Once upon a time.....

....there was an abundance of Conifer trees 50ft high overhanging my (not so deep) garden at the back, giving us no end of grief with their sticky brown and dead needles falling onto my garden, leaving a mess and killing my plants as well as giving me no light in my kitchen which meant having the light on ALL  day. You might remember my post here here last year.

This is what the trees looked like last summer - straining at the leash towards the sun

Well - one day the nice tree surgeons lopped about 15ft off the tops for the lady who owns them. 

You can see (through my French doors) just how much was coming off

and this is them today after we had them 'shaved' on our side. Quite a difference don't you think. We wanted them taken right back but apparently they would have ended up just brown trunks and branches with no greenery so we've got to think seriously about what to do next. Anyway, this is the view from my bedroom window - they're still tall but nowhere as near as tall as they were

Now then - there is a story behind the house you can see here, also from my bedroom window. I haven't seen this view for several years - so you can imagine just how tall those trees were. This is the 16th century Thundersley Manor House.

Courtesy of Thundersley: A pictorial history

The current owner sold off a very large plot of land about 30 years ago and a small development of fifteen houses were built on the land. One of which is mine backing directly onto her side boundary. This old picture was taken around 1920 and if you look to the right you will see an old barn - well that is EXACTLY where my house now stands.

Thundersley Manor, was reputedly used by Henry Vlll as a hunting lodge when he frequently visited Hadleigh Castle a couple of miles away high up on the Benfleet Downs. His second wife Anne Boleyn once lived in the medieval market town of Rochford some ten miles away where her father Sir Thomas Boleyn owned the 16th century Rochford Hall - and it is thought that Anne used to accompany Henry on his visits to the Manor.

Inside the house there is said to be a Priest's hole - a secret chamber built into many Catholic houses of England which were used as hiding places for Catholic priests during the Reformation. This Priest's hole has supposedly an underground passage that leads right up to the top of the hill to our local church. I have been inside the house once and its quite amazing. 

It's quite surreal to think that King Henry Vlll and Anne Boleyn could very well have strolled through the grounds on a sunny afternoon - which 500 years later was to become my own back garden !!

See you soon x

Spontaneous end to a lovely day

Sunday was such a gorgeous day that we took ourselves off to Kent to visit the place where John was born - Erith. We visited his father's old shop, the school, Sunday school and a plethora of memorable places. It was good for him to re-live his childhood and we both enjoyed it. Now many of you will know that I just love the work of Charles Dickens and have a fair collection of his books. One of my favourites is Great Expectations. With this in mind and as we weren't too far away we made our way to the tiny village of Cooling in the midst of the beautiful Kent countryside

                             

passing on our way many of the lovely old Oast Houses or Hop kilns with their distinctive cowls - designed for drying the hops as part of the process of brewing beer.

I particularly wanted to visit the medieval Church of St James 

Charles Dickens loved to walk here from his home at nearby Higham

Dickens used the churchyard of St James as his inspiration in the opening chapter of Great Expectations where the hero Pip meets the escaped convict, Magwitch. This site on the Hoo Peninsula is dramatically bleak in winter, recalling the opening scenes of the book.

It is here that we find what has come to be known as "Pip's Graves" the forlorn gravestones of thirteen children aged between 1-18 months old - that Dickens describes in the chapter as ...five little stone lozenges each about a foot and a half long which were arranged in a neat row.....and were sacred to the memory of five little brothers of mine..." 

These graves belong to the children of just two families who died in the late18th century. Dickens reduced the number in the book to five to make it more believable.

These two sets of medieval benches at the rear of the church, complete with woodworm were probably installed in the 14th century

Loving the sun through these windows

As we entered the churchyard I spotted what I though were flowers on a tree stump but soon discovered it was fungi and oh so pretty.

Just along the lane stands Cooling Castle - which was a bonus as I didn't know this existed. Built in the 1380s the main part of the castle is in ruins with a private house inside and where the barn is licensed to hold marriage ceremonies.

A lovely spontaneous trip to a place I'd longed to go to one day.

Just out of interest, we drove a mile or two towards the coastline of the Thames Estuary and I was amazed to see (through the zoom lens on my camera )- that we were in fact exactly opposite Leigh on Sea where my son and his family now live. Probably as the crow flies about 3-4 miles across the river but because we had to travel to the QE2 bridge and then come back on ourselves a trip of 37 miles.

Have a great week

xx

Bon Jour - and a little taster of France

I really can't believe that I've been back from France for several days now and haven't got around to writing and saying hello to you all. Thank you so much for all your lovely comments and wishes before I went away.  My feet haven't touched the ground since we've been home. Anyway I thought I'd share a few photos of my holiday over the next few days.

We flew to France and made our way to the Dordogne Valley where we stayed at the picturesque market town of Sarlat for four nights, where the narrow twisting alleys are lined with 13th century buildings made from the local luminous golden stone.

Sarlat is the capital of the Perigord Noir and is a remarkably conserved Medieval city. Strolling through the small streets and alleys in the historical centre you are seemingly transported centuries back into a past full of glorious memories.

The architecture was out of this world.

The flowers were gorgeous

 

And the street lamps ornate

 

The surrounding countryside has hauntingly beautiful landscapes. Deep twisting gorges, lined by craggy cliffs with castles and turrets. It was magical and like something out of fairyland.

 

I hope you enjoyed this little taster and will update our travel blog tomorrow.

Bye for now

Patricia

Peace and quiet??

I'd like firstly to welcome my new followers - A Garden of Daisies, Homemade Life, Saphy76 and Little Miss Maggie - it's lovely to 'meet' you and hope you enjoy reading my blog.

It's been a busy and stressful couple of weeks here, firstly I had to get a pig of an essay out which eventually went a week later than it should have and secondly Hubby had to go into hospital for an operation on Tuesday and is now convalescing at home for the next two weeks before returning to work. That being so, concentration and motivation has been all over the place but now I'm looking forward to a bit of 'me' time and get back to posting.

Our last walk before Easter took us to visit a local beauty spot known as Hadleigh Countryside Park.

This whole area overlooks the Thames and the Kent coastline - of course today was not the best of weather so could not to be seen I'm afraid.

It's such a peaceful place and a lovely spot for picnics and family days out in the summer

The main attraction is what is left of Hadleigh Castle which has overlooked the Thames from its hilltop site since the early13th century. English Heritage look after the castle now.

The farm land surrounding the area is owned by the Salvation Army. William Booth their founder bought Hadleigh Farm in 1890 so that he could give the poor and destitute

 from the slums of London a chance to train and learn new skills in farming.

A Farm Colony was formed and by 1891 there were over 200 colonists living on the site. 

Today the farm comprises an employment training centre for people with learning difficulties, a farm and rare breeds centre, a monthly farmers' market and some tearooms which are open to the public.

To reach the castle and surrounding farmland you have to walk down a very quiet leafy lane edged with hedgerows and wild flowers and the odd sheep bah-ing and horses neigh-ing - you get the drift...

 

BUT GUESS WHAT -

our peaceful and pretty beauty spot is about to be shattered with the arrival of

The London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games

Mountain biking events.

"The venue is located in the shadow of the 700 year old Hadleigh Castle and overlooks the Thames Estuary, providing a stunning backdrop for what will undoubtedly become one of the most thrilling of the 2012 Games.

The venue facilities will host 20,000 visitors per day during the London 2012 Events with each spectator gaining an excellent view of the action in the open farmland setting."

Quoted from the official Olympic website.

What more can I say?!!

and to top it all - we couldn't even get any tickets!!!!