GRAFTY GREEN — Said goodbye to Ockley and headed for Grafty Green. An hour later I was in Royal Tunbridge Wells where I decided to stop and have some lunch. I found a park in a parking building but the two pay and display vending machines on my level were out of order. I had to go down a level in order to get my ticket and back up again to display it. Found an outlet of the West Cornwall Pastie Company and enjoyed a Cornish pastie in East Sussex. Apparently they are handmade in Cornwall—I suspect because the EU says they can’t be called Cornish if they’re not made in Cornwall.

The next stop was at Bayham Abbey, a picturesque set of monastic ruins set in some very peaceful countryside. Henry VIII has a lot to answer for.

Five minutes away from Bayham Abbey is Scotney Castle—a National Trust property that is a combination of an Victorian country house and medieval castle. The house was left pretty much as the last occupant left it when she died and has more of an Edwardian feel to it rather than reflecting its Victorian origins. The kitchen though was modernised in the 1980s.

The gardens are wonderful and at this time of year the autumn colours are beginning to show. Central to the gardens is the moated old Scotney Castle. Originally built to protect the owners from French raiders during the Hundred Years War, it was deliberately ruined when the house was built in order to provide a romantic folly for the garden.

Then it was on to Who’d A Thought It and the Geisha Room. Had to negotiate a road closure to get there but the SatNav does a good job of re-routing when you go off plan. It feels more like a small cottage than a hotel room as the front is entered from the path rather than from a hallway. It has the biggest TV I’ve come across so far, and the bed, in keeping with the Japanese theme is low—so rather than getting out of bed it’s more of a case of rolling out of bed!