Knole Park :
On Saturday we had a fabulous day in the sunshine at Knole Park in Sevenoaks. Early in the afternoon, my daughter, my friend from uni and her son all crammed into my little blue car and headed over to Sevenoaks. It took about an hour, but the kids kept us amused all the way singing along to the radio. When we got there they had a great time building a den from old branches and bracken, and bouncing on some low slung tree branches.
It was a strange coincidence actually... I didn’t realise that my friend had done her MSc research a few years ago on the topic of deer behaviour. We spent ages watching what the deer were up to and she was able to explain some of their behaviour, like digging odd shaped holes all over the place and bashing each other’s antlers - Strange to us, but perfectly logical if you are a deer!!
It was a strange coincidence actually... I didn’t realise that my friend had done her MSc research a few years ago on the topic of deer behaviour. We spent ages watching what the deer were up to and she was able to explain some of their behaviour, like digging odd shaped holes all over the place and bashing each other’s antlers - Strange to us, but perfectly logical if you are a deer!!
We finished the day off with steaming cups of hot chocolate from the cafe, which was just what we needed after all that fresh air !
A ghost walk :
On Sunday night my daughter and I went on an eagerly anticipated ghost walk at Smallhythe Place in Tenterden. The house was candle lit, and we had to bang on a huge brass door knocker which echoed sinisterly. The door was opened by an extremely tall man, wearing a dusty tailed coat, with dark shadows under his eyes. He silently led us up the stairs past a dark open doorway, where I’ll swear I saw a maid with a scarred face and dirty apron having a whispered conversation with a witch in a crooked hat.
We joined a group and were guided around the house, meeting with an interesting mix of characters and stories ; including Edwardian actress Ellen Terry and her deceased husband; a deranged gardener with a saw sticking out of his head and a silent witch carrying a skull.
We eventually made our way out into the grounds where we were warned that unknown entities in the nuttery had a reputation for throwing missiles at passers by. The worst thing that happened to me personally was when a rotating skull on a pole emerged above a bush. I was so distracted that I walked straight into a fence post and screamed. This resulted in a screaming daughter and two screaming women behind us. There were also various creepy outbuildings, each with a terrifying tale attached, plus ghostly white shapes in the trees, slamming doors and distant screams! I have to say though that the thing I most enjoyed was the mulled bramley apple juice served at the end of the walk.
J’s Record of the week :
‘Ghost Town’
By The Specials
Sorry... I seem to have had some extremely dodgy themes and tentative connections for my record of the week lately, but with it being Halloween last Sunday I just had to choose ‘Ghost Town’ by The Specials. It was released in1981 and spent three weeks an number one. I have fantastic memories of being about seven or eight years old and skating around to this song with my friends at a roller disco in Penzance... I wonder where they are now and if they can still skate? Jerushah x
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