On Friday morning we set off to Cranbrook, Kent for our 'Red Letter Day' - we had chosen The George, a hotel we had seen but not stayed in when we visited Cranbrook last December. We chose it for two reasons, firstly we like Cranbrook and secondly it's not too far away so we don't waste time travelling. The journey was uneventful until close to the end, when we ended up nowhere near Cranbrook High Street. The sat nav had us on Maytham Road, Rolvenden, some 4.5 miles from where we should have been! We arrived in Cranbrook in time for lunch, and visited the Co-op for sandwiches, salad and fruit. We walked into a green area with a skateboard park and some swings and ate our lunch. Then wandered around Cranbrook and checked the opening time of the Windmill. By now it was time to book in. The George gave a very friendly welcome. The room was big enough for us and the en-suite was up three steps. After a few minutes of settling in and sampling the champagne we set off for Sissinghurst Castle Gardens. It's a National Trust property now. In common with many of the National Trust properties we have visited, it is well looked after but the presentation is poor and the prices rather too high. The most recent occupants were Vita Sackville-West and Sir Harold Nicolson, both writers. Vita designed the gardens and wrote a lot about gardening. The gardens are impressive and the tower gives a good view over that part of Kent. The National Trust have kept the gardens well and employ five gardeners - one who grew up in Falmouth where we have just holidayed.
We had dinner at the George in their very nice restaurant, where they kept food coming even while we waited for starters. It was an excellent meal. We were worried that the noise from the pub below would keep us awake but we both fell asleep watching the TV!
Breakfast on Saturday morning was a slow affair, even by hotel standards. I'm not sure the young lady serving us really knew what she was doing, although she was polite and attentive. We checked out and made our way to Merriments - another formal garden and a very different style. For lunch we went back to The Woodcock, where I had rabbit for the first time on our last visit. The food is still excellent, the parking is still difficult.
Finally we visited Cranbrook Union Windmill. We had seen it on our last visit and were glad to have an opportunity to go inside. The trust did a marvellous job of presenting the mill, with guides on every floor enthusiastically explaining any and every aspect of the mills history and workings. We were there for 90 minutes!
A very enjoyable short break.
Saturday night I paid a quick visit to the Vicar to get the following days service finalized as it was the start of our summer series, which makes up part of the series on Jesus the Storyteller. Four of the congregation had created a scrap book (although that title really undervalues what they have done - it's brilliant!) which includes activities for both children and adults. A very good addition to the service it made too, along with the reading being given from memory from a platform in the centre of church with props for the children to demonstrate the stories. Sunday morning was a very good service, which is not at all down to my leading but to the contribution of the congregation. This is how church should be!
Sunday afternoon saw the birthday celebrations for Liz and Karen. We played 'Top Golf'. Each ball must be registered as it is collected and must be registered as 'in play' before it is hit. Then the computer works out your score. On one ball I scored 26 points (for most I scored 3 or none) because it was on a double, it was the bonus shot and it was my best shot of the day. Karen had posted the picture on Facebook!
I think I'm going to claim 2 of the '25 things' (follow the theme link if you're confused):
1) Going back to somewhere we've holidayed before.
2) Playing Top Golf.
What a brilliant weekend I've had.
Thanks to The boys and the girlfriends at Christmas for the 'Red Letter Day', to the contributors at Christ Church and to Liz and Karen for inviting us to their birthday celebrations.
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