Kentish Countryside

Kentish countryside
In the last couple of days Jean has been marvellous and driven me all over Kent to visit all old villages and scenic countryside.    They call it the Garden of England and no wonder!    On Tuesday we wandered around lots of typical English villages where lots of tearooms beckoned invitingly - but we resisted the temptations!   Many old Churchyards, with gravestones so old and bent with the writing on them almost unreadable - but all ancient.   We went to Rye which is the most fascinating old town, almost on the sea but not quite.    It was all marshland originally in that area, with the villages built up a bit higher so the sea didn't encroach, but it was a great haunt of smugglers in the old days.   The houses in Rye were just gorgeous but having lost them on my camera (and then found!), and transferred to my computer - I now can't find them again!    If Tony manages to locate them for me at the weekend I will post a couple of photos so you can see the gorgeous village it is.  

Yesterday we went to Leeds Castle - which to my surprise was NOT in Yorkshire, but just down the road from Lenham, here in Kent.   Jean says it is her favourite castle, and although I don't have much experiences of castles, I have to admit it could well be mine too.    So perfectly preserved and also so ancient.    The original manor was built before William the Conqueror arrived, but I don't think there is much more than a wall and a dungeon from this era now.   But the main part of the castle definitely dates from the early Middle Ages, and was the "Retirement Home" of many of the Queens of England in the 12th to the 15th centuries.   The gardens were fabulous, with lots of areas where families could picnic on vast sweeping lawns, and children could fossick around in shallow streams and mini waterfalls.   Some were looking for tadpoles - but I think it was a bit late in the year for "taddies"    We saw some white swans, lots of ducks and geese, some peacocks (including a protective peahen and her baby) - and some black swans (imported from Aus).  

Last night we went out to dinner in a lovely old restaurant which was very civilised and pleasant.   Today Jean and I are going up to London (but not before I go to the post office to send off yet more unneeded stuff back home!) and we will stay overnight there, hopefully visiting Kew Gardens during the day.

Probably won't get the chance to post more until the weekend or early next week, when I will be with Lisa and Tony inLimnos.    I am sure the weather there will be much warmer than here which although very pleasant (especially for sightseeing), is much much cooler than it was in Germany.
  

                                                                        
                                           A water lock on the Thames River at Teddington

                                        
                                        The next few shots are of typical Kentish villages

One of the waterfalls in the grounds of Leeds Castle

Leeds Castle and the moat

Another shot of Leeds Castle

English country garden at Leeds Castle