{"id":450,"date":"2013-08-09T08:14:00","date_gmt":"2013-08-09T08:14:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rochellesroost.com\/index.php\/2013\/08\/09\/a-day-in-the-kentish-countryside-leeds-castle-bearsted\/"},"modified":"2026-10-08T04:59:31","modified_gmt":"2026-10-08T04:59:31","slug":"a-day-in-the-kentish-countryside-leeds-castle-bearsted","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rochellesroost.com\/index.php\/2013\/08\/09\/a-day-in-the-kentish-countryside-leeds-castle-bearsted\/","title":{"rendered":"A Day in the Kentish Countryside–Leeds Castle & Bearsted"},"content":{"rendered":"


\nThursday, August 8, 2013<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\nLeeds, Kent<\/span><\/b><\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nWe
\ncould not have asked for a better day for gamboling in the Kentish
\ncountryside\u2014I mean it was a beaut. All that oppressive heat and humidity of
\nfour weeks ago has given way to the lovely cool summer for which England is
\nknown\u2014and, of course, it has to happen when I am getting ready to leave. Trust
\nmy lousy luck! Still, as the English say, Can\u2019t Complain\u2026so I will not!<\/span><\/div>\n
\n            <\/span>I did get to 8.00am Mast at St.
\nPaul\u2019s Cathedral with Cynthia (Michael was saying it), had a quick granola
\nbreakfast with lemony tea and was off on the Tube to Northolt where my friend
\nBash had instructed me to meet him. We were on one of our habitual jaunts into
\nthe country to which Bash always treats me because he has a car and is a very
\ncompliant driver. Over the years since I have known him, we have scoured Kent,
\nthe Cotswolds, Sussex, with Wiltshire thrown in for good measure. This time, I
\nwas excited as he was bringing along his new lady friend Kim and I was the
\nhappy witness to their new-found togetherness. Once I was introduced to Kim who
\nturned out to be a fun person and very jolly compatible company indeed, we set
\noff on our longish drive to Kent. We were headed to Leeds Castle where we
\nintended to spend the day. I felt honored as both Bash and Kim had taken the
\nday off from work to accompany me on this excursion.<\/span><\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nLeeds Castle was Mobbed:<\/span><\/b><\/div>\n
\n            <\/span>A very easy drive on motorways
\nthroughout with just a few traffic glitches got us to Leeds castle by midday. I
\nwas simply stunned to see the number of cars in the car park\u2014clearly Brits are
\nenjoying \u2018staycations\u2019 this year as their weather has never been so warm and
\nhospitable. And, as I said, today was blissful. We strolled from car park to
\nticket booth past glorious parkland for such ancient piles come with massive
\npackets of land in real estate gifts that were bestowed long centuries ago by
\nroyal edict for services rendered.<\/span><\/div>\n
\n            <\/span>The entry fee was steep: 21.50
\npounds per head\u2014but it is valid for the year. So it makes sense to reach there
\nat 10.00 am if possible to truly enjoy all that the day out at Leeds Castle can
\noffer. And there is plenty. Apart from a Grand Tour of the Castle, there was
\nthe vast grounds in which to picnic\u2014some very sensible people had brought along
\nthose typical English hampers that are so quintessentially a part of an English
\nsummer. There are golf courses, lakes on which large craft ply for the
\namusement of kids, trains that ferry passengers from ticket booth to castle
\nentrance as the walks to and fro can be pretty exhausting, falconry displays
\nand get this\u2026even punting on the castle moat for a skinny 5 pounds. Had we
\narrived earlier and brought a picnic, we could have included this lovely
\nactivity in our agenda. But, of course, as always, we were hard pressed for time
\nto fit it all in.<\/span><\/div>\n
\n            <\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
\nA Brief History of Leeds Castle:<\/span><\/b><\/div>\n
\n            <\/span>The history of Leeds Castle is long
\nand complicated\u2014suffice it to say that it is mentioned already in the Domesday
\nBook of 1076. It is named agfer Esledes, the original owner of the castle and
\nproperty. Title deeds changed hands several times until Richard II becomes
\ninvolved. Once in royal hands, the castle was extended and spruced up, Its most
\nnotorious owner was Henry VIII who gifted it to his first wife Katherine of
\nAragon who took occupancy and cozied it up. In the 18th<\/sup> century, it
\nfell in the hands of the Fairfax family who eventually moved to Fairfax,
\nVirginia. In the 20th<\/sup> century, when the owners were bankrupt, they
\nsold it to an American heiress named Bailie who was subsequently made a
\nBaroness. She hired the French interior decorator Stephane Boudin to modernize
\nthe place and make it livable. His touches are very distinct and her living spaces
\nare the most warm and friendly. <\/span><\/div>\n
\nFrom
\nthe medieval to the Tudor to the contemporary, a tour of the castle presents a
\nfine contrast in exterior and interior decorating styles and a history, one
\nmight say, of the manner in which the rich and privileged have lived through
\nthe centuries. There is a medieval fountain, for instance, set in a gabled
\ncourtyard that is lovely and four carved marble busts of Henry VIII and his
\nthree children: Mary Tudor, Elizabeth I and Edward VI. There are red boxes
\ncontaining official papers that were used in important international
\nconventions such as the Camp David summit in 1978 as Leeds Castle was often
\nused as the venue for such high-level meetings and negotiations. There is the
\noldest life-size equestrian sculpture in the world and a strong box that dates
\nfrom medieval times. And, above all, there are the stunning views of the
\nproperty and the moat from every window on every level that give the entire
\nplace a most glorious feel. <\/span><\/div>\n
\n            <\/span>And it is in the moat that the punting
\ntakes place. You can sit and allow yourself to be rowed in the bucolic
\nenvironment past vistas of the castle and under arched bridges that must be
\nsimply fabulous. Alas, we did not have the chance to do that as we were simply
\nstarving by the time we finished touring the castle and had to get lunch
\nurgently.<\/span><\/div>\n
\nA
\nvolunteer guide suggested we skip the castle restaurant which was pricey and go
\ninstead to the Village of Leeds to a pub named The George Inn<\/i>. We complied quite readily, took the train for 50 p
\nper head, got back into our cars and headed to Leeds Village. We found The George Inn<\/i> easily enough, poked
\naround inside, ordered our drinks (Pimms, of course, as it was the perfect day
\nfor such indulgence) and then sat outside on the picnic tables under jolly red umbrellas
\nto pig out on pub grub:  <\/span>fish and chips
\n(for me\u2014can\u2019t leave England without it), steak and ale pie for Kim and hot
\ntoasted sausage and caramelized onion sandwiches for Bash. Indeed it was a
\nmemorable lunch and we spent a grand hour lingering over it all.<\/span><\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nCricket on the Bearsted Green:<\/span><\/b><\/div>\n
\n            <\/span>My guide book 25 Day Trips from London<\/i> had recommended that we do not miss Bearsted
\nVillage when we visit Leeds Castle and so I passed on the recommendation to
\nBash. We decided to forego punting on the moat at Leeds Castle and instead made
\nour way to the car after lunch to go in search of Bearsted. It took some seeking
\nas the Green which is the heart of the village is approached through a discreet
\nside street. But find it we did and we spent the best couple of hours just lingering
\nin this lovely gracious Kentish village which is the stuff of which poems are
\nwritten.<\/span><\/div>\n
\n            <\/span>So all the elements that make the perfect
\nEnglish village are in place here: St. Mary\u2019s Church, the village watering hole,
\na small but classy restaurant (The Oak on
\nthe Green<\/i>), loads of Tudor style houses (some so higgledy-piggledy they could
\nactually belong to the Tudors), and of course, the distinctive Oast houses of
\nKent in which hops were placed for drying to make Kentish beer. These were all
\nvery much in evidence and what\u2019s more, they were all placed, as if by
\ndeliberate design, around a gorgeous Green\u2014a vast expanse of green compound on
\nwhich kids rode their bikes, played cricket with their Dads, mums walked babies
\nin strollers and guys brought their dogs out for a run (one looked suspiciously
\nlike Ferris\u2014I simply had to pinch myself to believe it wasn\u2019t him!). The Green
\nhappened to be named after Alfred Myns, a Victorian cricketer who hailed from
\nthis village and as a left-hander had brought batting glory to these parts. The
\nvillage sign bears a portrait of this cricketer playing the game on the Green
\nin a top hat (which, my cricketer friend Bash informed us\u2014he captains the
\nKenton Eleven team) was how the game was played in Victorian times when it was
\nonly the pursuit of Lords! How very interesting. <\/span><\/div>\n
\n            <\/span><\/span><\/b><\/div>\n
\nTea in the Local:<\/span><\/b><\/div>\n
\n            <\/span>By them, as Kim put it, we could all
\nmurder for a cup of tea\u2014and so in we went to the pub right behind us for a pot of
\nEarl Grey. And how very welcome it was too! More chit chatting in a gastro pub
\nfilled with fresh flowers saw us while away some more time. When the village
\nclock chimed seven o clock, we reluctantly raised ourselves up from the coziness
\nof our sofas and returned to the car for the lovely drive home. <\/span><\/div>\n
\n <\/span> <\/span>          <\/span> <\/span> <\/span> <\/span> <\/span>Bash
\nand Kim stopped briefly at Amen Court to say Hello to Cynthia and Michael before
\nheading back to Harrow. <\/span><\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nDinner Chez Colclough:<\/span><\/b><\/div>\n

            <\/span>It was a quiet but companionable
\ndinner: fish cakes with salad and hummus with ice-cream for dessert. After
\ndinner, we sat with my PC so Cynthia could see some of my cruise pictures and
\nthen it was time to go to bed after an amazing day.<\/span>
\n            Until tomorrow, Cheerio! <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thursday, August 8, 2013 Leeds, Kent We could not have asked for a better day for gamboling in the Kentish countryside\u2014I mean it was a beaut. All that oppressive heat and humidity of four weeks ago has given way to the lovely cool summer for which England is known\u2014and, of course, it has to happen… <\/p>\n

Read<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,1933],"tags":[288,290,291],"class_list":["post-450","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-daily-musings","category-united-kingdom","tag-bearsted","tag-kent","tag-leeds-castle"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rochellesroost.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/450","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rochellesroost.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rochellesroost.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochellesroost.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochellesroost.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=450"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochellesroost.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/450\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4666,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochellesroost.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/450\/revisions\/4666"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rochellesroost.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=450"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochellesroost.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=450"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochellesroost.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=450"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}