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One of the great things that Steve and I did on our trip to Kent this summer was visit Sissinghurst Castle Garden. I first heard of Sissinghurst when I was living in Pasadena, California in the 80’s. My next door neighbours, Chris and Armand had a pair of Airedale terriers named Windsor and Vita. Vita was named after Vita Sackville-West, an English novelist and gardener. I delved a bit at the time and learned about her unusual marriage to Harold Nicholson and the amazing garden they created together at their home, Sissinghurst. I resolved then and there to visit one day.
Sissinghurst Castle was once a splendid mansion built for Sir Richard Baker in the mid-16th century. The moated Tudor house, set high on a ridge above the Vale of Kent, was one of the first buildings in England to be constructed of brick.
By 1800, however, the house was neglected and decayed. At this time the building was partially demolished leaving substantial fragments for use as barns, stables and cottages for labourers.
Over the next hundred years Sissinghurst slowly degenerated and would probably be a 
ruin today if it had not been rescued in 1930 by Vita Sackville-West and her husband Harold Nicolson. The couple were both writers, she a poet and novelist and he an historian, biographer and diarist. They bought the romantic remains, repaired the brick structures and then gradually began to create a garden between the old walls and buildings.
Harold Nicolson planned the garden but it was Vita Sackville-West who devised the inspired planting schemes and carried out the work. She had an abhorrence of regimented rows of flowers and carefully grouped the plants according to colour, texture and season.
- Harold and Vita, 1960
Sissinghurst is a sophisticated garden, with the plantings deliberately varied from one part to another. The gardens are laid out in ten distinct “rooms,” each with a different feel, built around the remnants of a once-grand Elizabethan manor house. The formal herb garden and paved lime walk contrasts with the unmown orchard; the cottage garden boasts a profusion of flowers in hot colours, while the white garden eliminates all colours but white and green. Harold’s taste leaned toward the classical, with its geometrical patterns and symmetrical arrangement of steps, paths, pots and statuary, while Vita preferred a more romantic approach. She filled the beds and enclosures he created with a profusion of plants that might spill onto or creep over the path – but the hedges were always neatly trimmed and plantings kept free of weeds with a mulch of spent hops.
The focal point of the garden is the four-storey Elizabethan prospect tower with its two octagonal turrets.
A spiral staircase leads to the top of the tower past the cluttered room where Vita Sackville-West wrote. Ssssshhh! A bit blurry because I wasn’t supposed to take a photo. But how could I resist?
The view from the roof is one of the loveliest in southern England. The gardens are truly amazing and at their most gorgeous in the summertime.
Sissinghurst Garden is owned and managed by the National Trust. There was a medieval tournament set up on the outer lawn.
We spent a lovely afternoon on a perfect English summer’s day wandering around the grounds and through the garden ‘rooms’. Carefully contrived vistas criss-cross the garden terminating at a statue, a poplar or a distant view of the Weald. On either side of the walks and vistas smaller gardens open unexpectedly.
The charm of the garden owes much to the Tudor buildings which provide a romantic backdrop to the planting.
Against the brick buildings roses and honeysuckle climb to the eaves.
There is a formal herb garden with its medicinal and aromatic plants.
- Echinacea
The Cottage Garden retains its original colour scheme of sunset hues.
The White Garden is probably the most famous of Sissinghurst’s plantings. Here all the blossoms, including lavender, old roses, clematis and a double primrose are white and much of the foliage is grey.
Oast Houses
Early this autumn I read ‘From Violet to Vita’ and reread ‘Portrait of a Marriage’. I think I’ll save these books and my thoughts for a future post.
Steve and I are just back from London for a long weekend of visiting family, art and taking public transport. This poster caught my eye on the Jubilee line out to Waterloo Train Station. Tongue in cheek, I said that Tube workers should remind us to chill out and stop and smell the daisies when the going gets slow on the Underground. Well, this is exactly the intention of a little booklet produced by artist Jeremy Deller called ‘What is the city but the people?‘ Drivers and platform staff are encouraged to use quotes in their daily communication with customers. I like it. Who knows? Maybe the next time you’re stuck in a stationary carriage due to signalling problems, seething with despair, you’ll be comforted by some driver-philosopher quoting Goethe or Gandhi.
Steve and I are off today to the Cotswolds, one of the most quintessentially English regions of the UK, for a week of camping, walking and visiting National Trust houses and gardens, including Kelmscott Manor where William Morris lived. We have a day of luxury and pampering planned right smack in the middle of the trip. On Saturday, I’m having a Dr. Hauschka facial treatment and then in the afternoon we’ll both go to The Spa in Leamington Spa for a Rasul Mud Ceremony followed by a Hot Stone massage. That night we’ll ooze into a hotel which has a Loch Fyne restaurant next door to it. Then back home via IKEA in Bristol to pick up another couple of things for the flat. So I’ll be away for a few days, but back with lots of photos (wow, I still have quite a few from our trip to East Sussex in August). I know what I’ll be up to this autumn! Sorting through my virtual shoebox of jpg’s and putting albums and posts together.
On our birthday trip, Steve and I visited Bodiam Castle in East Sussex. This is not only one of the most beautiful castles in England, but one of the funnest to visit. The inside is gutted, but we were able to climb spiral staircases up to the top of most of the towers and walk across the battlements.
Bodiam Castle was built in 1385 to 1388 by Sir Edward Dalyngrigge, a knight who made his fortune fighting the French during the Hundred Years war. Power and influence as far as the crown was concerned was hard fought and won on the field of battle. Armies were ‘Free Companies’ – private mercenary groups fighting under a commander loyal to the crown. Apparently the mere mention of the name Edward Dalyngrigge would cause French peasants to jump in the river from fear. Fun to imagine sneaking up behind someone and hissing ‘Dalyngrigge‘.
In the mid 14th Century, Edward III was engaged in the Hundred Years War against the French – laying claim to what he considered his right, the Crown of France. As with all wars that followed the English Channel was strategically vital to the success of the English cause. Control of the Channel passed backwards and forwards between the two nations during the 1300’s with invasions taking place on both sides. The south coast of England therefore was being constantly strengthened and fortified during this period. Due to a number of attacks by the French on towns on the southern English coast, there was a good reason for building a well-defended castle close to the south coast. At the time, the River Rother was still navigable as far as Bodiam and the French could have easily have sailed an invading or raiding force there. Consequently, King Richard II issued a Royal Licence to Dalyngrigge in October 1385 to crenellate his manor house at Bodiam. The licence, in Latin, stated:
“…that he may strengthen with a wall of stone and lime, and crenellate and may construct and make into a Castle his manor house of Bodyham, near the sea, in the county of Sussex, for the defence of the adjacent country [France], and the resistance of our enemies.”
Dalyngrigge acquired the estate and manor of Bodiam through his marriage to the heiress Elizabeth Wardeux. The castle design is a simple square with turret towers at each corner and a square tower in the middle of each wall. The castle was never beseiged during their lifetime and it was mainly a very comfortable home. Here are overviews of the layout and history of Bodiam Castle.
A moorhen chick
Main entrance across the moat, guarded by a duck
Gatehouse
Wardeux, Dalyngrigge and Radynden family shields
Murderholes in gatehouse ceiling
Chapel window
Crenellations
Steve and I had our first camping holiday (and his first ever) in East Sussex. I’m a seasoned camper with 40+ years’ experience under my belt. I grew up camping in the beautiful National parks in the western US – beaches, mountains and the desert. Very few of them had any more facilities than coldwater sinks and toilets, but the camp sites had a picnic table and a fire ring. Camping is different over here, usually in a big field alongside dozens of caravans and other tent campers and with good shower and dishwashing up facilities. We stayed on Park Farm near Bodiam Castle and managed to find a quiet-ish corner.
Our home away from home
We had bought a 2 burner Gaz camping stove with a grill (“Yay, toast!”) but by the time we got the gas bottle and then the regulator, it was time for our 4-star experience. I made Beef Stroganoff for Steve’s birthday dinner on my little single burner stove which turned out quite good. Just strips of beef, onion, mushroom, some tomato purée, crème frâiche and peppercorns, freshly ground between a mug and a plate (and I’ve been wondering what was missing . . . . paprika). I used taglierini, a thinner version of tagliatelle which only takes 2 minutes to cook.
Another of my camping staples is Sainsbury’s Instant Noodles. They aren’t chockful of chemicals or artificial flavours, are quick to cook (3 minutes) and can be embellished with all manner of things eg, meat, vegetables, tofu. Steve used these as a base for Bodiam Noodles.
buddha
buddha
Bodiam Noodles
- 2 boneless chicken filets, cut into bite-sized pieces
- 6 mushrooms, sliced
- 1/2 a courgette (zucchini), sliced
- 1/2 an onion, sliced
- Sunflower oil
- One packet Chicken instant noodles
- Water
In a skillet, sauté the chicken, onions and mushrooms. Set to one side and cover to keep warm (and keep the bugs out). Prepare the noodles in a saucepan according to the package directions, adding the sliced courgette a couple of minutes before the noodles. Tip the chicken and vegetables into the noodles and heat through.
Pour into bowls and serve with mugs of oaked Chardonnay.
Steve bought a nifty folding chair with a built-in table.
BTW this was my birthday breakfast – fresh coffee, bread & butter and tiffin from the fab Battle Deli (stay tuned for this!).
Birthday coffee
On our recent trip to East Anglia, Steve and I went to Southwold on the Suffolk coast. Southwold is a lovely, genteel seaside resort with none of the tackiness of certain other British seaside towns (best to remain both nameless and avoided). We donned our linen and spent a pleasant afternoon, strolling along the promenade and the pier and through the town. I liked the pier sign, the letters are weighted and gently swing in the wind.
Southwold Pier
Here’s Steve looking natty in his linen suit . . .
Since a British summer at the beach doesn’t necessarily mean warmth and sunshine, people can buy or rent beach huts.
Some of them are wondefully kitted out with retro Bush radios, Kath Kidston prints and stoves for tea making. And some aren’t. I quite liked this scruffy ‘Love Shack’.
Thelma & Louise
The view from the pier
The skies in East Anglia are glorious and oh so wide. Constantly changing like the sea.
