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ARTISTS

& MARTYRS

Enjoy a day in Darling Buds of May country with a country coach tour and a visit to Pluckley, free time for lunch in Tenterden and an afternoon visit to the sublime gardens at Hole Park or Sissinghurst Castle.

Meet the Blue Badge guide not far from Ashford on the M20 at 10.30am for morning coffee included in the tour fee. This is the part of Kent where the Darling Buds of May author HE Bates came to live in the 1930s. Bates’ great achievement as a writer was his ability to “put the English countryside down on paper”. His best known creation was Pop Larkin – the Cockney-Kent farmer come wheeler dealer who loves his big family and flips the class system on its head with his benevolent kindness to the gentry who find themselves down on their luck after a war that has served Pa very well thank you very much.

Nearly all of the action is based in and around the untouched gem of a village Pluckley through whose tiny heart we take a gentle stroll to find the homes of Miss Pilchester and the Brigadier and ponder why this village of barely 1000 living souls should be the most haunted village in England.

A scenic drive takes us to Tenterden – the Jewel of the Weald. There’s time to explore and choose a spot for lunch in this charming and affluent town arranged around a broad High Street lined with attractive houses that span many centuries.

Choose your afternoon visit:

Hope Park Gardens - wonderful carpets of bluebells, daffodils, camellias, wisteria, magnolia and far reaching views over the picturesque Kentish Weald. There is a café on site. You’ll head home at 4.45pm.

Sissinghurst Castle Gardens – the most famous 20th century gardens in England created in the Arts & Crafts style by the poly-amorous couple Nigel Nicholson and daughter of Knole Park Vita Sackville-West. Café on site, head home at 4.45pm.

When the famous White Garden is at its peak in June the gardens are very busy so why not start your day with a midday lunch at Pluckley and have the gardens almost completely to yourselves and in a beautiful light until closing time at 6.30pm.

With Hole Park

Daily 1 April to 10 June 2017

Adults & Seniors: £26

With Sissinghurst Castle Gardens

Daily except Wednesdays April

to the end of September.

Adults & Seniors: £30

National Trust Members: £18

Come for a midday start and

add lunch at Pluckley from

£12pp.

5 miles

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