #6 … Great Dixter

Hi there everyone 😀

We are back in the South East for this week's post where our visit was a really good chance to tick lots of new places that I’d wanted to visit for ages off the list ... the gardens at Great Dixter being another.

I’d probably seen and heard about the garden on Gardeners' World or something similar, but it was a fair while ago and I really had no idea what to expect. Whilst not a National Trust garden, we did manage to use our Gardeners' World magazine two for one ticket so it was another fairly inexpensive afternoon out.

I have to say that from the minute we passed through the entrance gate we knew it was going to be special …

It just looked so natural and abundant … and was so full of planting. We started to the right of the house with the sunken garden and I was literally blown away. I could have spent hours just taking it all in … it was just stunning … an absolute riot of colour and planting, set against the red brick of the oast houses, with the bluest of skies …

It really was magical and I could have stayed there all day, but we eventually dragged ourselves away to see what else the garden had to offer.

The house itself is also beautiful and totally enveloped by the garden ...

You can also actually have a look round inside the house and it is definitely worth a look. I didn't take any photos though ... this visit for us was definitely more about the garden ... 

Having had a really good wander around I couldn't resist another look back into the sunken garden, where we'd started ...

All that was left for us to do was to find a perfect picnic spot ... and that is exactly what we did ...

I am so glad that we got to visit this garden ... it really was beautiful, so full of beautiful planting and is such a lovely setting ... I would definitely recommend a visit if you get the chance 😀

***********************************************************************************

Exploring :: The South East #5 … Bodiam Castle

Hi there everyone 😀

It's Friday, 12 August and it is literally sweltering here again at the moment ... heading for 36 degrees today and I just thought I'd sit with the fan on and the curtains shut and have a quick catch up ... as it's an activity that doesn't involve much moving around. 

It was the Wednesday of our week down in the South East back in May and, having spent a few days at the coast, we opted for another National Trust visit to another new place for all of us … Bodiam Castle … described by the NT as “an archetypal 14th century moated castle with ruined interior - a glimpse of medieval splendour".

It was another place that I’d heard of and wanted to visit so I was really looking forward to seeing what we would find.

From the car park it was looking very promising …

As it was a bit of a walk we opted to take the NT buggy, to save our legs, and our driver definitely knew the best spots to stop along the way for great photo opportunities ...

We were dropped right at the front door ...

…and headed inside ...

Martin was not up for the climb up the narrow spiral staircase to the top of the tower but mum and I couldn’t resist … though it was a bit hairy in places …


We didn’t spend that long actually inside the castle but took a slow walk back through the meadow …

…to finish off our visit with an ice cream before heading off to our next stop … Great Dixter, but I’ll tell you about that next time 😀

*********************************************************************************

Exploring :: The South East #4 … From Camber Sands to Dungeoness

Hi there everyone 😃

It was the Tuesday of our week’s break in Kent and finally … we saw sand. It was not by accident … I think I first heard of Camber Sands in that old Squeeze song … Pulling Mussels from a Shell … you know the one … “they do it down at Camber Sands and at Waikiki” … and it was another place that I’d always wanted to see.

We didn’t stay long … just about an hour, but it was long enough to see a totally different beach to those we’d seen so far …

Lots of flat golden sand …

… dunes …

… and traditional brightly coloured English beachside paraphernalia …

We didn’t have to walk far along the beach though to find more gravel …

There was such a change in the level of the beach either side of the breakers … we’d never seen such a dramatic drop off before …

It made a good spot for sitting though and spent a while just taking in the bright sunshine …

…before heading off for Dungeoness.

I just had to get Martin to pull in for this shot though … the vibrancy of the blues and the greens were just stunning in the sunshine and I really loved the look of the wind turbines … they almost looked like just another flock of birds drifting around on the currents ...

Martin and I had been to Dungeoness before but it was new to mum. It is just so different … we certainly have seen seen to anywhere else anywhere else quite like it and I can imagine it being pretty wild with bad weather but n the bright sunshine, with clear blue skies it is strangely beautiful …

It really does feel like you are right on the edge of the world …

It’s hard to imagine how people survive in the small wooden houses, which just seem to be dotted about randomly, but clearly they do …



We stopped off at the lifeboat station on the way back to the main road, where we had a long chat with one of the crew about the number of calls they now received as a result of small boats making the perilous crossing from France and, whilst this is clearly a political issue, it was heart wrenching to hear some of the tales he had to tell …

From Dungeoness we followed the coast, stopping off at Littlestone beach … lured by the row of pretty beach huts …

…being carrying onto to Dymchurch where lunch was a picnic along the front … following a visit to some of the most horrific public toilets I’ve ever come across …

We didn’t really get to see the beach as the tide was well in, but I’ve just googled it and it looks like it’s another nice Sandy beach … I’m sad we didn’t get to see it 😃

*********************************************************************************

Exploring :: The South East #3 ... Deal & The White Cliffs

Hi there everyone 😀

It was Monday and the second day of our trip to the South East. Another place that I’d really been looking forward to visiting was Deal, a bit further afield, but I didn’t want to have made a visit to Kent without going to have a look.

I’d heard lots of good things about it from people that I know and I’d seen it on the TV series Liar so was really looking forward to seeing what it had to offer.

We parked up along the front and had a wander along the prom back towards the pier …

… which actually did look a bit bleak and very utilitarian.

Now we all absolutely love a pier, but none of us fancied wandering along this one … which was a bit of a disappointment ... though it was a bit prettier at the entrance ...

We carried along the front as far as the castle …

… where we sat for a while, just looking at the boats and the sea …

… before deciding to head back along the front to the car ...

... to move on and head back for the White Cliffs of Dover, which we’d seen signposted on our way.

We were soon parked up in the National Trust car park, with the most amazing view over The port of Dover …

Martin and I didn’t fancy walking too far, but we did want to see how much of the cliffs we could see so decided to set out and see how we went …

We weren’t disappointed … the views were incredible …

... and they just got better ...

... and better ...

None of us had ever visited the white cliffs before, only having seen them on the TV or from a ferry coming back across the channel and they really are iconic … especially on a glorious day with bright blue skies and sunshine …

I took loads of photos and yes .. there may have been singing, but I’ve been told we were terrible, so I won’t be subjecting you to the video of that with you all.

We would have loved to have been able to walk to the lighthouse but it was just too far so we just did a short loop, coming back along the path along the edge of the cliffs …

… with views of Dover Castle in the distance ...

… and the queue of boats heading into port …

Back at the car and we broke our the camping chairs and the picnic, with a far better view than we could have hoped for …

We decided to make one last stop on our day out … trying to see if it was possible a view of the lighthouse by car and whilst we did spot it, we couldn’t get close enough to park.

We ended up at a beautiful little spot though … St Margaret’s bay…

It’s just a tiny bay … backed by white cliffs…

... with some pretty impressive Art Deco properties at the end …

We just had a bit of a wander along the prom ...

... and back again ...

... before deciding it was time to head for home ... and maybe even a quick dip in the pool 🏊🏊🏊

**********************************************************************************