A visit to Marle Place - a nice place for a Teddy Bear's picnic.

The thing is with Kent and its villages, gardens and woodlands is that in Spring they are green and fresh; in Summer the sun brings out the roses and in Autumn we are given the pleasure of the brilliant Autumn colors. Winter has its own charm and as you can see from our recent blog posts we have indulged in such excursions.

Marle Place from the croquet lawns - there are hammers and balls and hoops set up (no Flamingos and Hedgehogs or playing cards but there is place for a game)

Marle Place near Horsmenden. We picked a leaflet out of the pile in the car glove box and thumbed through them realising that although we had often looked at the leaflet we had not been to Marle Place so, as usual, we decided on a whim to pay it a visit. The idea was to take a look at the gardens and then go on somewhere else for lunch. Instead we had a snack of cake and tea and walked the gardens. There was more than enough to take our interest. In fact the place is beautiful, well cared for and has an atmosphere of welcome and relaxation that is apparant around every corner. I think it is the artists and artistry that abounds in the gardens and the gallery and the attention paid to detail that seems simple but is so well done that the visitor is captivated by its charm.

The charm of the gardens is that the visitor is allowed to see everything except inside the house or the immediate area around the dwelling. The delightful fern garden is almost an intrusion on the family privacy but the visitor does not feel like a voyeur because he is invited to look and enjoy. The visitor can also enjoy a swing in the woods on the woodland walk which at this time of the year offers up the sight of mature bluebells and wild orchids which are a contrast to the orchids displayed in the 19thC greenhouses close to the tea shop and entry buildings.

The word Welcome on the sign board reflects the welcoming attitude of the volunteers and the owners. You help yourself to tea and coffee and cake and pay for it in an honesty box and take your purchases out to sit and admire the rockery (pictured above) and a little walk will take you to where azalea's grow in magnificent display close to the house.

This day also the drive there was a typical Spring experience with swathes of bluebells in the woods that can be viewed from the road if you don't drive too fast; and the bright Spring blossom that seems to sprout from every country garden. This all augmented by the emerging white blossom of the Hawthorne trees.

A view of the rockery.

We can recommend a visit to Marle Place - as the song says - you can be sure of a big surprise.

The surprises are not just that you can swing in the woods or admire the not so pristine Morris Minor that must by now have definitely failed an MOT but the other sculptures dotted about in the gardens and the wonderful blend of color, smell, texture and viewpoints that present themsleves.

Yes, Marle Place is a place to go for a pleasant afternoon.

Hollingbourne - Eyethorne

It is a pity that the two villages are so close to the roar of the M20 and the rush of trains from the Euro-star. If it wasn't for those two problems a walk around Hollingbourne and its precincts is most pleasant.

Cottages in Hollingbourne High Street - probably Eyehorne in fact but we call it Hollingbourne.

This ancient village set close to the river Len has a charm that unless you stop and look is easily missed. With three pubs serving food and a church that is open to the public Hollingbourne is a little gem. We parked outside the church knowing that we would probably be too late for lunch at any of the pubs and bought sandwiches to go from the Motorway services to eat somewhere in the hills.

Our route took us from the church through the village with a short excursion around the Millennium Park past the services and then on to Broad Street. Now this was a pleasant walk though green woods where we spied native orchids and a sign that informed us that wild boars could get quite upset if disturbed - panic! Fortunately despite the warnings we saw no boars and arrived at Broad Street unmolested by tusks and angry teeth. I thought fondly of roast boar.

The picture on the right is of a native orchid - a most lovely plant.

We climbed from Broad Street to Hucking House and walked through the beautiful woodlands back to Hollingbourne via the Pilgrim's Way. We ate our sandwiches on the Woodland Trust lands and watched a herd of well fed cattle wander on their own from one paddock to another ready to eat grass that was not only rich but plentiful. The Woodland Trust has some 135 Hectares of land most in woodlands and coppice and the rest in natural grasslands - hence the healthy looking cattle. You can get on to the estate from a pathway close to Hucking House and follow the tracks. We passed through.

But, for those wild boars and dreams of spit roast pig this was the notice we saw after we had passed through the woods where the wild boars were living. Note that the tree has no low branches and my sister and I being somewhat middle aged appreciated the difficulty of climbing said tree if attacked by one of the animals.

Hence the panic.