Читать книгу Walking in Kent. 40 circular short walks and day walks онлайн

40 страница из 58

Bear left along the lane past pretty little April Cottage, then turn right on a drive where a bridleway signed Greensand Way takes you alongside the boundary hedge of a house called Mannings Wood. Bear left with the hedge, soon walking along the edge of woodland – the bridleway here can be very muddy in winter, or following heavy rain. Eventually come to a narrow lane. Take the left hand of two paths directly ahead, which leads down a slope along the Chartwell boundary with views left over a series of small lakes to a vast Wealden panorama.

Home of Sir Winston Churchill from 1924 until his death in 1965, Chartwell stands on a high terrace of land overlooking a great sweep of gardens, parkland and lakes, with a splendid view south into the Weald. It was for this view that Churchill bought the house. ‘A day away from Chartwell,’ he said, ‘is a day wasted.’ Under the National Trust Chartwell is now part-museum devoted to Churchill’s long life and varied careers, and partly the house and home as he knew it for 40 years. (For current opening times see www.nationaltrust.org.uk/chartwell).