Chartwell

Our journey down to Hastings included the need to stop off for lunch somewhere and the fantastic new National Trust iPhone application told us that by 12 noon we were very close to Chartwell, so off the M25 we turned and after a brief detour due to a road being resurfaced we soon pulled into a very busy National Trust car park. Luckily there was plenty of space still in the restaurant so food could be acquired to ensure that myself and Baby C had enough energy to make the most of our visit.

Chartwell was home to Winston Churchill and his family and the house is set up so fantastically that as you walk around you really do expect Winston himself to walk into the room at any moment. For me the visit also gave me a great opportunity to learn a bit more about Churchill himself, his family and their time at Chartwell. After a self-guided trip around the house we were fortunate enough to be on time for a guided walk around the garden with one of the National Trust's gardeners.

 

I was amazed at just how large the grounds at Chartwell were. Admittedly they don't have the reputation of somewhere like Sissinghurst, but they were still a great example of a large family garden and in particular somewhere where Winston practiced his bricklaying skills! In all seriousness, I was left wondering how Churchill had time to be Prime Minster when you realised just how many other hobbies he had. In addition to his beloved books and bricklaying he was also a keen butterfly breeder, and also played tennis, and later croquet, in Chartwell's grounds.

 

The timing of our visit meant that we were fortunate enough to see some of the first signs of spring. There were some great swathes of crocuses on the front lawn and Mr C and I also spotted our first frogspawn in one of the many ponds there. One of Chartwell's cats seemed to be taking a very close interest in all the pond's contents although I have to say that I have no idea if that means that frogspawn will be looked after or not!

The trip concluded with a wonderful cream tea (my idea of heaven!) and a nosey around their gift shop. The gardener who had led our guided tour had told us about one bargain there that I took advantage of. They had copies of the US version of Speaking for Themselves: The Personal Letters of Winston and Clementine Churchill
at the bargain price of £3.99. I bought my mum a copy of this for Christmas a few years ago and she had raved about how good this was so I quite simply couldn't resist a copy for myself.