kiwibird: Sissinghurst and Chartwell

On Sunday we visited Sissinghurst and Chartwell, two National Trust properties, in very cold and damp weather. We did not wish to disillusion our NZ guests and provide hot and sunny weather. Not English at all.

Sissinghurst is one of my favourite places. I can remember in Australia reading about the gardens of Sissinghurst and trying to model my dry and very Australian garden, on the ideas from Sissinghurst. When I saw the real thing, I had to laugh at my feeble attempts to have vistas and enclosed gardens.

I greatly admire the vision of both Vita Sackville-West and Harold Nicolson. And their determination to create something so beautiful from ruins. They bought a run down property with stables, two houses, a tower and over grown grounds and designed and built an amazing garden, as well as renovate buildings. They were also writers and wrote a large of number of books.

And there was the scandal, when Vita ran away with her lesbian lover for a while. Nigel Nicolson's 'A Portrait of a Marriage' which was also made into a television series, reveals all. A very interesting family, to say the least, but we are left with a wonderful legacy, in the form of Sissinghurst Castle and Gardens.

I quickly made my way to the first bench so that I could view the garden. For once there was no one sitting on the bench, and I had it to myself. But alas, it was too cold to sit for long.

The different greens of this secluded section, were stunning.

The tulips were out, and came in rich colours, such as the deep purple tulips.

These tulips were a flame of colour on a very grey day.

The cottage garden. A group of people spent ages photographing each other in front of the house. Such a perfect setting too.

At long last Brian had a chance to pose, and he provided a bright flash of colour in his new blue jacket.

The towers, where Vita Sackville-West wrote her books and garden articles, and entertained friends. Her study is as she left it. And full of books too.

The white garden, with not many white flowers blooming at the moment. The box hedging is meticulous.

The view of part of the garden, from the top of the tower. I still cannot lean over and look down, straight down. Not good for people like me.

Then we drove through many country lanes, and did not get lost either, until we arrived at Chiddingstone, intending to have a look around this charming old medieval village, and have a cup of coffee or maybe something stronger, in the pub.

But no, we were caught in the middle of a traffic jam, and could not move anywhere, due to a wedding having been held in the church. By the time we arrived there were two tractors and trailers plus the farm machine below blocking the way, as they loaded some of the wedding party, all in wellingtons, onto the trailers. The bride and groom are sitting on this piece of unidentified farm machinery.

So we drove onwards through more country lanes until we arrived at Chartwell. Unfortunately we were too late for a tour of the house, but had a good look at the gardens and spent the remainder of the afternoon sitting in the warmth of the restaurant eating cake and drinking tea. Very posh, with posh prices too.

Chartwell was Churchill's old home. The house, a very homely and pleasant building in sunny weather, looks a bit grim and austere on this damp and chilly day.