ENGLAND 2003
Day 4 , April 8, 2003 - Tuesday
Canterbury to Leed's Castle
In addition to sloping floors and
doors, we had a rather strange arrangement for our bathroom. Since
this hotel was built before individual bathrooms were part of the
room, they had placed a wall across the right side of the room. In
the middle of the wall, a door opened into what appeared like a
small hallway. On the left against the outside wall
was the toilet and slightly in front of that was the wash basin. At
the opposite end of the “hallway” to the right was a small shower.
It had almost no water pressure, so our showers this morning had a
few trickles. We ate a private breakfast …because no one else was
in the
room…in the dining room with the bay window on the front of
the hotel.
 Our
adventure today is to go to Leed’s Castle by train. We
walked to the train station. It
was nice not to be lugging baggage for a change. We
had to change trains at Ashton to Bearstead. From
there we took a bus to the gate of the castle and then a tram up
to the door. It
was a beautiful spring day with blue skies and a sea of spring
flowers everywhere. We
took a self guided tour of the Castle. The
staff didn’t seem very knowledgeable of the history.
One of William the Conqueror’s
lords, Robert de Crevecoeur, build this castle in 1119. It
passed into royal hands in 1278 and became part of the Queen of
England’s dower - the settlement widowed queens received
upon the death of their husbands. Over the course of 150 years it
was held by six medieval queens: Eleanor of Castile; Margaret of
France; Isabella of France, Joan of Navarre; Anne of Bohemia and
Catherine de Valois. Henry VIII visited the castle
frequently. Edward
VI granted the castle to one of Henry’s courtiers for his
services.
The last owner of Leeds Castle,
Lady Baillie,in an was an American-born heiress to the Whitney fortune.
She purchased the castle in 1926 for $873,000, beating out
Randolph Hearst, the newspaper tycoon, as high bidder. Lady
Baillie devoted the rest of her life to restoring the Norman
castle and rolling parkland that surrounds it. When Lady Baillie
died in 1974, she left Leeds Castle to a charitable trust which
ensures its enjoyment by the public and also promotes the castle
for weddings and national and international seminars.
The grounds cover 500 acres with
a restaurant, golf course, greenhouses, an aviary, and a maze. We
had lunch in an outdoor café on the grounds. We
walked through the  aviary
which had more than 100 species of rare and colorful birds
including macaws, cockatoos and toucans. We
decided to walk the Maze which was planted with 2400 yew trees in
1988. We
couldn’t find our way out. They
had guides perched high in the center to help the lost out. We
raised our hands and they guided us out. 
Also
on the grounds was an unusual collection, the Dog Collar Museum
which displayed 200 antique dog collars spanning five centuries. Collars
dating from the 15th, 16th, and 17th centuries were designed to
protect a dog during a time when wolves, bears, and wild boar
roamed the forests of Europe and the vulnerable throats of hunting
dogs needed protection with broad iron collars bristling with
fearsome spikes.
The whole day was most enjoyable. We
took the tram back to the bus and the bus to the train – a nonstop
to Canterbury West. The
train was filled with school children who were very loud. The
train had to stop for an accident so we were delayed getting back. Near
the hotel was a bookstore where we bought two wool scarves… one of
which disappeared on March 5th 2010
while eating lunch in Accokeek.
We attend Evensong at the
cathedral at 5:30. There
was visiting girls’ choir from Asford, England. It
was a moving service. We
ate dinner in the Olive Grove, an Italian restaurant, near the
hotel. For
dinner we had pasta penne and saltimbocca, wine, whiskey and
tiramisu for dessert.
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