House and Garden
May. 29th, 2022 07:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
qatsiWe haven't rushed back to travel after the pandemic hiatus, but decided to take the opportunity of a week's holiday in Sussex - no passport required, of any colour.
Sun 22nd: The roads haven't been too bad, and we stop for a late lunch and garden visit at Nyman's, which has been on the bucket-list for a while. Later in the afternoon we press on to the outskirts of Eastbourne, which has been designated reasonably central for the places we intend to visit. The sea air is bracing, the pier is decaying, but we find mussels and craft beer at The Belgian Cafe.
Mon 23rd: Mostly Roman. The weather forecast isn't great, so we plan for an indoor day. It's quite a trek to Fishbourne Roman Palace, and there are alarming school parties doubtless serving as vectors of disease, but it's worth it for the spectacular mosaics (albeit on somewhat subsided floors). After lunch we move on to Bignor, another Roman villa, and later in the afternoon, to Petworth.
Tues 24th: Mostly Norman. The weather forecast remains unsettled. We start at Herstmonceux Castle, which has attractive grounds and gardens, then move on to Pevensey Castle, where Romans and Normans through the ages have set up fortifications. In the afternoon, after an alarming misting-up in the car during heavy rain, due to fiddling with the ventilation options, we visit Battle Abbey. As the weather clears, we end the day at Bateman's, the sometime home of Rudyard Kipling, fitted out in Arts and Crafts style and reminding me somewhat of Blackwell in the Lake District.
Wed 25th: Slightly awkward scheduling where pre-booking is still required means that we visit the De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill first, where there's definitely a sea breeze. Then it's on to Charleston, where Vanessa Bell and others set up their Bohemian home for most of the twentieth century. There is some disagreement between Google Maps directions and the actualité, so we skip a church on the Firle estate and move on to Standen in the afternoon. It appears the owner made enough money as a lawyer during the Railway-mania era not only to build a country house, but also to go on a world tour and furnish it with several Japanese artefacts.
Thurs 26th: Heading a little further afield, we start at Bodiam Castle, then on to Great Dixter, and finally to Sissinghurst Castle. For once it is the Old People who have to be corrected by the guides on not touching the furniture. Kent is known as the "Garden of England" but today it seems more like the "Waiting Room of Heaven".
Fri 27th: Ironically, the weather has improved for our final day, when we're somewhat mopping up the things we haven't visited earlier in the week. We start out at the Towner Gallery in Eastbourne, which has a collection of Eric Ravilious works (some of which I recall from the exhibition at Dulwich Picture Gallery some years ago), and an interesting temporary exhibition featuring paintings of and by Eileen Mayo. Next it's Ditchling Museum, where the traffic proves to be excruciating (evidently due to a wedding in the nearby church), and the museum itself is rather small. We spend the afternoon in Arundel Castle before heading home into the evening.
Sun 22nd: The roads haven't been too bad, and we stop for a late lunch and garden visit at Nyman's, which has been on the bucket-list for a while. Later in the afternoon we press on to the outskirts of Eastbourne, which has been designated reasonably central for the places we intend to visit. The sea air is bracing, the pier is decaying, but we find mussels and craft beer at The Belgian Cafe.
Mon 23rd: Mostly Roman. The weather forecast isn't great, so we plan for an indoor day. It's quite a trek to Fishbourne Roman Palace, and there are alarming school parties doubtless serving as vectors of disease, but it's worth it for the spectacular mosaics (albeit on somewhat subsided floors). After lunch we move on to Bignor, another Roman villa, and later in the afternoon, to Petworth.
Tues 24th: Mostly Norman. The weather forecast remains unsettled. We start at Herstmonceux Castle, which has attractive grounds and gardens, then move on to Pevensey Castle, where Romans and Normans through the ages have set up fortifications. In the afternoon, after an alarming misting-up in the car during heavy rain, due to fiddling with the ventilation options, we visit Battle Abbey. As the weather clears, we end the day at Bateman's, the sometime home of Rudyard Kipling, fitted out in Arts and Crafts style and reminding me somewhat of Blackwell in the Lake District.
Wed 25th: Slightly awkward scheduling where pre-booking is still required means that we visit the De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill first, where there's definitely a sea breeze. Then it's on to Charleston, where Vanessa Bell and others set up their Bohemian home for most of the twentieth century. There is some disagreement between Google Maps directions and the actualité, so we skip a church on the Firle estate and move on to Standen in the afternoon. It appears the owner made enough money as a lawyer during the Railway-mania era not only to build a country house, but also to go on a world tour and furnish it with several Japanese artefacts.
Thurs 26th: Heading a little further afield, we start at Bodiam Castle, then on to Great Dixter, and finally to Sissinghurst Castle. For once it is the Old People who have to be corrected by the guides on not touching the furniture. Kent is known as the "Garden of England" but today it seems more like the "Waiting Room of Heaven".
Fri 27th: Ironically, the weather has improved for our final day, when we're somewhat mopping up the things we haven't visited earlier in the week. We start out at the Towner Gallery in Eastbourne, which has a collection of Eric Ravilious works (some of which I recall from the exhibition at Dulwich Picture Gallery some years ago), and an interesting temporary exhibition featuring paintings of and by Eileen Mayo. Next it's Ditchling Museum, where the traffic proves to be excruciating (evidently due to a wedding in the nearby church), and the museum itself is rather small. We spend the afternoon in Arundel Castle before heading home into the evening.
