By Liz Findlay January 2023 What makes for a great day out in Kent, you may wonder? Discover The Garden of England, visit one of its many castles, walk across the White Cliffs? But you may not know that you can have an equally enjoyable day discovering Kent’s coal and mining history! As part of an introduction to the history …
Sue King November 2022 I am often asked by the people I guide, “Where is your favourite place to guide”. It is such a difficult question to answer because I love the immense variety of the fascinating buildings and outstanding landscapes that I am asked to show visitors from this country and abroad. One favourite place, close to my heart …
by Sally Jacobs August 2022 I was already in the second half of my life when I first undertook a Blue Badge Tourist Guiding course 24 years ago! I have never regretted my decision; my work has taken me to many interesting places, and I have met people from every nation across the globe. Arriving at the first training session …
By Robert Sissons June 2022 What’s the use of a penny these days? Many people fling them on the pavement when they get one in change, or throw them in a drawer when they get home. Why continue to produce a coin of which you need over sixty to purchase a second-class stamp? Yet there is something quite fun that …
By Sally Jacobs March 2022 Spring arrives early in England. Even before the fresh leaves appear on the trees a wide variety of flowers will be flowering. This is a lovely time of year to discover the georgeous gardens of South East England as they begin to reopen for the new season. In mid January the first snowdrops (Galanthus), pulmonaria, …
By Liz Findlay January 2022 The stained glass in Canterbury Cathedral is one of its greatest highlights but our knowledge of it is ever evolving. For many years the oldest glass was thought to date from around 1176-8, showing a figure of Adam delving in the Garden of Eden. It was made soon after a fire which raged through the …
Jo Dadley 11th November 2021 What do you think of when you think of Tunbridge Wells? Affluent, middle class, conservative? “Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells” has come to epitomise the image of middle class respectability that the town possesses today. However Tunbridge Wells at the end of the Second World War was a very different place. It was very run down; …
By Tanya Firth October 2021 The world continues to be captivated by the James Bond enigma. Excitement and interest in 007 are still running high and there is no sign of it dying down, almost 70 years since the character was created by Ian Fleming who lived in East Kent. Who was James Bond you may ask? Did he really …
by Tanya Firth and Konrad Start 20th July 2021 There are four ‘Majors’ held annually in the golf world, three in the US and the British Open. This year Royal St George’s golf club at Sandwich in Kent was proud to host the British Open, the 15th time it’s been held here, and the first time since 2011. The town …
By Liz Findlay This week (19th – 27th June 2021) is English Wine Week. You may think that the burgeoning wine industry we’re seeing across South-East England is a very recent development. Many vineyards have become highly successful, winning international acclaim. Wine production however, has its beginnings here hundreds of years ago. In Kent, Romans had vineyards planted extensively across …
