Pluckley near Ashford in Kent is famous for being the most haunted village in Britain and the village where they filmed The Darling Buds of May.
I love watching 'Darling Buds' and the tales of the Larkin family''s 'perfick' life in rural Kent.
It is also featured in Classic and Sports Car magazine this month as my son James who works for the magazine decided to do an article on the monthly meeting of vintage and classic cars at the Dering Arms. I enjoy going along and meeting up with the friendly car owners and looking at what turns up each month.
Because everyone meets mainly outside lots of people bring dogs along.
Outside the Dering Arms, Pluckley
James now has his own feature in the magazine the first of which was in last months (May) edition. It is all about purchasing and looking after his classic Mark 1 Golf. I think he he will be in there every other month for the foreseeable future.
This is the illustration they produced to go with his article.
Some more photos on my USB that I had forgotten about. Last year we went to this National Trust property That isn't too far away from us.
Bodiam Castle in East Sussex
The castle was having one of it's many themed weekends.
I think it was the one about knights. Check here to find out about this years weekends.
We had coffee before moving on and this cheeky bird kept flying down and looking for food.
My boys having a weekend away last year at the Le Mans 24 Hour Race. They go with their dad every year and only come back with photos of cars so I asked Andy to make sure he took a photo of them whilst he was there.
It started when I added the photo's from our walk at the weekend along the seafront at Tankerton near Whitstable. I have so many photo's on my laptop but recently I looked at my USB stick that I use for my work and found I have so many more that I have forgotten about. For those of you who have read my blog then you know I work at an Primary Academy.
Here are a few of the beach huts at Tankerton
I love the fact they have decks on their beach huts.
Here are a few of my forgotten photos. I arranged an American themed breakfast at the a while ago. Mark (the Academy's Chef) is a star and came along to cook the scrabbled eggs and pancakes in front of the children. It was the most popular thing I have organised and over 150 children came along not to mention the members of staff lured by the thought of pancakes for breakfast. Not sure it was a healthy meal but who cared it's not everyday.
Waffles and Maple syrup, Blueberry pancakes.
Josh and Sam waiting for the pancakes.
This my Dad's Football Team that I started. They are all ages and sizes but they all have fun playing football..
Last year we won the tournament in our area and we are hoping to repeat it again this year.
Here are a few more photo's of Kent homes taken the week before Christmas. I got OH to take lots of photo's for me so he could paint them for a Christmas card. I asked him to go out and take front doors with a wreath if possible in the snow and this is what he came back with. Not sure any will make a card but I love them all and would love to live in any one of them.
Elham is a pretty village at any time of the year but when it snows I think it is at it's best. One of it's most famous residents was Audrey Hepburn who lived there just before World War Two. She went to school in the village and join the local Brownies.
OH's art is really going great guns and he now has an agent. This will allow him to have an exhibition locally nearer to Christmas and also show his work to a wider audience. His agent has asked him to do as many paintings of Kent and Sussex seaside towns as he can and to this end we set of yesterday to Hastings for him to take photo's and look for a suitable subject.
It's been a few years since we were last there. I think the boys were still at school and then we took them Smugglers Adventure and the Blue Reef after wandering around the Net Shops. It reminded me of a Dickens novel as we wandered around.
Not much has changed for hundreds of years.
Old disused boat lay abandoned .
The Old Town
A sweet bookshop which is just for children.
We found lovely small cottages down little alleyways
and large town houses on the main streets.
I was impressed as on the last visit the place was so run down and not that nice really. Since then the town has and still is going through a regeneration. The Old town is full of shops selling retro and vintage items, clothes hand made items and coffee bars. Made in Hastings and Judges Bakery being two of the more well known.
A new shop selling gorgeous clothing called Dress for Less caught my eye and I will be returning very soon to check out what they have for winter.
Down on the seafront you can still find the funfair and the shops selling rock and candy floss. A new crazy golf and adventure area was very popular when we were there. A little steam railway went just a short way along the edge of the beach for the little ones.
Our brief visit concluded with what everyone should do on a visit to the seaside and that what fish and chips at a cafe over looking the sea followed by pistachio ice cream from the shop next door.
The week days fly by so quickly again. It's none stop at school all day and by the time I get home and have had dinner all I want to do is relax. Saturdays we usually go somewhere but on Sunday I like to stay home and relax maybe do some crafting and recharge my batteries.
Today I have been working on my vintage Christmas gift tags which are to be sold in packs of three.
OH is has had his panoramas made into small pictures for the local galleries so I will also have some to sell at the Christmas Fairs this year along side the things I have made. The painting I've used for my banner is one of his and one of my favourites. It a view from the the green of Bearsted Green in Kent.
Unfortunately the latest commission he has is for a view of Margate. We went there yesterday and the once busy seaside town is now full of empty and derelict shops. The Dreamland amusement park closed a few years ago and hotels and B &B's empty and falling down.
Next year however the Turner Contemporary is due to open on the sea front and the town is planning it's regeneration on a big scale. Dreamland is going to be restored as a heritage amusement park with vintage rides and the wooden roller coaster is to be restored. I hope it becomes an exciting place to visit once again as it is so sad to see it now.
I live on what was a famous airfield. Used during the Battle of Britain for both Spitfires and Hurricanes it is now sadly a huge housing estate and very little remains of it's past except all the roads are named after planes or pilots. The local hostelry is The Mayfly and the school is named after Churchill. I can still see a Pill Box over in a distant field that hasn't succumb to the bulldozers as yet.
To imagine what it must have been like during those dark days is difficult but in 1969 the film The Battle of Britain was made on the airfield before it was finally covered in concrete and brick. In the film you can make some of the old houses and from the hills work out exactly were they filmed. The also filmed at a pub called The Jackdaw but called The Raven in the film in a nearby village that looks pretty much the same today. Go inside and you can still sit on the same seats as Susannah York and Christopher Plummer.
Not many of the old RAF buildings remain but we have a Battle of Britain Museum that is visited by hundreds of people even German coach parties sometimes. Although an interesting museum it is also very sad reading about the young men who lost their lives defending our country.
It is a common sight to see and hear the Spitfires and Hurricanes in the sky over my home even today. Whenever they are in the area for air shows or to visit the battle of Britain Memorial at Capel le Ferne a few miles up the road they like do a special fly over what was there home many years ago.
The last month or so because of the 70th anniversary it has been more frequent. I love to hear the humming noise they make and run out into the garden when I do but I don't think that I would have had the same feelings in 1940. They are due to go over again next week on Saturday when the village of Hawkinge holds its annual community day and this year we will be remembering the Battle of Britain. In the evening there is a special concert.
The airfiield may have disappeared but we still remember them.
For those of you who regularly read my blog you will know that I am a frequent visitor to Whitstable. Not far away from my hometown and the most delightful place full of interesting shops and houses. On Saturday we had to go to the Harbour Gallery there to take one of OH's prints and to discuss with the gallery if they will take more. They said yes which made us very happy but they would like him to do another painting of the town so off we went to take more photo's.
It was Harbour Day and the town was full of visitors. Not that it isn't always even in Winter but there seemed to be even more than usual.
On the main street I saw this sign so I just had to take a look.
Out at sea the boats were getting ready for the days races.
Several Thames Barges where in town for the day.
I nipped into The Harbour Bookshop and purchased another Agatha Raisin.
Easy holiday reading just right for my 'Staycation' . Ouch, I don't like that word!
Just right for my holiday.
I know some people have likened the town to London on Sea but perhaps that's maybe why I like it so much. If you visit some of the other towns nearby in Kent such as Margate or Folkestone you are met with run down town centres full of empty shops. The sort of places you wouldn't want to spend a day never mind a weeks holiday. Whitstable is busy, vibrant and everything a holiday town should be!
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