Lets Stay Kent

Bring in the May! Watch the annual parade & crowning of the May Queen and Princesses. Watch the Morris and Maypole dancing and enjoy the live music. The day will be pack with other entertainment and activities including displays & stalls from local nurseries and garden talks by the experts on all you need to know about your garden. As well as a bouncy castle, craft fayre, candy floss and toffee apples, face painters, live music and more.

Mon 5 May 2008

Museum of Kent Life
Tel: 01622 763936

enquiries@museum-kentlife.co.uk
www.kentmuseum.co.uk

Venue
Museum of Kent Life
Lock Lane, Sandling, Maidstone, Kent, ME14 3AU

Junction 5 off the M20, follow the signs for Aylesford, the museum is located on the first left after the Village Hotel.

Public Transport : 2 miles from Maidstone East station

Clare Ellen Guest House is a charming Victorian town house dating back to the late 19th century which retains its period character while offering all the modern conveniences you would expect from a four star establishment.

A friendly, family run guest house situated in a quiet residential area minutes from Canterbury town centre, Clare Ellen benefits from private off road parking, a garden, swimming pool and free internet access.

Each of the seven large and elegant en suite bedrooms feature TV, hairdryer, clock radio, mini fridge, razor points and tea and coffee making facilities. We also offer luggage storage, laundry service and ironing facilities.

Start the day in our cosy dining room with a wide choice of high quality breakfasts including a buffet of cereals, yogurts and fresh fruits. Or opt for our traditional full English breakfast with vegetarian option. We can cater for any special dietary requirements. For the comfort and safety of all our guests this is a strictly non-smoking house.

Find full details at Clare Ellen Guest House

Connetts Farm is a 115 acre (47 Hectare) working farm on the Isle of Sheppey, and is situated in a coastal position giving cliff top views over the Thames Estuary.

The cottages have been created within two old barns to provide good quality self-contained accommodation. The cottages have spacious gardens where guests can relax, sunbathe or have a barbecue. Around the farm guests will see a whole host of wildlife. You can feed the ducks on the ponds and there are many rabbits, pheasants and other wild animals and birds to be seen.

For visits to London (50 miles), Canterbury (30 miles), Rochester (20 Miles) & Maidstone (20 miles), there are good road links to the motorway system with a new bridge linking us to the mainland. There is also a mainline railway from Sittingbourne (10 miles) to the centre of London with a connecting line from Sheerness.

Bed-linen, towels, heating, electricity & water are all included in the price of the cottage hire. Your vehicles are parked in an area adjacent to the cottages.
NB. No pets are allowed in the cottages.

South Barn consists of three cottages. Each cottage has a lounge with colour TV, fully equipped kitchen with washing machine. Each cottage sleeps 4 persons (+ extra child’s bed + cot). South Barn is situated overlooking lawns, ponds and open fields.

South Barn

North Barn consists of two large, three bedroom cottages with the lounge situated on the first floor giving panoramic views across farmland and the sea. These cottages will sleep 6 to 7 persons + cot.

North Barn

For full details visit: Connetts Farm Holiday Cottages

Due to overwhelming demand (from one person, anyway) here is the ‘missing’ third cat whose photograph did not appear in an earlier post.

Ginger - buttered iced buns accepted from anyone

Some say his name is really ‘Gingerbun’ due to his habit of consuming a buttered iced bun each day at elevenses (those who know his habits better might suggest an alternative consonant to end this name with…..).

With the sun shining outside thoughts turn to Spring and hopefully booking a holiday in Kent. As in many parts of the country Spring brings its own strange traditions and legends. Here in Kent, ‘Jack-in-the Greens’ often made appearances in the past usually around May - the earliest accounts being from the late 18th and early 19th centuries. These Jacks were usually men in wicker frames stuffed with evergreen plants. The frames were often called ‘green castles’ and were 6 feet tall, wider at the bottom so the man could walk. A small opening was made level with his mouth so that various liquids could be offered to ‘Jack’. They were associated with chimney sweeps and the earliest stories come from London but as the chimney sweep families moved south the custom came with them.

Towns such as Orpington, Bromley and Greenwich record them and the tradition has been revived in Whitstable and Rochester. There are accounts from Whitstable that Jacks were still around in 1912 and a photograph exists of one in 1910. Today the Whitstable tradition has moved to the early Bank Holiday in May. In Rochester the tradition has been revived so successfully that the whole bank holiday weekend is named the ‘Sweeps’ Procession and May Festival’. You can usually catch Jack on the Monday afternoon together with many morris dancers and groups of youngsters dressed up as chimney sweeps’ boys.

So why not consider a trip to Whitstable or Rochester in May to see the ‘Jacks-of-the-Green’ - back to Let’s Stay Kent to book up….?

Monday 7th - Friday 18th April 2008

There’s a great opportunity to join in thrilling seasonal craft activities between 1-4pm on weekdays only throughout the Easter holidays. Children can be creative and draw a picture of their favourite part of the museum and enter a draw to win a birthday party here. They can also meet the new members of Cobtree Farmyard such as pigs, sheep, goats, horses, cows, rabbits, chickens and help to feed the adorable bottle-fed lambs. You can also bring your half term to life by joining in the ‘Be A Farmer or Gardener Experience’.

There’s a gift shop and on-site catering available as well as disabled access and toilets.

To find out more about the museum just CLICK HERE

The Museum of Kent Life is situated in Lock Lane, Sandling, Maidstone, Kent, ME14 3AU
Tel: 01622 763936

By car take Junction 5 off the M20, follow the signs for Aylesford, the museum is located on the first left after the Village Hotel.

By public Transport it’s just 2 miles from Maidstone East station.

Working from home has its benefits – it’s always comforting to watch the neighbours struggling with their iced-up cars or battling with umbrellas and bags in storm-force winds. But you have to remember to get out and grab some fresh air and realise the world does actually exist beyond the all too bright computer screen. Some homeworkers have a dog to walk, but here I have to rely on 3 cats to escort me around the grounds. They say some dogs get their photos put on other tourist website blogs so the cats have demanded they get their five minutes of fame here.

Felix - I’m really a very well behaved cat, don’t you know.

Inky - Aren’t I the handsomest cat in all Kent!

A pleasant place to get out to once you have reached the car is a local Garden Centre which has a very reasonable café/tearoom. Just a couple of miles outside of Tenterden along Reading Street it is situated on the edge of Romney Marsh. The views across the fields as you drive towards the garden centre are stunning. Roads across the Marsh have always been narrow and winding. This is in part because of the hundreds of sewers and smaller drainage ditches, and because the grazing land is far more important than the roads. The lack of road signs and few villages can make navigating across the marsh very confusing for the novice traveler. It can be particularly scary at night or at dusk – you quite expect to be met by lonely horseman in 18th century garb or a group of shady characters carrying barrels of illegal alcohol.

The best way to see the Marsh is on a bicycle since the nearly flat landscape and the constricted and almost deserted lanes make it perfect for family excursions. National Cycle Route 2 passes through the Marsh with the section between Rye in East Sussex and Lydd mostly off road. It then uses silent lanes from Lydd to Hythe, where it possible to cycle along the sea wall to Folkestone and eventually to reach Dover by going off road again.

Romney Marsh - flat terrain and numerous sheep.

Read more about Romney Marsh here: Romney Marsh Area Guide

Well, it’s afternoon now so the cats are sound asleep and there’s no excuse for not getting back to work!

Welcome to the Let’s Stay Kent blog!
Let’s Stay Kent is the only guide you need if you want to find accommodation, places to visit, things to do, restaurants, pubs and background information on towns and villages concerning the beautiful county of Kent!

We are based in the Wealden town of Tenterden in the south-west of Kent. Those of you who are keen on steam trains may have heard of the town as it is well known for the Kent and East Sussex Railway which runs from here to Bodiam in East Sussex. The last of the ‘Santa Specials’ ran along the line some days ago but no doubt something extra special is planned for the New Year.

When you first enter the small town you may notice on the name plaque that Tenterden is a Cinque Port. Before you start emptying the suitcase in order to find your swimming costume, you need to realise that the nearest water is now some ten miles away! (Unless you prefer the leisure centre pool in the town.) The sea used to reach the village of Small Hythe which is just a mile from Tenterden and the latter benefited from being able to supply wood from the local forests so that the port of Rye, in Sussex, could fulfil its quota of ships for the king. Even more important was the wool trade when Edward III decided to develop the home industry in the 14th century. Some people say Tenterden is still living off this past glory today….

The town has one main high street – the western end has rows of beautiful trees and wide pavements with just a few shops; the eastern end is far busier but contains the imposing church and many historical properties. Wander into The Woolpack which is adjacent to the church and you step back into the 15th century. Look out for the crooked appearance of the outbuildings to the churchyard! With the Town Hall next door this area makes an attractive centre. The Town Hall was built in 1792 to replace the original Court Hall which was burnt down in 1661 by an imprisoned debtor! Across the road is a stunning property now housing The Lemon Tree tearooms – one of 18 places to get a cup of tea or coffee in this small town! The Lemon Tree is housed in a 15th century building called a ‘hall house’ and is typical of many you can see in the area. It still has its original carved doorcase at the front.

The Lemon Tree

If you walk west from The Lemon Tree you will discover The White Lion Hotel. Another old inn which is a personal favourite, this a wonderful place to sit outside with a drink and people-watch.

Friday is market day in Tenterden. There is an excellent fresh fish service and a couple of tasty food stalls usually including one from a French business. The other stalls are variable in quality. If you are just coming to the town to have a general look around I would suggest avoiding Fridays as the market takes up quite a number of the free parking spaces on the High Street. If you are coming purely for the market then head for the free 3 hour parking at the Tesco store at the western end of the town.