Chartwell. . . At Last!!!!!

Sir Winston Churchill and Lady Clementine Churchill

The View of the Weald of Kent from Lady Churchill's Bedroom Window

Well, I got my wish today at long last. We went to Chartwell, the home of Winston Spencer Churchill, now owned by the National Trust for 40 years! Beautiful house, such a lovely, happy atmosphere inside and outside was beautiful and the view! My God, apparently he only bought it for the view. The Weald of Kent it is called, 'The Garden of England' and still looking as lovely as when he first saw it! Unfortunately the weather was dull and overcast, after having been promised a lovely sunny, warm day, but it didn't dampen our spirits! Luckily we're all members of the National Trust, so it's free and now I want to go back, but just to wander around the garden. They're re-creating the kitchen gardens, re-storing them to their former glory. There's a massive big lake, overlooked by a statue of Winston and Lady Churchwill (Clementine), where she's looking at him and he's looking out across the water, it's rather magical. At the back of the house are his painting studios, all set up as if he had only just got up and left the room! Cigar, hat, glass of whiskey, walking stick, oil paint with picture on easel. Fantastic.

Afterwards, as in after the National Trust shop and a pot of tea and scones we went for a drive across the Kentish countryside to a place called 'Titsey'. Everytime we go to Devon, we take the M25 going West and just half a mile from the motorway stop 'Clacket Lane' we pass an old mock tudor gatehouse and far off surrounded by huge trees is a great manor house and church. For years I've been wanting to know where that was and only by chance I found it a few weeks back, on a drive with my friend Alice and I vowed I'd go back there and find it properley. The house is only opened to the public on Wednesdays and Sundays from May to September and is owned by the 'Titsey Foundation'. So we drove up the small track and discovered 2 walks in and around the estate, so we parked and wandered up the lane and there was the house. I'd say 17th century and pretty modest and pretty beautiful. Sorry, the photograph isn't all that straight, but you get the picture, bit of a sloping lawn (that's my excuse anyway!). So we will be back, once again, probably in June when we're back from Devon.

In the paper yesterday it said that the month of May will be cold, followed by a lowsy Summer. Great. Fantastic. Bloody country! Nevermind. Thing is they never get it right anyway, so I'm not going to worry.

I feel pretty exhausted now (unlike a certain little mouse who has been asleep all day), so I'll leave it there, just enjoy the photographs (I took over 70! Too many to show here, so I was selective).

Chartwell from the orchard

Chartwell

The Kitchen Garden

Black Swan (same family of swans when he loved there)

A Chartwell Highland Cow

Wood Anenome

Winnie with his Mrs

Wonkey Titsey (Tipsey?!)

Beautiful Kent Valley

CAN ONLY HAPEN IN THE COUNTRYSIDE!!!!!

Em x