Exploring the counties

 

This post is very much a photo dump from the last few weekends. 

The weather has been a bit of a tease, over the Easter bank holiday I got slightly sunburnt and then a few days later we woke up to snow. The mind baffles. As we are only just on the cusp of the lockdown restrictions being lifted (I haven't been to a pub yet, have you?) I wanted to get out and take some more photo's of the local villages to us whilst it was relatively quiet out.

These images are a mix of Groombridge, Westerham, Penshurst and Chiddingstone. They are all quintessentially British and steeped with history (and cute houses). So this makes for my ideal photo content. Oh and we also found some sweet lambies along the way.

Chiddingstone is a one street Tudor village. They have a tea room, gift shop, church, Chiddingstone Castle and that's it.

Groombridge is one of my favourite villages and I would love to live here. There is a village green with a row of houses that I just swoon over each time. It is most famous for Groombridge Place which was the filming location for 'Pride and Prejudice'. 

Westerham is a pretty town located near Sevenoaks. The most well known attractions in the area are Chartwell, Quebec House and Emmetts Garden which are all owned and managed by the National Trust.

Penshurst is another gorgeous little village with a super pub, tea rooms and Penshurst Place. It's is popular with cyclists and walkers as there are some great routes nearby.

Whenever I go out to a place to photograph, I generally do some research online to see what there is, what other images have already been taken but I am trying to get better and just going off exploring to see what I can find on my own. 

I remember our trip to the Cotswolds last year and in some places once I had got the 'money shot' that I had already seen on insta, I turned my camera off. But now I am trying to find things that I like, not just what I have seen on social media.

On a separate note, how are you all feeling now that the pubs, gyms and non essential shops are reopen?

I can already feel my bank balance going in to a decline as we have two trips to the pub booked this weekend and I had my hair done on Tuesday. I have been lucky enough to be able to save a lot of money since lockdown and its currently in an ISA waiting to be spent on holidays! We have just had to cancel our trip to Ibiza which I'm bummed about as I had been looking forward to visiting the island. 

I know I shouldn't have booked them in the first place but I did that last year when I had thought that by now the whole thing might be over! And all of the trips I planned are refundable, I get a lot of joy out of the booking, researching and the planning of the trips. I read an article once about how that can bring you as much joy as the trip itself. I fall in to that category for sure.

So now I have written a new list of places that I would like to visit this summer in the UK. This list includes; Flatford Mill, Chilham, Pluckley, Mersey Island, Norfolk, Devon, Cambridge and the Peak District.

Mr Poachie and I have just started watching 'The Darling Buds of May', he has seen it before but I don't really remember it. As he knows I love all things pretty English countryside he thought it would be right up my street, and he is right! I am hooked and I want to visit the filming locations they used. As it turns out, I actually attended a wedding a few years ago as Buss Farm, home to the Larkins.

Appledore in Kent is also meant to be lovely but I feel bad asking Mr Poachie to go these places as they can be up to an hour away and if they are small with only one or two sweet cottages for me to photograph then its not really the most fun day out for him. 

Blogger/Photographer boyfriend life, its dull!!!