CANTERBURY AND CHARTWELL

Bluebells at Winston Churchill's home "Chartwell"

At least Easter Monday was dry - but the wind was still very chilly. We set off to drive to Canterbury - a drive of a couple of hours. The English countryside is magnificent - green and lush with Spring daffodils, primrose, crocus, jonquils, anenomes and ranuculi brilliant splashes of colour as we drove through both tiny, narrow lanes and huge, wide motorways.

The Old Weavers House A.D.1500

Canterbury is no less historic than so much of the United Kingdom. Buildings in the main street dating back to 1500 and still at least from the outside, looked in quite good condition. Painted boards outside the different establishments were fascinating. The Cricketers and The Old Weavers House A.D.1500, only two which took my eye. We had visited Canterbury a number of years ago and had seen inside the cathedral so our first stop was for lunch - a modern little Italian restaurant - quite a contrast in architecture right outside the cathedral entrance. Leading to the cathedral gate, a small circular courtyard was surrounded by old looking shops with ‘busker’s’ performing beside a fenced off monument in the centre.

Busker outside Canterbury Cathedral

We wandered through the main street, battling against the bitterly cold wind and back to the car. On our way again to “Chartwell” the home of Winston Churchill, so famous during the second World War. Unfortunately it was too early in the season for much of the garden (which the home is quite famous for) to be out in bloom but the flowering bulbs were an absolute ‘show’. Loved the vibrant bluebells and particularly the Lenten Rose which I had never seen before but grows from a tuber and blooms during the period of Lent.

Lenten Rose

"Chartwell"

Churchill was a prolific painter and his studio has been preserved as a gallery for the public to view. Interesting pieces were on show which over the years had been given to him as gifts. A short drive and we were back ‘home’ to where we were staying. We were grateful for time to ‘get our suitcases in order’ as we had a very early start the next morning - taxi arriving at 4am to drive us to Luton airport - bound for Aberdeen in bonny Scotland. An early night indeed!

The chair from which Winston Churchill painted