May 18
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| Crossing the QE2 Bridge, Dartford |
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| The Pantiles, Tunbridge Wells |
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| The Grove |
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| Ash Tree Cottage, our B&B |
May 19
Our B&B was absolutely delightful with
very helpful hosts who kindly loaned us books on both Chartwell and Knole Park
and an OS map which proved very useful.
It was a beautiful day. I shall let the
photos do the talking. Both properties are National Trust and no photography is
permitted inside.
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| Chartwell, Winston Churchill's family home |
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| Marycot, Mary's little play cottage |
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| Knole house |
We also visited Enysford, a pretty village
with an unusual river crossing. The bridge is only just wide enough for a car,
so coaches or anything too wide have to go through the water.
We had arranged to meet Valerie's cousin
for dinner which rounded off a beautiful day in Kent.
May 20
Another day moving on, this time across to
the Cotswolds to stay with another of Valerie's cousins. However, again, we
were able to stop off for lunch with friends.
May 21
Today we went with Valerie's cousin and his
wife west to The Forest of Dean. We stopped for coffee at a lovely pub called
The Speech House. A historic building used in another life as a court building.
Moving on we visited Symonds Yat, a geographical feature overlooking the River Severn. A peregrine falcon nesting place is nearby but we were not lucky enough to see the nesting pair.
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| Views from Symonds Yat |
We had a pub lunch before moving on to
Tintern Abbey. This magnificent Cistercian Abbey was well with the visit.
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| Tintern Abbey |
May 22
The forecast was promising for our day's
activities. After a leisurely morning we headed off to the Cheltenham station
for our morning stream train ride.
When the train pulled in it was loaded with
young school children on an excursion. They were all dressed in forties costume
and were re-enacting a period when children were being evacuated from London.
All the station staff were involved as well so there was a German spy on board,
an unexploded bomb with the appropriate staff on hand to deal with it. It was
delightful to watch.
After lunch at home we set off in emerging
sunshine to walk between Upper and Lower Slaughter, something we had been
unable to do on a previous visit.
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| CottageinUpper Slaughter |
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| Road ford,Upper Slaughter |
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| Lower Slaughter |
An easy walk between the two villages was
topped off with afternoon tea at the Old Mill tearoom. Still a little bit of
time to spare before our dinner out for the evening so we drove through
Stow-in-the-Wold, another well known Cotswolds townwhich we had visited on a
prior trip. However, it was with the intention to take a quick peek at
Chasleton where Jean works as a volunteer for the National Trust.
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| Chastleton |
Dinner this evening was at The Plough in
Ford. Known for asparagus meals on the menu, a very delicious end to the day.
Time for dinner (we are now in Budapest). More again another day
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