This morning’s destination is Sheffield Park. On the way we pass through the gorgeous little village of Fletching and manage to park in the High Street opposite the Church of St Andrew and the Virgin Mary.

Fletching

The church dates from the 13th century although it features later additions and several large memorials including Edward Gibbon.

We are just about to leave when one of the faithful arrives and, working out where we are from, regales us with a comprehensive history of the last Earl of Sheffield (d. 1909) who gave his name to the Sheffield Shield and sponsored the first visit of an England cricket team to Australia.

Sheffield Park Garden

Continuing on to Sheffield Park Garden we stroll around the Capability Brown designed gardens, featuring immense lakes with crimson water lilies, white swans, cascades, sweeping vistas, exotic trees including a massive Californian redwood and a baby Wollemi pine, and unmown woodland meadows.
The visit closes with “cream tea” (scones, jam and clotted cream), coffee and a local ale in the  National Trust café and we drive south around the edge of Lewes to the little village of Rodmell, stopping briefly to look at the Bluebell line Sheffield Park railway station.

Our afternoon stop is one from the top of our bucket list: Monk’s House, country home of Virginia and Leonard Woolf. Only about three rooms of the old rambling and pleasantly shabby house, including the living room and Virginia’s bedroom, are open for visitors, but they are filled with delights such as hand painted chairs and tiles, pictures by Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant and embroidery worked by Virginia herself and it takes a long time to look at everything. The garden has iconic rural views and looking into Virginia’s writing shed is a highlight.

View of Monk’s House from the garden

Catalogue of books from the library of Leonard and Virginia Woolf

Much of Virginia and Leonard’s library resides elsewhere but it is well catalogued at:

• Catalogue of books from the Library of Virginia and Leonard Woolf
• Woolf’s LibraryThing’s legacy libraries project

Of course to read the works written by Virginia Woolf one cannot go past the excellent editions of The University of Adelaide ebook project.

Remembering the morning’s recommendation from other guests at our B&B we ring to check we can get a table at The Cock Inn on the edge of Uckfield. Lucky we booked as it is very busy when we arrive and the rain has started meaning everyone is inside. There are several lovely options on the menu including nut roast.

The Cock Inn, Ringmer

It’s Wednesday, so another kind post from guest blogger Birdsey

For breakfast this morning we had strawberries, blueberries, cherries, and an omelette (bacon and mushroom for Pru, mushroom and tomato for me). To say goodbye to Sissinghurst we walked to the lakes, which was a lovely green woodland walk.

Lake at Sissinghurst

Then we drove through the rather busy Royal Tunbridge Wells to Hartfield, where we found the nearby Ashdown Forest and the famous Poohsticks bridge. There wasn’t much water in the stream but we played three turns. On the first attempt the two sticks entangled with each other. Pru’s stick won the second attempt and mine the third, so it was all fair and even.

Pooh sticks bridge, Hartfield

Next stop was the Haywaggon Inn, Hartfield, which was built in 1540. First I tried a half of Hogs Back Fresh Spring pale ale, 4%. Not sure if my next beer was the Beck’s Vier or 1664; I asked for 1664 but it was served in a Beck’s Vier glass; I guess either would sound similar in an Australian accent. Pru discovered on Foursquare that the Haywaggon Inn is renowned for its apple crumble so she ordered some just to check. Here it is.

Apple and berry crumble

Then we drove the short distance to Standen, on the outskirts of East Grinsted. Standen house is a large arts and crafts home built in the 1890s and features William Morris designs in its wallpapers, textiles and furnishings. It also has a very large and impressive garden but we decided that after Sissinghurst we didn’t really need to delve into too many more gardens. I was however sidetracked by the quarry garden, which features steep rocky walks, a pond and a stand of tree ferns. This made me feel right at home.

Standen

We had time for a light refreshment before continuing our journey to Halland where we are staying for the next two nights. The B&B is on the busy Eastbourne Road but our room is very comfortable and spacious and within walking distance of The Forge Hotel, which our hostess recommended for dinner (sorry, supper).

Dinner was quite nice although the large pub was largely empty. There wasn’t much vegetarian choice on the menu but our host advised that I could mix and match from the side dishes, so I had potatoes dauphinoise, courgettes and peppers with onions from the fish menu. Pru had lambs fry and bacon with mash and gravy.

We walked the short distance home and settled back into our rather over cluttered room. But one thing you could not criticise it for is a lack of pillows and cushions. There is a plentiful abundance which makes reading and writing in bed very comfortable.

Waterloo Station

This week’s excursion to the south starts with a train to Waterloo, then the ‘Guildford not express’ through Wimbledon (not The Championships although they have just started), Surbiton and various villages. After we collect our hire car from Guildford we set off for Leith Hill Place along winding lanes and through dark green forest overhanging the narrow roads.

Thanks to the heads up from the English Folk Dance and Song Society at Cecil Sharp House (who I follow on Facebook) for the news that Ralph Vaughan William’s family home is a recent National Trust featured estate. Note the fact there is no separate article in Wikipedia for the house – just a redirection to Leith Hill, so perhaps there is an opening for a Wikimedian in Residence to work in this great place.

Leith Hill Place

It is an amazing privilege to be playing Down Ampney from RVW’s English Hymnal at the piano in his drawing room.

Looking through the piano room window at Leith Hill Place

The Vaughan Williams soundscape starts with too much talking in the sections about his early life, but the final rooms rely on his music and snippets from letters and is very moving. Particularly so while looking out over the beautiful landscape while listening. I make a mental note to look out for his stone in The Abbey when we get there next weekend. The tour finishes with cheese scones for lunch from the kitchen.

After some more driving we arrive at Sissinghurst Castle Farmhouse in time for a late afternoon tea on the lawn and a quick orientation of the garden and first glimpse of the White Garden during late opening.

Sissinghurst Castle tower

Then we walk into The Milk House in Sissinghurst village for lovely dinner and home dodging the bunnies running across our path.

With a shuttle from the airport hotel at 7am and easy checkin and processing through security we get to breakfast and our flight to Heathrow with minimal effort and I sleep all the way to London.

Thanks to our kind Oyster card donors we get on the Picadilly Line to Hammersmith and change for the District Line to Tower Hill equally painlessly. Following our luggage delay of the past week a laundromat is our most urgent business if looking presentable for concerts and conferences is an option. A couple of streets and a park away we set our washing turning and find The Dog and Truck. The World Cup come on England flags are still up but Ascot is the hot news today.

England

Our task for the afternoon is to find Christ Church, Spitalfields where we have booked to hear the Choir of Clare College, Cambridge directed  by Graham Ross as part of their music festival (thanks to the heads up on Facebook a week earlier).

Christ Church, Spitalfieds

Their Ascension and Pentecost programme includes plenty of special favorites, four premieres, a smattering of composers and those responsible for commissioning works in the audience, plus one Australian work (for anyone required to catalogue this concert according to ABC-FM rules).

Philips Ascendit Deus
Hassler Omnes gentes, plaudite
Finzi God is gone up
Brett Dean New work (London premiere)
Martin Credo from Mass for double choir
Vaughan Williams O clap your hands
Patrick Gowers Viri Galilaei
Stanford Caelos ascendit hodie
Gibbons O clap your hands together
Nico Muhly Let all the world in every corner sing (London premiere)
Graham Ross Ascendo ad patrem (world premiere)
Giles Swayne God is gone up (London premiere)
Judith Weir Ascending into heaven
Tallis Loquebantur variis linguis
Grieg Whitsun Hymn
Grayston Ives Listen sweet dove
Harvey Come, Holy Ghost
Elgar The Spirit of the Lord is upon me

Thanks to a pre-concert tips email from the Spitalfields folk we knew to book the post-concert fixed menu deal at the nearby English Restaurant who catered for us very well despite being somewhat later than expected given the very long concert programme.

Wiki news
CirrusSearch is the new search engine for MediaWiki. It features key improvements over the old search engine, LuceneSearch according to the help page. We shall see.

Another Wednesday post from the great guest blogger: birdsey7

The obliging Drury Court staff kept calling the airport about our bags and finally determined that they would arrive at about 10.30. So after farewelling B and A who were travelling to Sligo for a family reunion, we walked over to Trinity just before nine o’clock in the hope of seeing the Book of Kells. But alas the queue was already stretched around the quadrangle, so we contented ouselves with looking at a couple of other libraries on the campus (although we couldn’t go inside) and the beautiful playing fields.

Complutensian Polyglot Bible in the ‘new’ Trinity College Library

Then we walked back to Drury Court through St Stephen’s Green, a lovely tranquil green park in the busy city, and the St Stephen’s Green shopping centre, where Pru bought me an Irish silver ring.

Of course our bags had not arrived and we spent a couple of anxious hours until finally they magically appeared. I honestly thought we would never see them again and was quite looking forward to  a whole new wardrobe, but sadly it wasn’t to be. We changed out of our rather mucky clothes, cleaned our teeth, checked out of the hotel and took a cab to Irish car rentals.

Soon we were bowling out of Dublin and down the coast. We tried to visit Bray and Wicklow, both of which turned out to be surprisingly large towns where it was almost impossible to park. So we kept driving along the little coast road, unable to catch more than an occasional glimpse of the coast through the sea mist.

We stopped for a drink at the Arklow pub, on the River Avoca, where I enjoyed my first real Irish Guinness. Then we navigated our way across to Carrick-on-Suir on the roads more travelled, arriving there soon after six o’clock and a few wrong turns in the winding cobbled streets of some of the towns on the way.

Once settled into our accommodation at the Carraig Hotel we found a spot in the busy bar and had drinks (a couple of pints of Budweiser for me) and dinner (fried crumbed brie with chips and salad). I also shared Pru’s bowl of vegetables with white sauce which was served with her lamb shank. Very nice hearty food.

After dinner we went for a walk, drawn as if by magic to a back street where we found the Clancy family home and a mural of the four brothers (Paddy, Tom, Liam and Bobby) on a nearby wall.

Clancy Brothers mural

Then we walked to New Street to the Clancys’ local Figgerty’s pub, formerly Lawlor’s, which featured a photo of Paddy and a gentleman in the bar who knew the Clancys and remembered Bob Dylan visiting with Liam in 1964 and singing in ‘that corner over there’. I had some more Guinness. We learned that there are about 28 bars in Carrig Mór and Carrig Beg, as the two parts of Carrick-on-Suir are known, so there is unfortunately no way we will be able to visit them all.