My mother was very curious about how well I could drive in the UK, so I reserved the car around the corner from my apartment so that we could go on an automotive adventure. We decided to go visit Leed's castle in Kent. It was about 1.5 - 2 hours away, so it would be far enough, but not so far as to be a good adventure. it is also not readily accessible by train, so it begged for an automobile outing.
I'd been wanting to visit Leed's Castle for a while as it is reputed to be one of the prettiest castles in England. Situated on an island in the middle of a lake, in the middle of large and park-like setting it really is a beautiful castle.
More manor house than palace or fortress, it was until the late 20th century a private residence. It is still decorated in parts as though it were the 40s when it was last in it's heyday. This gives the castle a unique quality, which is different from many of the castles I've seen here in Europe.
We took the tour of the castle which leads you through the two main buildings that are open to the public. Parts are still used for state functions on occasion.
Early peace talks were conducted here between Isreal and Egypt in the 1970s. It is also used for a lot of weddings as they were setting up for a wedding later that afternoon in the main hall.
Of the castles I've visited, this is one that I could definitely live in. They are developing part of it to be a B&B, so in the future people could spend the night in a guest room in the castle.
The weather was good and warmish that day, so we wandered around the grounds enjoying the nature and beauty.
London can be a bit of a pressure cooker, so getting out to nature on occasion can be a nice relief. Also, as London is somewhat grey in nature, it was a real pleasure to see so much GREEN!
There was a really cool Maze and Grotto in the middle of the grounds of Leed's Castle.
My mother and I made our way amongst the hedges until we arrived at the center.
From there, we decended into the underground grotto, which was very moodily lit and had creepy sound effects echoing through it.
I can imagine how people earlier would have found this a fun and unique diversion.
The last stop on our visit to Leed's Castle was the Dog Collar Museum. There is a large collection of ornate dog collars that belonged to aristocratic dogs. Many were quite elaborate. This is believed to be the largest dog collar collection in the UK.
The collars were not made so much to control the dogs, but to protect the neck of the dog, which is its most vulnerable spot.
As we were both starting to tire, I drove us back to London through the Blackwall Tunnel. It was an uneventful drive back, which was good.
That night, I took my mom out for a nice pub dinner at the Rosebury Pub. Where she experienced the joy of having Bangers (sausage) and Mash. It was served with a Rosemary Gravy. Yummy!
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