Hever Castle - Sunday May 24th

Hever Castle, the old residence of the Boleyn family, is chock full of Henryania - as indeed the UK airwaves appear to be at the moment.And the castle itself is very well kept up.
Actually, it only appears this well-preserved because it was completely refurbished by the then owners, the Astor family, in the early part of the Twentieth Century. The inside of the castle is a very false cod-medieval. Carved wooden walls, a minstrels' gallery, and so forth.
But it still looks pretty good.
The gardens right beside the castle include this fun topiary.
The entrance.
And an important, if rather surprising political message. Or is it just pointing out the most fortified part of the castle?

The setting, as you can see, is very picture-askew (or do I mean picturesque)- the gardens and grounds are the real attraction.




As it was a Bank Holiday weekend, there were various events. The arrival of Henry and Anne by boat for example (which we avoided) and their perambulation to the Castle (which we also avoided); archery (which we watched from afar) and hawking (which we missed).


The castle grounds also contain three mazes. This is the yew maze - constructed from a yew hedge, as you can see.

The exit at last!
This is the water maze. A series of pavements across lilly-covered ponds to the mound in the centre. Some of the pavements tip and set off jets of water aimed at the pedestrian; take the wrong route and you can be soaked. Or you would be if it was working. This used to be a favourite of the boys a few years ago. Bit disappointing today.
These are the formal gardens associated with Hever. Award-winning it says here. And all to do with bits and bobs of Roman stuff.
A traditional message, traditionally ignored.







Another set of traditional messages.

The trees around Nunhead on Tour 2: Cresswell Crags

August 3rd, 2008
Cresswell Crags is the only place in Britain where Palaeolithic cave art has been found (according to Wikipedia, at least). This picture above gives an overview of the site today.

The Cresswell Web site is a good introduction to the area and its attractions (http://www.creswell-crags.org.uk/). It includes artist’s impressions of the Crags as they might have appeared in the Ice Ages, with the caves looking out on a narrow river valley. I remember the launch of the site in the British Museum a few years back. The Beast of Bolsover (Dennis Skinner) came, as the local MP, and was very charming. I was involved in ensuring that the site would work when showcased in the Reading Room.

There is a new visitor centre under construction, which I guess was the reason why the entrance to the car park seemed a bit of a building site. However the existing centre isn’t bad, and gives a feel for Cresswell and the caves.

As you can see above, nowadays the valley that the caves look down is flooded, with a rather nice dark green, swan- and duck-filled lake. The caves themselves are only accessible as part of a guided tour (book in advance).

This was a short, relaxing break on the trip, but we didn't stay for the cave tours. The images here were taken through the protecting grills.

And, for the record, we spotted a rather nice tree.