Best pub garden views in England?

Geo-caching in Sutton Valence on Friday - co-ordinates were poor and we didn't end up finding the cache, but we did have a drink in the Swan with some of the best views ever. Sadly they'd shut off the highest terrace, or the pics would be even better. Love those rooftops!

Halloween!

The leaves are turning now, and the fungi and berries are out. We went for a Halloween geocache walk but only one of us dressed up!



Are you sheltering from the rain?



Well that's not fair! We want treats ;-(



Even meerkats shouldn't eat wild fungi unless they are VERY sure.



Finally we found the geocache and chose a treat! We chose a glow-in-the-dark bug (well, it is Halloween after all) and left a robot toy.

The Chattri at Brighton

I love geocaching! My GPS has taken me to all sorts of places that I'd never heard about, many of them right on my doorsterp. This was a bit further afield, but who'd have thought there was a Chattri nestled in the Downs above Brighton?


Like me, you're probably wondering what the Chattri is. The Chattri (which means umbrella in Hindi, Punjabi and Urdu) is a monument dedicated to the Indian Soldiers who died in the First World War.



"The fifty-three Hindu and Sikh soldiers who died in Brighton were taken to a peaceful resting place on the Sussex Downs near Patcham for cremation, after which their ashes were scattered in the sea, in accordance with their religious rites.

The Muslim brothers in arms, totalling nineteen, were buried in a purpose built burial ground near to the Shah Jehan Mosque in Woking. Built in 1889, the mosque is the oldest of its kind in north-west Europe." www.Chattri.com



I should perhaps add that the geocache task required me to read the information board at the site and then leave the area to find the cache. I was interested to see the monument and to learn of the history, but I believe it is always important to respect the beliefs of others and wouldn't want to be disrespectful.

Fourth of July on the Isle of Wight

We took our oldest son and his girlfriend for their first geocache expedition while we were on the Isle of Wight. This one at Fort Victoria was in the most fabulous (and reflective!) container.



I was really pleased because it was 4th July, and one of the items in the cache stash was a textile badge in the shape of the American flag.



I'm wearing the badge while taking the meerkat for a dolphin ride ;-)

A day (and a knight) in Egerton

Wednesday's geocache outing took us 10 miles away to Egerton, starting at the church. The pathways were a little overgrown, as you see!

According to Geocacher Davjan the church tower was built by Sir John Darell of Calehill in 1476. Inside the church is an enormous brass chandelier. It is reputed to be the oldest 36-branch chandelier in the world and was made by Robert Rowland in 1699!



I was fascinated by John Darell, whose monument is in the church.



Under his feet is his dog and a crouching monk - I think this is a pardoner. Pardoners sold "indulgences" to rich people so they could go straight to Heaven without having to go to the bother of purgatory.



Instead of a pillow, his head rests on someone else's head - an enemy, perhaps?



Our walk continued through beautiful countryside and no less than eight geocaches were discovered.



When we reached home, I googled John Darell. He certainly lived in interesting times!

"Sir John Darell, knt. of Calehill, who was so great a promoter of the Earl Of Richmond's interest, that King Richard III. declared him a rebel and a traitor, seized on all his lands in the counties of Kent and Worcester, (in which latter he had thirteen manors) and granted them to Sir William Harrington, knt. When the earl, however, ascended the throne, Sir John obtained a restitution of his possessions, and was appointed esquire of the body to the king, captain of the Lancers in Kent, and sheriff of the county. He espoused Anne, daughter of James Isaac, esq. of Bekes- borne, by whom he had issue: James, his successor; John, in holy orders, of Wittersham and Isabel." link

I even found his will.

I confess I don't understand all of it, but it is fascinating. I love that he paid for "an honest Englissh preest to syng and say masse for the helthe of my soule &e. for 5 yeres". Why 5 years? It seems so arbitrary. Did he think 5 years was about the right length of time to account for his various sins?



He leaves his tawny velvet gown to be made into a "cop" for the church - I wonder what that was? A vestment, a curtain?

He doesn't forget the poor: "To 20 of the porest mennys doughters wt in the parisshes of litle Chart, Bederysden, Smerden, Westwell, Charyng and Preston beside Feuersham to their mariages 5 marcs."

The one person he does forget is his second son - the "spare". Younger sons went into the church, so he no longer has a claim on the estate.

Thanks Davjan!

The Garden of England, my home.

In the first half hour of our walk today we passed:



hops (for beer making)



grape vines





cherries



plums...



oh, and we also picked up a geocoin in a cache nearby. A fruitful walk!

Happy Birthday to me - yesterday!

I'd had my pressie from Mr Nifty a while ago, the GPS so we could start geocaching. This card was from my oldest - isn't it perfect?



We drove to St Margaret's at Cliffe , near Dover. to find two geocaches. The first was near the lighthouse and is in memory of Yves Rossy who was the first person to fly solo across the Channel using a single jet-propelled wing - he landed right here!




We ate our picnic looking out to sea - it was too misty to see France, you need a clear day for that.




This is the view looking back - the lighthouse is midway on the horizon.


We then walked along the cliff and down to the sea briefly - saw a beekeeper colecting a swarm that was setting up home in the car park. I could have done with his protective gear last week!








Up again (149 steps!) to the next section of cliff to the War Memorial (visible on skyline in pic above) and on to the next cache.



The Memorial recognises the Dover Patrol's protection of the Channel during WW1. There is an identical memorial on the French Coast, and one in New York Harbour to commemorate the work of the US Navy in protecting the Channel.

Amazing what Geocaching can teach me!

Come for a walk with me?

Our countryside never tires me - step through the tree tunnel and who knows what will be the other side?



We were geocaching, this new little family had their work cut out just trying to keep up with mum!



See the naughty two at the back? (You can enlarge the pic by clicking on it)



They weren't looking too sure now. "You want us to go through there? But there are nettles!"

The bystanders held their breath and counted the babies in, counted the babies out. Mum looked very nonchalent, but I wouldn't want to have to keep track of 11 babies!




The stretch of water is the moat around Bodiam Castle.



Stunning, isn't it?



The ducklings stayed on the far side of the moat, away from the drawbridge which surprised us at first as there were several people throwing bread in to the adult ducks. Then we saw who else lives there...



I suspect these carp are big enough to take a duckling if they have a chance!

We walked on up the hill, stopping to take a final snap of what must be one of the most photographed views in the area.

OLd McNifty went to the farm, E I E I O...

My local farm SILCOCKS had its open day yesterday.



The stars of the show were of course the animals, and these tiny piglets grabbed everyone's hearts. They're four days old!



Only one was brave enough to venture out of the trailer - and then he discovered that the ramp was too big a leap to get home.



The farmer told us each piglet likes to return to the same teat - they certainly weren't gentle! It brought tears to my eyes....



The older piglets were busy playing football or sleeping...now what does that remind me of? The little stuffed pig in this picture is a geocache travel bug whose mission is to visit farms. Now her task is done, we can move her on to another geocache.

Etsy Sales Fairy

Have you got one?

I bought my sales fairy from raisinlike.etsy.com in January, and for a while sales came thick and fast! Meerkats were being knitted and posted like there was no tomorrow!

Sales have died down a bit lately, so I thought maybe she wasn't happy with her position hanging in my hallway.

This is my "pride of place" display point, my steampunk necklace lives there when I'm not wearing it, hanging from a fabulous carved recycled root which was a present from my son. Can you see the face that's carved on the wood? In the family it's known as the "elk"...and that's another long story!

Anyway, I digress...

To cheer up the Sales Fairy I took her geocaching (you might have guessed!)



Here she is, sitting on the cache with the predictable meerkat. For those in the know, there are a couple of geocoins and travelbugs in the pic. It was a fabulous hiding place, a hinged hollowed out log in woodland!


Then the meerkat and fairy had a go at stalking...



Doubtless this will have you hotfooting it over to raisinlike.etsy.com for your own Sales Fairy LOL