Penshurst Place

 

A while ago, one of my darling friends gave me two entry passes to Penshurst Place and I had wanted to go in May to see their peony border. That was until Covid dashed my peony plans and we had to postpone our visit.

Mr Poachie and I were having a bit of a quiet Sunday at home; we have done a lot of entertaining recently and after blitz cleaning the house we decided to go out for the afternoon and make the most of the day.

He has never visited before and I hadn't been in a long time. I think the last time I went was for a friends wedding many Christmas's ago.

It was really relaxing walking around and spending some quality time together. I stupidly forgot my camera but managed to get some good shots with my iphone.

Penshurst has been around since the 14th Century, I believe the Baron's hall was built as a country retreat for the Lord Mayor of London. 

Its quite the country bolthole!

I love a door pic.

As we wondered through the gardens we were saying how much fun it would be to have a big garden party or do some immersive theatre through the grounds. I can imagine all the lovers sneaking off for a smooch in some hidden corner.

Awkwardly posing. 

I am far more comfortable behind the camera but Mr Poachie is trying to encourage me to be more confident. I think I would feel more comfortable if I hadn't spent most of lockdown baking (and eating) profiteroles' as I  feel a little heavier than usual. 

But still I had a nice time eating them!

There are 11 acres of formal gardens and there were different 'themes' to them all.

The Penshurst estate has 48 acres in total which is impressive.

I haven't been back to any National Trusts sites yet as I was worried about how busy it would be (I don't like crowds at the best of times) but after visiting here I am now more comfortable about going out. We did visit late afternoon but it was so quiet which makes it much more enjoyable.

The garden also had some cool statues and sculptures. I don't bother reading the plaques, that's much more Mr Poachie's vibe. Perhaps he should guest star in my blog to give the history of each place we visit.

It's not that I don't find it interesting, I just have a short attention span and I'm easily distracted and forget all of the important history dates but I can remember pointless things like what I had to eat at lunch back in 2010.

Plus I'm far too interested in taking photos. I think it works well us being different like that though as I can photograph it and Mr Poachie can tell me about it over a campachoochoo later.

This was the Union Jack garden which was so pretty. They should have built a tall tower to view it as you can't really see it from the ground.

Apparently this is a porcupine.

It was SUCH a lovely afternoon, perfect weather, perfect pace. 

On the way home we stopped off for a coffee at Kingdom, which is a lovely spot, and then we drove past this cuuuuuute house. I was like 'stop the car!'. I love thatched houses! I always think they look like you can lift the roof off and see who lives inside.

I hope you all had a super weekend!