In the Southeast of England you are spoilt for choice. Hartfield is centrally located midway between the London metropolis, to the north, with its fantastic museums, galleries, theatres, markets, amazing shopping, majestic parks and palaces and to the south, the glorious ‘Sussex by the Sea’ coastline with Brighton, Eastbourne and Hastings (gems in our coastal crown) within an hours drive. Outside of London the Southeast of England has the next largest concentration of visitor attractions for you to discover. To name a few of these will give you an idea of the wealth of places open for you to choose when you want a day out:
North, South, East and West.
Closer to Owl’s House you can drive through the Sussex, Kent and Surrey countryside with it’s wonderful Pubs and picturesque villages to dozens of visitor attractions large and small. Most weekends there is a farmers market for you to buy direct the locally grown produce from cheeses and meat to fruit and veg - and freshly baked bread.
Places to Eat
On your doorstep and within a short distance there are several splendid Pubs that serve fine food: The Anchor Inn and The Haywagon Inn, Hartfield High Street; The Gallipot towards upper Hartfield; The Hatch Inn, Coleman’s Hatch; The Dorset Arms, Withyham; The Crown Inn, Groombridge and The Hare, Langton Green. A little farther East is Royal Tunbridge Wells with a multitude of Pubs and Restaurants and West of Hartfield is Forest Row with Chinese, Indian and Portuguese restaurants as well as a
Pizza restaurant and coffee house.
And there are Grand Gardens.
Whether or not you have a membership to the Royal
Horticultural Society Gardens and events you can visit Wisley Garden in
Surrey. On the same theme there are Landscaped gardens famous for their
spring-flowering magnolias, camellias, azaleas and rhododendrons.
These include Leonardslee,
a woodland garden with seven lakes set in the secluded valley; Wakehurst
Place, Kew’s country garden in Sussex, with over 200 ha of
landscaped and formal gardens with rare and exotic plants and High Beeches,
which has woodland and water gardens in a romantic setting. Just a
short drive from Owl’s House is Sheffield
Park, a magnificent 18th century garden landscaped by
‘Capability’ Brown around five lakes linked by water cascades, also
known for its vibrant autumn colours.
And there are slightly smaller Gardens.
On a smaller scale, Nymans
has romantic walled garden ‘rooms’ and atmospheric ruins draped with
wisteria, while Pashley
Manor garden is set around a moated Tudor manor, with
fountains, statues and ponds, and the late, great Christopher Lloyd’s
garden at Great Dixter is vibrant and unusual with experimental plantings.
Borde
Hill is a garden of many
different moods, with individual themed ‘rooms’, sub-tropical dells,
old-fashioned roses and parkland.
Places we like
Everyone has their favourite places to visit. We delight in Royal Tunbridge Wells, its Trinity theatre, Café Nero, the Victoria shopping precinct and the historic Pantiles shopping area with shops, galleries and Tourist Information. TK Maxx and the Odeon cinema complex. We relish Brighton with its festival, its Theatre Royal, cinemas, lanes, and the pleasures of the seaside. We enjoy Lewes with its restaurants, antique shops and Sunday boot market – and a shoe shop next to a cheese shop! We regularly pop down to Hastings and enjoy scrumptious fish and chips or some of the best Indian cuisine we have ever tasted. Oh yes and we love Rye, romantic Romney Marsh and the ancient town of
Winchelsea.
Walking and swimming
For those that enjoy a good ramble you need go no further than the Ashdown Forest – right on your doorstep. If you fancy a swim but don’t fancy diving into the sea Hartfield is surrounded by leisure centres that have excellent swimming facilities. They can be found in Edenbridge, Tunbridge Wells, Uckfield and closest of all at Crowborough – and they all have refreshments as well.
In conclusion
Always worth a visit are the numerous National Trust properties. We regularly visit Chartwell the home of Winston Churchill where lunch is always a star attraction. There are so many worthwhile places to visit it seems unfair to mention just these few. I just remembered the Bedgebury National Pinetum & Forest where you can cycle, walk, ride, play and Go Ape in Bedgebury Forest. If you are interested, the National Pinetum has the world's finest conifer collection and it is open all year. Did I mention Ardingly? From the South of England show (love the pig races and the local produce) to vintage car rallies. In other directions and at varying times of year there are steam rallies, boot fairs and you can reach Gatwick airport (open all hours) or even pop over to France on the Newhaven Ferry which is just what we did earlier this year.
