roemin around

Thames at Henley Four Oaks site (could only see one oak worth mentioning) is close to the town, so an easy walk, or in our case a short drive to find somewhere to park on the way home. The Thames river front is quite smart but most of the rowing action is across river from the main town where there are lots of marquees ready for Regatta week in July. Plenty of bunting and road closures over the weekend so I guess Henley will be celebrating the Jubilee in style. Judging by the fancy boutiques and bistro's they can afford a bit of a splash. Very high prices in the charity shops Rosemary noticed! We found a small Greek restaurant with 'a yard' to have a economical lunch before we drove home. Saw lots of birds of prey, mostly red kites, on the drive between Henley and the M40. RSPB do say they are increasing in numbers - this could be one of the areas.

The french style house Henley on Thames looked to be about half way on our journey home and as we have never been before we booked into Henley Four Oaks CC site. On the way we passed Petworth House, a NT property, at around lunch time so we stopped in the wooded car park to make a sandwich and a drink. It looked worth a short visit so having listened to the introductory talk and we had a look round. The main rooms are just full of paintings by famous artists, lots of Van Dyke, so unless you are an art buff it was rather wasted. The old kitchens linked to the house by an underground service tunnel were much more interesting. There were some spectacular azaleas in the grounds. It took longer than I expected to get around London in the rush hour so we did not arrive at Henley until around 7o'clock, but had a nice sunny pitch non-the-less.

Arundel Castle Another glorious day so we decided to go out for Sunday lunch in Arundel. Its an attractive town with a cathedral, castle and lots of nice pubs and eating places. The pub lunch of seafood linguine and fish cakes washed down with a glass of pinot grigio and a pint of shandy  pub respectively were excellent. The castle offered lots of visiting options, must be confusing for foreign tourist, we just went for the seniors gold option (keep, main rooms and gardens). This was more than enough as the castle, belonging to the Duke of Norfolk, is very big with plenty to see. We successfully bused it back home, making use of the bus timetable 'app' on the android phone, now we understand the Coast Hopper 700 routes. We are on our way back home tomorrow with one stop en-route - still TBD.

After a lazy start we took the bus into Littlehampton for a couple of hours and walked along the harbour as far as the beach. It was the first hot weekend for a while so there were plenty of families on the beach, although its not very sandy for the kids. The ice cream kiosks were doing a roaring trade. Picked up a few bits in Waitrose while waiting for the bus. The wind had now dropped and we had our first barbeque of the holiday and the year!

Boat at Bognor Regis Another hot sunny day with a nice breeze to walk into Littlehampton, about a mile away. Pleasant small seaside town with a harbour along the river Arun before it flows into the sea. The harbour side is recently refurbished with apartments and a paved river/harbour front walk. Stopped at one of the restaurants for a bit of lunch. A party  of French ladies who lunch, mussels and chips (moules/frites) and with a view of yachts in the harbour - we could have been in Brittany. Rosemary found some jubilee windmills to take home for the garden party and we took the bus back to site - eventually. There was a choice of 3 buses with the same number, coast hopper 700 and it was a case of "3rd time lucky" before we got the right one. It took almost 3hrs to go 1 mile - but we had a tour of the coast with a short break in Bognor Regis. It was too windy for a barbeque so the "Jamie" was fired up again to cook the lamb steaks to accomp...

After a bit of slipping and sliding on the wet grass we made it out of the CL and went to nearby Chartwell the family home of Winston Churchill. A very interesting NT day out with plenty of information and exhibits from eventful life and times. The house itself is not huge but has big grounds with lake, swimming pool and working garden and is in a superb position with uninterupted views over the Weald of Kent. Winston loved the place, writing his memorable speeches and painting in the garden studio. He said that 'a day away from Chartwell is a day wasted'  - think he had a point. One of Rosemary's favourite NT houses. After two days of history and culture we decided to spend the weekend at the coast and  drove the 50 miles down to the CC site at Littlehampton where we had a enormous grassy pitch. Sunny and with a hedge for protection from the strong easterly breeze it was very warm.

After a one night stay at Hythe we joined the M20 motorway for a quick drive towards Maidstone and Leeds Castle. English Heritage operated (ie expensive) but very interesting with plenty to see in well maintained grounds, walks, picnic areas and the castle itself. Not such an imposing castle as some, it was mostly designed as a residence, but in a very nice island setting. The castle has hosted some memorable parties in its past, Sinatra sang here and the grounds are the setting for summer concerts. With its grand setting and easy access from London and the continent the fine meeting rooms are still used for high level diplomatic meetings (eg the Camp David series). The tickets are valid for a year - so we could come back again I guess. Drove part of the Kent tourist trail via Tonbridge and past many more stately homes before finding a CL for the night near Chartwell. Another warm sunny day - has summer arrived at last?