Edells brochure

EDELLS

A VICTORIAN COUNTRY HOUSE & GARDEN

MARKBEECH, KENT, TN85PB ESCAPE, RETREAT, RELAX AND ENJOY

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Above: Edells, circled red, and immediate surround area including Horseshoe Green, Markbeech, and Cowden Pound.

Below: Edells, circled red, and wider surround area including Edenbridge, East Grinstead, Tonbridge, and Tunbridge Wells.

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In a nutshell Exceptionally characterful Victorian Arts and Crafts style country house with original features, surrounded by beautiful maintained gardens and stunning views across the High Weald. It offers self-catering accommodation for up to 21 people with 10 bedrooms and 15 beds.

Setting At the end of a private tree-lined drive which probably includes trees from the original planting mentioned in 1847, Edells is between the small and well-preserved villages of Markbeech and Cowden, the centres of which are designated conservation areas.

Positioned on a hill the south side has expansive views of the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty towards Ashdown Forest.

This idyllic rural setting has excellent connections – a 5 minute walk will find you at Cowden station with direct 45 minute trains to London Bridge and Victoria. It is 90 minutes by car from central London, 20 minutes from Tunbridge Wells, East Grinstead, Sevenoaks and the M25, 30 minutes from Gatwick Airport, and 45 minutes from the Eurostar at Ebbsfleet and 60 minutes from Ashford International and Heathrow Airport.

There are many interesting houses and gardens to see including Hever Castle, Penshurst Place and Chartwell, beautiful surrounding countryside for walking and riding in ‘Pooh Bear country’ on the Ashdown Forest. 21 National Trust properties are within easy driving distance. One Landmark Trust medieval farm house is a 5 minute walk.

History Edells is on the site of small medieval farmhouses, Edells and Coldharbour, which were razed in the late 1830s and replaced by an Indian bungalow. It became the first brick house in Markbeech, constructed between 1839 and 1840. In 1852 Edells became the vicarage when the Talbot family, who had bought it in 1850, built Falconhurst as well as the village church and moved into Falconhurst. In 1873-75 Joseph Clark, the architect and surveyor to the Canterbury diocese, was appointed to make great alterations to Edells. This he did, doubling the size of the house, removing the veranda, and installing features that were appropriate to a vicarage, such as carved crosses on some of the stone lintels and a stained glass window to a room still known as the oratory over the front door. This typical red-brick Victorian house “has not been improved” and careful scrutiny reveals that the two halves of it, which otherwise blend together well, are in different styles. Falconhurst brickworks in the village supplied the bricks for these major works. Edells has remained in the ownership of the Talbot family since 1850.

Garden The garden has been developed over recent times under the guidance and supervision of Christopher Masson, a pupil of Lanning Roper who designed the gardens at Highgrove. The filled-in Victorian ha-ha has been restored and it is possible to eyeball the cows.

Wallpaper The William Morris wallpapers found in many rooms of the house are hand-made. The designs were produced using the original Morris wallpaper blocks and using historically authentic colours which were hand-mixed.

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Useful Information for Visitors Health

Minor Injuries Units 2.4 miles from Edells Edenbridge & District War Memorial Hospital, Mill Hill, TN8 5DA 01732 863164 Open 8.30 – 18.30, 7 days a week 5 miles from Edells Queen Victoria Hospital, East Grinstead, RH19 3DZ 01342 414000

Open 8.00 - 19.30, 7 days a week

Doctor’s surgery

Edenbridge Medical Practice, Station Road, TN8 5ND 01732 865055

A&E 9 miles from Edells

Tunbridge Wells Hospital, Tonbridge Rd, Pembury, Tunbridge Wells TN2 4QJ 01892 823535 Open 24 hours 7 days a week

Dentist

Stangrove Court, 2 Stangrove Court, Edenbridge TN8 5HR 01732 863061

Southview Dental Centre, Station Road, Edenbridge TN8 5NB 01732 865021

Optician

Day Lewis, 56 High Street, Edenbridge TN8 5AJ 01732 862366

Pharmacy Boots the Chemist, 27 High St, Edenbridge TN8 5AD 01732 863215

Paydens, 36 High St, Edenbridge, TN8 5AJ 01732 863211

Money matters

Post Office, 36 High St, Edenbridge Lloyds Bank, 70 High St, Edenbridge Cashpoints in High Street at Lloyds, Waitrose, Tesco, and at Esso garage.

Car

Petrol garages: Harvest Energy, Mill Hill, Edenbridge (south) Esso, Station Rd, Edenbridge (north)

Minor repairs: PTA, Mill Hill Garage, Edenbridge (south)

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Taxi firms

Relyon Cars: 01732 863800 Edenbridge cars: 01732 864009

Beauty

Hairdresser: Envy, Halo, Debonhair, Options all in Edenbridge High St

Barber: The Barbers, Hair for Men in Edenbridge High Street

Beauty Salon: Options, Eden Beauty Therapy

Pet care

Veterinary surgeon

Portland Vets, Shefts Croft, Mill Hill, Edenbridge TN8 5DB 01732 868680

Lingfield Lodge, Marsh Green Rd, TN8 5QS 01732 864092

Pet supplies

Bradfords, Contented Pets, both in Edenbridge High Street

Churches

Three Spires Benefice (C of E) comprising: Holy Trinity, Markbeech; St Peter’s, Hever; St Paul’s Four Elms Secretary: 01732 867820

St Peter and St Paul, Edenbridge (C of E) 01732 862258

St Lawrence’s, Edenbridge (RC) 01732 862256

The Eden Church, Edenbridge (Baptist) 03000 414010

St John’s, Marsh Green (URC) 01732 863368

Local news

Kent and Sussex Courier (Edenbridge) Published on Fridays

Kent Life A monthly magazine with articles on the personalities, traditions and towns of the area plus a guide to what’s on in the region.

BBC Radio Kent on 96.7FM or 104.2FM

The Community Show on Channel Radio www.thecommunityshow. net

Retail therapy

Victoria Centre, Tunbridge Wells

Hoopers, Tunbridge Wells

Beales, Tonbridge

Gatwick Village, Gatwick airport

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Enjoy Edells There is free wifi throughout and a small business desk with computer and screen. There is no TV, and hasn’t been since 1970, but a screen and projection can be provided by prior arrangement. Three oak beds were hand-made by local carpenter Eric Lawrenz and can be found in the Nursery Dorm. There is a ground floor accessible bedroom suite with a small sun lounge.

There is a collection of Jaques games to be enjoyed outdoors: croquet, boules, skittles, badminton set. These you can “try before you buy” as the Jaques showroom is in nearby Edenbridge at the House of Jaques north of the town centre.

The substantial library of more than 3,000 volumes includes long runs of The New Yorker, Punch, Country Life and the Complete Dictionary of National Biography (D.N.B.). On the landing can be found the P.G. Wodehouse collection. There is a run of the selfsufficiency magazine Home Farm and a selection of books on self-sufficiency.

There is a 1930s rocking horse in the study. For those interested, the workshop of the Stevenson Brothers, who continue the tradition of manufacturing wooden rocking horses, can be found in Ashford Road, Bethersden TN26 3AP. Horses can be made to order (01233 820 363).

Also in the study is an electronic keyboard which can be used. A small platform stage can be brought out on request for use in the drawing room. For experienced pianists there is a Steinway Essex available for practice by arrangement.

Those interested in cooking can find the Robert Carrier tribute kitchen stocked with his published volumes and cookery cards; he dined twice at Edells. Joanna Smith wrote five books while living in Edells including Village Cooking: Recipes from the Weald (1974), a copy of which can be found in the Study.

In the garden under the pergola there is a south-facing picnic table (formerly a billiard table) which can be used for picnics. Picnics can also be eaten on the 5 metre long table in the secret garden under a 120 year-old horse chestnut tree. There is a barbecue for use on the west terrace.

Although laid out in the Victorian era some of the garden has been re-designed by Christopher Masson, a former student of Lanning Roper, who had been commissioned to design Prince Charles’s garden at Highgrove, a commission he was unable to fulfil due to ill health.

Wedding receptions for those wishing to marry at Holy Trinity Markbeech can be held at neighbouring Falconhurst able to cater for up to 150 people. Edells can serve as an accommodation overflow.

Nearly all the Talbot family have sung in the choir of Holy Trinity and there is a choral service on the first Sunday of the month. The distant bells of Cowden church can be heard on a Sunday morning.

The area is ideally suited for those who like walking. A footpath leads into the woods and over the fields to Markbeech, Ashdown Forest is only minutes away by car, while route maps of other local walks can be found in a folder in the house. For those who love wildlife, buzzards, badgers, foxes, squirrels, rabbits, deer and bats have been seen in the vicinity.

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Shopping for food

10 minutes

There is a branch of Waitrose four miles away in Edenbridge. At the first roundabout approaching the town, turn left over the river Eden and then take the first right into the store’s carpark.

10 minutes

There is a Farmers’ Market on the first Saturday of the month in Penshurst Place car park between 9.30 and 12.00. It is said to be the best farmers’ market in the country.

10 minutes

Perry Hill Farm Shop is supplied with almost everything you might want. Locally sourced meat, including venison, can be bought from the butcher. The shop stocks asparagus in season which can be cooked in the asparagus pan in the kitchen of Edells. To find the shop turn left at the main road, follow it until you come to a dog’s leg junction at which you cross over, and then go downhill until you come to a garden nursery on the left hand side of the road. Perry Hill Farm Shop is immediately opposite on the right.

15 minutes

This road can be followed all the way to Hartfield where there is a small village grocer on the right hand side which supplies daily newspapers. It is next door to the Pooh Bear Corner Shop.

20 minutes

It is worth travelling a little further to find a jewel in the heart of Ashdown Forest. The road out of Hartfield has a left fork which takes one over the Ashdown Forest. After two miles take a right turn towards Pooh Bridge. 100 yards further on there is a turning on the left hand side which leads along an unmade-up road to Harvest Home, housed in a wooden pavilion and providing a wealth of organic fruit and vegetables.

30 minutes

The journey can be continued by returning to the metal road and then turning left. Cross the stream at the ford (but take care not to stop in it) and drive on to reach Forest Row. On the right hand side is the best fishmonger in the Weald of Kent, and possibly in all England. It is called Veasey & Sons and has its own boat on the south coast with fish brought inland to the shop daily. Platters of food can be ordered ahead for collection on the next day: seafood, whole salmon, oysters, sashimi, canapés and caviar are all on offer. You can choose from their handmade specials including fishcakes, paté, soups and flavoured butters. There is also a variety of smoked fish available from their own in-house smokery. We have a fish kettle in the kitchen which can be used to cook whole salmon.

30 minutes

In Forest Row there are many interesting shops and cafés.

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Visitor Attractions On the spot

Within the house itself, guests can amuse themselves in a variety of ways, with a small snooker table, a full size table for table-tennis, a selection of Jaques board games, an electronic keyboard and sheet music, a library of over 3,000 books for adults and children. They can also have fun cooking in the Robert Carrier tribute kitchen.

Outside there is a two acre garden to be explored with facilities for playing shuttlecock and croquet, and stunning views across the Weald from the lawns and orchard. There is a Victorian ha-ha adjacent to keep out animals, and a walk through the woods which passes the medieval Hole Cottage (all that remains of a medieval farm and damaged by enemy action in 1943) and on to the village of Markbeech. The centre of the village has been designated a Conservation area having changed little since the 19th century.

It incorporates several cottages in the vernacular, the Kentish Horse, and Holy Trinity Church in the Gothic revival style designed by the architect David Brandon, who also built Benenden House (now a private girls’ school). It is only open during Sunday services.

Next to this is The Old Farm. Here Andro Linklater worked out the concept for his book Owning the Earth: “I live in an ancient farmhouse that boasts a cat’s slide roof, a chimney stack leaning like the tower of Pisa, and a living-room whose ceiling is supported by an immense wooden beam low enough to stun anyone taller than a jockey. But quaint though they now seem, those three elements – the roof, the chimney and the beam – are evidence of a revolution in human behavior” (New York: Bloomsbury, 2013, p9). The shape of the building was altered to reflect a new mind-set: “The house had originally consisted of a single space like a medieval hall . . . .

By the time he had finished, the common space inside his home . . . . was divided into individual enclosed rooms for eating, sleeping, and other, more private activities . . . . The revolutionary idea that transformed the way they thought about themselves now seems simple: that one person could own part of the earth exclusively” (p11).

10 minutes

Only ten minutes’ drive away on a straight Roman road is the small market town of Edenbridge, which has hosted a market since 1200 AD. To the south of the town in Blossoms Park there is a skateboard ramp popular both with youngsters and young adults. Of historical interest is the parish church of St Peter and St Paul with columns www.edells.co.uk

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dating back to the Norman period. The stained glass windows by the school of Burne-Jones and the memorial to the Arts & Crafts architect Baillie Scott are of note. On the corner of Church Street the Edenbridge Galleries contain displays of antiques presided over by Lennox Cato, also to be seen on the Antiques Roadshow.

In the middle of the High Street is a medieval farmhouse which was transformed into a museum of the history of the Eden Valley in the year 2000 as a millennium venture. One of the best ways of absorbing the history of the Eden Valley is to visit here. The town is well provided with restaurants (an Indian by the River Eden, a fusion Malaysian, and towards the northern end of the main shopping area an Italian La Botte with its pergola extended over the Roman Road) and in addition has three inns, The Old Eden by the entrance to the town, The Crown centrally situated, and The Swan up the hill going north in the Marlpit Hill area. Edenbridge has its own Leisure Centre in Stangrove Park with gym and full length swimming pool plus training pool and also squash courts. At the northern end of the Roman Road around which the town has been constructed can be found the EVE Gallery which has a rolling programme of art and photography exhibitions, and the Jaques sports and games showroom and shop.

Also a short drive away to the east is the National Trust village of Chiddingstone and the privately owned Chiddingstone Castle, home to a fascinating collection of Ancient Egyptian and Japanese artefacts. Both the house and the village have excellent tea rooms for visitors.

A road from Markbeech crossroads goes directly to Hever. A day exploring Hever Castle and Gardens is highly recommended. A moated thirteenth century building, the Castle was the home of Anne Boleyn. Children can have fun in the yew and water mazes, although a change of dry clothes will be needed. There is an outdoor theatre running throughout the summer months as well as jousting. Refreshments are available both in the Castle grounds and in the nearby King Henry VIII public house.

The Tudor theme is continued at Penshurst Place, once home of Sir Philip Sidney. Here there is a magnificent medieval Baron’s Hall and walled Tudor gardens. Young children can enjoy the large wooden adventure playground.

20 minutes

Two miles south of East Grinstead is Standen, an Arts and Crafts family home now owned by the National Trust. It was designed by Philip Webb and decorated by Morris & Co..

25 minutes

Titsey Place in Oxted is an 18th century manor house with parts surviving from Tudor times. It has a fine picture collection and visitors can enjoy the beautiful gardens and woodland walks.

30 minutes

National Trust properties a little further away include Chartwell, the former home of Sir Winston Churchill, and Emmetts Garden, an Edwardian plant collection and pinetum. There are circular wellmarked walks on Toys Hill, and the terrace with sunken well donated

by Octavia Hill, a founder of the NT, can be seen in Toys Hill village.

Towards the south-east of Edells, Groombridge Place has gardens and ancient woodland, and to the west, horse racing takes place at Lingfield Park throughout the year.

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Further afield, but still no more than a thirty minute drive, are a number of interesting towns. These include Tunbridge Wells, with the Pantiles, its two theatres (Assembly Hall and Trinity), Museum and Art Gallery, second-hand bookshops, Bowlplex and Odeon cinemas.

Tonbridge has a medieval castle, boat trips along the river, a blue plaque walk featuring notable residents, and Haysden Country Park. The 365 rooms of Knole House and Parkland can be found at Sevenoaks and, at Westerham, Quebec House, the childhood home of General Wolfe. Statues of both Wolfe and Churchill can be seen on the village green. East Grinstead has a lively community arts centre in the form of Chequer Mead, which hosts a regular programme of plays, ballet, talks and art exhibitions.

35-40 mins

Well worth a visit and still an easy drive are Downe, where Charles Darwin wrote “On the Origin of Species”, All Saints, Tudeley, with magnificent stained glass windows designed by Chagall, and Ightham Mote, a medieval moated manor house.

Families will enjoy Ashdown Forest with its associations with Pooh Bear. Maps are available from the Pooh Corner shop in Hartfield. The Spa Valley Railway runs from Tunbridge Wells to Eridge. There are the delights of Beaver Water World complete with reptile house, and Eagle Heights, popular for its outdoor birds of prey flying displays. Hop Farm Family Park has a regular programme of events to complement its animal farm. The Bluebell Railway regularly runs steam hauled trains from Sheffield Park to East Grinstead during the spring and summer seasons and additionally on special occasions outside this period.

45 mins

Glyndebourne near Lewes provides the opportunity to listen to operatic productions during the Festival season which runs from May until August. You can take your own picnic to enjoy in the gardens or pick up a pre-ordered one when you arrive. There are restaurants with menus endorsed by Prue Leith but booking is usually necessary.

Audiences are asked but not obliged to dress for the occasion in traditional formal attire during the summer, but may dress in smart casual wear during the autumn. It is advisable to allow a couple of hours to travel because of traffic and in order to enjoy the gardens with a glass of champagne, and you don’t want to be late.

45 mins

At Drusillas Park near Alfriston is a small zoo housing a range of exotic animals, including meerkats, lemurs, penguins and flamingos.

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Edells’ Transport Connections 3 minutes

The 234 bus service runs from Markbeech church to Tunbridge Wells in one direction and Edenbridge in the other. Services are limited to about three a day with no service on a Sunday.

Nearby Cowden Station is a three minutes’ drive from Edells or a short walk through the woods. There is an hourly service with a journey time of 45 minutes to London Victoria or London Bridge. If coming back really late, the Gatwick Express from Victoria runs all night and takes only 30 mins, and from Gatwick a taxi can bring visitors back in a journey time of another 30 mins. It isn’t cheap (roughly £40), but at least there is then no need to worry about getting back.

Cowden Station - 1910

10 minutes

A little further away is the market town of Edenbridge which has two stations: the nearest is Edenbridge Town with through services going to London Victoria or London Bridge in one direction and Uckfield to the south. The northerly station, Edenbridge, takes travellers either east to Tonbridge or west to Redhill and Reading.

30 minutes

The road through Edenbridge continues north to the A25, at the junction of which drivers can turn left to reach the Godstone roundabout where a turning leads to junction 6 of the M25.

Biggin Hill airport provides hangar and maintenance facilities and a fuel service for private aircraft. It is open 6.30-22.00 on weekdays and 9.00-20.00 weekends. Prior notification of usage is required via www. bigginbooking.com

45 minutes

Gatwick airport is due west of Markbeech and can either be reached by cross country roads or by following the M25 and M23 motorways.

Eurostar services can be picked up either at Ebbsfleet International (accessed by road from junction 2 of the M25 by taking the A2) or from Ashford International.

60 minutes

Terminal 5 of Heathrow airport can be accessed from junction 4b of the M25.

60mins +

London can be reached by car as it is only 30 miles from Edells to Charing Cross. The Channel Tunnel is just over an hour away at Folkestone. Cross channel ferries can be boarded at Dover: P&O ferries go to Calais, and DFDS Seaways operates ferries both to Calais and to Dunkirk.

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Places to eat locally 0.08 miles

Kentish Horse (01342 850 493) Cow Lane, Markbeech, Kent TN8 5NT Lunch served 12 – 2.30, Sunday 12 – 3 Evening meals 6.30 – 9 (not Sundays or Mondays) Provides a range of cask beers, lagers and ciders including Larkins bitter, brewed nearby in Chiddingstone. Home-cooked food, large garden with views over the Ashdown Forest and children’s play area.

1.2 miles

King Henry VIII Inn (01732 862 457) Hever Road, Hever, Edenbridge TN8 7NG Food served Mon – Thurs 12 – 3, 6 – 9; Fri – Sat 12 – 9; Sun 12 – 7 A half-timbered and peg-tiled building dating back to 1647, with beer garden and pond near Hever Castle. Offers a range of Kentish ales and award-winning lagers.

1.34 miles

The Rock (01892 870 296) Hoath Corner, Chiddingstone Hoath, TN8 7BS Open between 11.30 – 3, 6-11; Sundays 12-3.30

2.4 miles

The Fountain (01342 850 528) 30 High Street, Cowden, Edenbridge TN8 7JG

Cottage with brick floor, woodburner stove, serving home-made food and Larkins cask ales.

Former coaching inn dating back to Tudor times. Harveys cask ales and lunches. Limited parking available.

2.56 miles

The Bottle House, Smarts Hill, east of Chiddingstone Hoath 870 306) Coldharbour Road, Penshurst TN11 8ET Food served Mon – Sat 12 – 10, Sundays 12 – 9

(01892

Building dates back to 1492 with low beamed ceilings and exposed stonework.

2.66 miles

The Old Eden (01732 862 398) 121 High Street, Edenbridge TN8 5AX Lunches 12.30 – 3 (Sundays 12 – 4) Evening meals 6 – 9 (not Sundays or Mondays) Pub food, locally sourced where possible, and real ales including Doombar and Westerham Old Eden.

2.66 miles

Quality Tandoori (01732 864 378) 106-108 High Street, Edenbridge TN8 5AR Lunch served 12 – 3, evening meals 6 – 11 Long-established Indian restaurant known locally as Mr Ali’s Emporium, on the bridge and bank of the River Eden.

2.8 miles

Chiddingstone Castle Tea Room (01892 870 347) Hill Hoath Road, Chiddingstone TN8 7AD

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Open Sunday – Wednesday 11 – 5 Eat beside the range cooker in the former Buttery or outside in the Courtyard. Home-made cakes and scones, light lunches and cream teas served on vintage china. Clotted cream is delivered weekly from Cornwall. Locally produced wine, cider, fruit juices and icecreams.

2.8 miles

Tulip Tea Rooms (01892 870 326) The Village, Chiddingstone TN8 7AH Open daily 10 – 5, Friday 8.30 – 5 A converted coach house in the National Trust village of Chiddingstone with a range of breakfasts, lunches, home-made cakes and a variety of Birchall teas.

2.92 miles

Spotted Dog, Smarts Hill, south of Penshurst (01892 870 253) Saints Hill, Penshurst TN11 8EP Lunches served from 12, evening meals from 6 except Sundays.

15th century white weather-boarded inn with views over the countryside. Ales from Harveys and the local Larkins brewery.

3.3 miles

La Botte (01732 863 873) 25 High Street, Edenbridge TN8 5AB Lunch served 12 – 3, evening meals 6 – 10 (not Sundays) Closed Mondays Family run Italian restaurant with wine bar and pergola.

3.41 miles

Four Elms Inn (01732 700 460) Bough Beech Road, Four Elms TN8 6NE Lunches 12 – 2.30; Evening meals 6.30 – 10.30 16th century listed building serves pub food, large beer garden, inglenook fireplaces.

3.5 miles

Chafford Arms (01892 740 267) Spring Hill, Fordcombe TN3 0SA Food served Tues – Sat 12 – 9, Sun 12 – 4, closed Mondays Pub restaurant built in 1851 by Victorian architect George Devey.

Larkin’s and Harvey’s real ales available.

3.52 miles

Little Brown Jug (01892 870 318) Chiddingstone Causeway, Tonbridge TN11 8JJ Food served 12 – 9.30, Fri/Sat/Sun from 9am.

Popular Whiting & Hammond pub with home-cooked food and breakfasts at weekends.

4.45 miles

Anchor Inn (01892 770 424) Church Street, Hartfield TN7 4AG Lunches served Mon – Sat 12 – 3, evening meals from 6; Sundays 12 – 4.

15th century manor house that became a workhouse in the 19th century. The bottom bar has Bread and Breakfasts coffee shop.

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Provides Larkin’s and Harvey’s cask ales.

4.6 miles

Orchard Tea Rooms (01892 770 595) Perryhill, Edenbridge Road, Hartfield, East Sussex TN7 4JJ Open 9.30-4.30 Open 7 days a week for light lunches and refreshments including home-made cakes. Also provides an all-day breakfast.

5.18 miles

Royal Oak (01732 866 335) Main Road, Crockham Hill, north of Edenbridge (TN8 6RD) Lunches served Mon – Fri 12 – 2.30, evening meals 6 – 9; food available Saturdays 12 – 9, Sundays 12 – 7.

Formerly a beer and cider house, the building is thought to be around 500 years old. Home-cooked food, fine wines and a range of Westerham brewery beers. Take-away meals can also be provided (fish and chips, curries, etc.)

5.38 miles

Fox and Hounds (01732 750 328) Toys Hill, Brasted, Westerham TN16 1QG Lunches served Mon – Sat 12 – 2.30, evening meals 6 – 9; Sundays 12 – 4.

Traditional country pub with large woodland garden offering menus using food sourced locally where possible.

7 miles

Thai Lounge (01342 837 770) 52 High Street, Lingfield RH7 6AA Lunches served 12 – 2 (until 2.30 Sundays), evening meals from 5.30.

Both Thai and Indian menus on offer in modern interior.

10.2 miles

Gurkha Kitchen Nepalese Restaurant (01883 722 621) 111 Station Road East, Oxted RH8 0AX Lunches Tues - Sat 12 – 2.30; evening meals Mon – Sat 6 -11pm; Sunday buffet 1 – 10pm.

Freshly prepared Nepalese food with some spices imported directly from Nepal. Conveniently located beside the Oxted station down line.

10.7 miles

Duddleswell Tea Rooms (01825 712 126) Fern Cottage, Near Uckfield, East Sussex TN22 3BH Open Mon-Fri 10-5, closed weekends.

Traditional cream teas with home-made scones, cakes and puddings, loose-leaf tea. Situated on the Ashdown Forest road.

14 miles

Gravetye Manor Hotel and Restaurant (01342 810 567) Vowels Lane, West Hoathly, East Grinstead RH19 4LJ

16th century building with Michelin starred restaurant serving lunch, afternoon tea, dinner. Dress code is smart casual, advance booking recommended.

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Entertainment Cinemas 9.3 miles

The Atrium Cinema (01342 321 666) Atrium Building, Little King Street, East Grinstead RH19 3DJ Modern building with three screens and hearing induction loops, wheelchair access.

10.6 miles Everyman Cinema (08719 069 060) 7 Station Road West, Oxted RH8 9EE Timber-framed building in Station Road West, minutes from Oxted station.

Shows films on general release and screenings by satellite of live theatrical productions.

12.8 miles Odeon (03330 067 777) Knights Park, Knights Way, Tunbridge Wells TN2 3UW Out-of-town multiple screen cinema showing mainly blockbusters in complex including bowling alley, gym and restaurants.

15.2 miles The Picture House (01825 764 909) High Street, Uckfield TN22 1AS Independent cinema with a centenary in 2016. Can be reached by car or train. Shows range of classic and arthouse films.

Theatres 2.1 miles

Hever Festival Theatre (01732 866 114) Hever Castle, Hever, TN8 7NG An open air venue in the gardens of Hever Castle with plays, opera and concerts staged during the summer months.

9.1 miles

Chequer Mead Theatre (01342 302 000) De La Warr Road, East Grinstead RH19 3BS Purpose-built theatre providing concerts, ballet, dramatic productions and talks.

10.4 miles Barn Theatre (01959 561 811) 25 Bluehouse Lane, Oxted RH8 0AA

Puts on mainly amateur theatrical productions.

10.6 miles Trinity Theatre (01892 678 678) Church Road, Tunbridge Wells TN1 1JP A converted church building offering theatre, music, films and children’s shows.

10.8 miles Assembly Hall (01892 530 613) Crescent Road, Tunbridge Wells TN1 2LU Large auditorium with varied programme of talks, drama, comedy, popular music, opera and children’s shows.

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16 miles

The Hawth Theatre (01293 553 636) Hawth Avenue, Crawley RH10 6YZ Offers productions by local and touring artists including comedy, dance, drama and music (pop, jazz, folk, classical, opera).

Live Music On the spot Kentish Horse (01342 850 493) Cow Lane, Markbeech TN8 5NT Folk Night second Sunday of every month from 8pm. This is a jamming session open to all. Hosts the Pig’s Ear Folk Ale Festival every June and the Rocking Blues Festival.

0-2 miles

Ashdown Forest Morris Men Play at Queen’s Arms, Cowden Pound; The Fountain, Cowden; Kentish Horse, Markbeech. For programme details: www.afmm.org.uk

3.8 miles

Eden Valley Country Music Club (01892 870 653 or 01342 850 780) Holds dances with live performances every month on Saturdays from 8pm at the W.I. Hall in Station Road, Edenbridge TN8 5LX.

4.6 miles

The Swan Inn (01732 862 313) Swan Lane, Edenbridge TN8 6BA Regular open mic sessions and live performances from bands such as Randy and the Rockets.

Activities Climbing 8 miles

Evolution Climbing (01892 862 924) Plumyfeather Farm, Lye Green, Crowborough TN6 1UX Indoor climbing wall for children and adults offering packed bouldering, abseiling and roped climbing. No booking required to use the bouldering (un-roped climbing) areas.

8.8 miles

Harrison Rocks (01732 446 252) Birchden Woods, Groombridge TN3 9NH Open 7 days a week, climbing courses and parties organised by Extreme Ventures.

9.7 miles

High Rocks (01892 515 532) The High Rocks, Tunbridge Wells TN3 9JJ Climbing for adults by prior appointment with entry for non-members. No abseiling or bouldering permitted.

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Coarse Fishing 2.66- 4.5m River Eden Fish from the banks of the River Eden which flows into the River Medway at Penshurst. Species include eels, pike, carp, roach, rudd, perch and chub.

Rod licences can be bought from the Environment Agency online at www. gov.uk, by phone (03448 005 386) or at a Post Office.

2.8 miles

Chiddingstone Castle (01892 870 347) Hill Hoath Road, Chiddingstone TN8 7AD The lake covers 3.5 acres and is stocked with carp, bream and perch.

Open all year round 7am - 6.30pm except on dates specified on website - www.chiddingstonecastle.org.uk/whats-on-visit-us/fishing/ Fishing permits can be bought on the day.

3.1 miles

Gabriel’s Fishery (01732 865 355) Gabriel’s Farm, Marsh Green Rd, Edenbridge, TN8 5PP 5 large lakes plus a mile of river fishing along the Eden. Day tickets available from 7am, night fishing tickets from the bailiff.

Cricket On the spot

Falconhurst Cricket Club (01342 850 967) Falconhurst, Cowden Pound, Markbeech TN8 5NR Meets in the park of Falconhurst. Friendly village cricket played here since 1854.

1.9 miles

Stonewall Park Cricket Club (07775 505 280) Stonewall Park, Chiddingstone Hoath TN8 7DG

Plays in the grounds of Stonewall, a nineteenth century country house with parkland.

2.9miles Edenbridge Cricket Club (07786 736 456)

Blossoms Park, Mill Hill, Edenbridge TN8 5DQ

Small village club based at the Pavilion, Blossoms Park 3.1 miles

Chiddingstone Cricket Club (Fixtures secretary: 01892 870 611) Playing Fields, High Street, Chiddingstone TN8 7AG Competes in the Kent Country Village League on Saturdays and plays village friendly cricket on Sundays.

Cycling On the spot

3.2 miles

Country roads Bring your own bicycles to explore the countryside around Edells – very popular with local cycling clubs.

PORC - Penshurst Off-Road Cycling (01892 870 136) Grove Road, Penshurst, TN11 8DU Open 7 days a week from 9am.

5.4 miles

Forest Way www.edells.co.uk

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This is part of the national cycle network route 21 and runs from Groombridge to East Grinstead following an old railway line. It can be picked up halfway along at Hartfield (TN7 4AA).

9.6 miles

Tudor Cycle Trail (www.explorekent.org) Starts at Tonbridge Castle (TN9 1BG) and is mostly off road following the River Medway to Penshurst Place and then on to Hever Castle.

10.8 miles Deers Leap Biking (01342 325 858) Deers Leap Park, Saints Hill Green, East Grinstead RH19 4NG 240 acres of bike tracks of every grade. Bike hire available.

21.3 miles Bedgebury National Pinetum and Forest (01580 879 820)

Bedgebury Road, Goudhurst TN17 2SJ Wooded mountain-bike trails with wide choice of bikes available for hire from Quench Cycles at the Bedgebury Visitor Centre. Open daily from 8am.

Go-Karting 11.3 miles London Karting Co. (UK Go Karting: 01580 765 835)

Buckhurst Lane, Sevenoaks TN13 1LW Indoor 150m track aimed at younger drivers aged 4-11 years. Open 10-6.

Offers birthday party packages for juniors.

15.3 miles Crawley Go Karting (01580 765 835)

Canada House, Gatwick Goodsyard, Crawley RH10 9RE Indoor multi-level 400m track for 16 years upwards. Open 10am until 10.30pm.

31.5 miles The Campbell Circuit (01580 765 835)

Jevington Road, Polegate BN26 5QA Set in the South Downs, a 650m tarmac outdoor track with minimum width of 6m, choice of track layouts, uphill and downhill sections. For 14 years upwards. Open 7 days a week 9am until dusk.

Golf 2.8 miles

Hever Castle Golf Club (01732 700 771) Hever Road, Hever TN8 7NP 27 hole championship course set in 250 acres with traditional Tudor style clubhouse.

4.1 miles

Kent & Surrey Golf & County Club (01732 867 381) Crouch House Road, Edenbridge TN8 5LQ Challenging course. Welcomes visitors of any golfing ability. Trolleys and clubs can be hired from the Professional’s shop.

4.2 miles

Sweetwoods Park Golf Club (01342 850 729) Colestock Road, Cowden TN8 7AY 18 hole parkland course. Visitors can play 7 days a week although restrictions apply at weekends. Buggies and electric trollies can be hired

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from the Pro-Shop. You are advised not to use postcode to find via sat nav.

4.3 miles

Holtye Golf Club (01342 850 635) Holtye Common, Cowden TN8 7ED Set in the Sussex Weald, a recent survey rated this 18 hole course a little gem.

5.1 miles

Villa Golf Club (01892 740 344) Blackham, Tunbridge Wells TN3 9UN Family run 9 hole pay and play course in pleasant valley setting. Clubs available for hire, carts and buggies can be booked in advance.

9.2 miles

Limpsfield Chart Golf Club (01883 722 106) Westerham Road, Limpsfield Chart, Oxted RH8 0SL Visitors welcome to this 18 hole course.

11.4 miles Tandridge Golf Club (01883 712 274) Godstone Road, Oxted RH8 9NQ Course created by Harry Colt in woodland setting. Welcomes visitors Monday, Wednesday and Thursday and after 16.30.

Horse riding 2.1 miles

Crippenden Stud Riding School (01342 850 638) 2 Crippenden Manor Cottages, Spode Lane, Cowden, Edenbridge, TN8 7HJ Provides riding lessons.

10.3 miles Ashdown Forest Riding Centre (0781 809 3880)

King Standing Farm, Blackhill Rd, Crowborough, TN6 1XE

Trekking centre and provider of pony parties.

10.3 miles Hurst Green Shires (07783 529 942)

Broomlands Farm, Broomlands Lane, Oxted RH8 0SP Heavy horse riding and driving centre. All abilities catered for.

12.5 miles Mayfield Stables and Riding School (01959 571 059) Ricketts Hill Rd, Tatsfield, Westerham TN16 2NG All year round hacks in the countryside, children’s parties and pony days on offer.

Squash 3.8 miles

Edenbridge Leisure Centre (01732 865 665) Stangrove Park, Edenbridge TN8 5LU

Court available throughout the day in 40 min blocks.

Swimming 3.8 miles

Edenbridge Leisure Centre (01732 865 665) Stangrove Park, Edenbridge TN8 5LU

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25m fitness pool, teaching/toddler pool.

10.5 miles Tandridge Leisure Centre (01883 716 717) Hoskins Road, Oxted RH8 9HT 25m fitness pool, adjoining lagoon pool with waves and water slide, pool inflatable, splash disco.

Tennis 2.5 miles

Cowden Recreation Ground (01342 322 568) Chantlers Mead, Cowden TN8 7HU

2 pay and play courts.

6.4 miles

Crockham Hill War Memorial Playing Field (01959 562 147) Dairy Lane, Crockham Hill, Edenbridge TN8 6RA

2 tennis courts with free public access.

Tenpin Bowling 12.8 miles Bowlplex, Tunbridge Wells (08444 770 496) Knights Park, Longfield Road, Tunbridge Wells TN2 3UW Also with pool tables and arcade machines.

Illustration by Derek Steinberg for Aspects of Edenbridge

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Nature Lovers On the spot

For more than fifty years house martins have returned every summer to nest under the eaves at Edells. Bats, foxes, deer, woodpeckers and owls have been sighted and there are badger dens in the woods.

Nearby

Cowden Pound Pastures (TN8 5NP) just north of the Queen’s Arms is an area of grassland and ancient woodland which in August, has one of the largest and most spectacular displays of devils-bit scabious in the county.

15 mins

Bough Beech Reservoir and Nature Reserve (TN14 6LD) has a visitor centre and viewing points where waders and wildfowl can be observed.

Just over the border into Surrey is Staffhurst Wood (TN8 6QR), which has a stunning display of bluebells in the spring.

North-east of Edells is the RSPB’s Tudeley Woods (TN11), a mixture of ancient woodland and heath with beautiful orchids and more than 1,000 species of fungi.

Beyond Hartfield to the south lies Ashdown Forest (RH18), an ancient area of open heathland occupying approximately 10 square miles. A Site of Special Scientific Interest, the heathland has heather, gorse, bogs and open water. Species supported by this environment include the nightjar, Dartford warbler, adder, lizard, butterfly, raft spider and bog bush cricket.

Despite its name woodland only makes up 40% of the total area. Here are sweet chestnut, hazel, alder, silver birch, oak and Scots pine. Coppicing still takes place, with the hazel coppice wood providing a habitat for dormice and rare plants like early purple orchid.

20 mins

South-east of Edells is Broadwater Warren (TN3 9JP), another RSPB managed reserve, where the churring sound of nightjars can be heard on the heath at sunset.

North of East Grinstead is the British Wildlife Centre (RH7 6LF), home to over 40 native species from harvest mice to red deer.

25 mins

On the outskirts of Sevenoaks north of Edells is the Sevenoaks Wildlife Reserve (TN13 3DH) with a mixed habitat of ponds, reed-beds and woodlands. There are viewing hides for bird-watching.

45 mins

Further away is Bedgebury National Pinetum and Forest (TN17 2SJ). It was established as the National Conifer Collection in 1925 but now has a mix of conifers and broadleaves. It contains over 12,000 tree specimens growing across 320 acres including rare, endangered and historically important specimens.

90 mins

Bird watchers could spend a day at RSPB Dungeness on the Romney Marsh.

There are six viewing hides on the main nature trail and a visitor centre with a huge picture window for viewing the waterbirds on the gravel pit outside.

Binoculars can be hired.

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Local Highlights 2.7 miles

Edenbridge Motor Show (01732 301 427) Gabriel’s Showground, Mill Hill, Edenbridge TN8 5PL Over the last few years there has been a Motor Show held at Gabriel’s Showground, Edenbridge, in early autumn exhibiting a mixture of classic cars, sports and agricultural vehicles. This year’s show is on Sunday 11th September from 10 – 4pm.

4 miles

Bonfire Night Celebration, Edenbridge (www.edenbridgebonfire.co.uk) Procession: Fircroft Way, Station Road, High Street, Relief Road.

Firework display and bonfire: Lingfield Road Recreation Ground, Coomb Field, Lingfield Road, Edenbridge TN8 5DX One of the biggest events in the Edenbridge calendar is the annual Bonfire Night celebration held on the nearest Saturday to 5th November, the date of the 1605 Gunpowder Plot to blow up England’s Houses of Pages from the Parliament. The first Edenbridge 1947 Edenbridge Bonfire Programme parade started in 1928. A torchlit procession comprised of about 20 carnival floats, marching bands and groups in costume representing local charities and visiting Bonfire Societies winds its way from the north end of the town through the High Street and over the bridge. It is headed by the Bishop of the Bonfire with his choirboys and figures representing Anne Boleyn, with her head under her arm, General Wolfe and Guy Fawkes. After the procession there is a firework display in the recreation ground and an effigy more than 10m tall of a notorious celebrity is set alight. The Edenbridge Bonfire Society uses the event to collect money for local charities. All roads are closed from 6pm for the Procession to start at 6.30pm.

8.8 miles

Edenbridge & Oxted Agricultural Show (www.edenbridge-show.co.uk) Ardenrun Showground, Tandridge Lane, Lingfield, Surrey RH7 6LL (signposted off the A22) Over two days on the August bank holiday weekend is the annual Edenbridge and Oxted Agricultural Show which was first started in 1837. The showground covers an area the size of ten Wembley Stadiums. As well as showing livestock there are equine competitions, horticultural marquees, and a day-long programme of events in the main arena.

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The Eden Valley in History Roman Britain The main Roman road to the south-east was Watling Street passing via Canterbury to the ports of east Kent. It branched off towards Lewes at what is now Peckham. It twisted at Titsey to make descent of the North Downs easier and again at Crockham Hill to descend the Greensand ridge escarpment, but from Marlpit Hill it ran straight through Edenbridge to Holtye and Hartfield. The two-mile stretch through Edenbridge still functions as a road.

Middle Ages Henry III granted Edenbridge a charter for a weekly market in 1279. The Eden Valley Museum is housed in a building that would have been part of Doggetts Farm built towards the end of the 14th century after the Black Death and Peasants’ Revolt. Across the courtyard in a former timber-framed barn are the Town Council offices. In 1455 William Taylour, a member of the Grocers’ Company, was elected Sheriff of London. He became Lord Mayor in 1468. His timber-framed house, Taylour House, is still to be seen in Edenbridge High Street opposite the Crown Inn. His coat of arms is on the right spandrel of the entrance door and the arms of the Grocers’ Company is on the left. The tanning of hides in Edenbridge dates back to 1447 and it continued as a tannery town until the 1970s.

Tudor Period Hever Castle was home to the Boleyn family who added to the original medieval defensive castle. It was the childhood home of Anne, the second wife of Henry VIII. In order to marry her Henry broke his ties with the Church of Rome and declared himself head of an English Church. It can be argued that the Church of England has its origins in the Eden Valley. Hever Castle was later passed to another of Henry’s wives, Anne of Cleves.

Victorian England Edenbridge expanded considerably during the Victorian period when two railway lines were built. One going from Redhill to Tonbridge was opened in 1842, and then the London Brighton and South Coast Railway reached the town in 1888. Regular cattle markets were held from the mid1840s until 1928. The rings for tethering cattle can still be seen on the east wall of the market yard carpark.

World Wars I and II The tannery expanded in the 19th century and its leather products like shoes and boots were much in demand during World War One. It is said that “every British soldier went to war on an Edenbridge sole”.

Physical traces of the War remain in the area. Along the River Eden can still be found large concrete pill-boxes built in the period 1940 to 1941 to provide a system of defences designed to protect London in the event of invasion by enemy forces.

Markbeech still has its school air raid shelter, which you can see as you come out of the Kentish Horse. Edenbridge churchyard contains memorials to the eight staff and 21 children killed in the early hours of 30 June 1944, when a flying bomb fell onto Weald House on the edge of Crockham Hill Common which was being used as an orphanage.

A British Beaufighter based at Redhill Aerodrome nose-dived into a field by the River Eden after suffering engine failure killing both the pilot and observer.

The RAF base at Biggin Hill played a central part in the Battle of Britain. It was part of

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11 Group, the fighter plane bases responsible for protecting London and the southeast from attack by enemy bombers. The fighters based at Biggin Hill claimed 1,400 enemy aircraft at a cost of the lives of 453 air crew. An eye-witness account of the Battle of Britain is given by Canadian Lt. Col. C.C.I. Merrett, V.C., as he drove through Edenbridge on his way to the Dieppe raid and imprisonment in Colditz camp. He describes fighters giving chase to German Bombers on their way towards London.

Penshurst Place was damaged by doodlebugs. The gardens were maintained during the War by prisoners of war as well as by locals. Field Marshal Viscount Gort, the maternal grandfather of Viscount de L’Isle, was responsible for withdrawing the British Expeditionary Force at Dunkirk in 1940.

Members of McIndoe’s Guinea Pig Club walked the streets of East Grinstead to face the world again. Archibald McIndoe pioneered surgery for deep burns and facial disfigurements at the Centre for Plastic and Jaw Surgery, Queen Victoria Hospital.

Brigadier Bagnold, who arguably won the War for us in North Africa by halting the Italian advance on Cairo, lived at Rickwoods, Markbeech. In Cairo 1940 he was given responsibility by Wavell for the creation of the British Army’s Long Range Desert group.

His sister Enid wrote National Velvet, the story of a girl who wins the Grand National steeplechase. It was turned into a film in 1944 starring a twelve-year old Elizabeth Taylor as Velvet.

Another local resident was Diana Barnato Walker, one of the first female pilots for the Air Transport Auxiliary unit. She delivered Spitfires, Hurricanes, Mustangs, Tempests, and other fighter aircraft from the factory or repair base to RAF flying units. She also trained to fly Mosquitos and Wellingtons.

Anne Sorby, who lived in the Old Vicarage Markbeech, spent much of her War time in China as a member of the Special Operations Executive smuggling gold to pay the Chinese army.

Small flights from a grass strip at Penshurst flew regularly to France with members of the S.O.E., while the woods around The Hole were used to hide vehicles in the build-up to D-Day. Chiddingstone Castle was used as a billet by Canadian forces.

King Henry VIII at Hever Castle

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Famous Neighbours The fictional Hundred Acre Wood of the Pooh Bear stories takes its name from the Five Hundred Acre Wood in Ashdown Forest. A. A. Milne lived at Cotchford Farm on the northern side of the Forest and used to take his son Christopher for walks there. The illustrator E. H. Shepard used the Ashdown Forest landscape as his inspiration for the drawings he did to accompany the stories about Pooh, Piglet and Eeyore.

The playwright John Osborne lived at Christmas Place, an Edwardian house just south of Edenbridge, in the 1970s and early ‘80s. His play Look Back in Anger was first performed at the Royal Court in 1956 and earned him the epithet of ‘angry young man’.

A near neighbour was Roger Hargreaves, author of 46 Mr Men and 33 Little Miss children’s books.

Between 1982 and 1988 he lived at Sussex House Farm near Cowden. During the 1950s and ‘60s this had been home to the family of the actor John Mills and his wife Mary Hayley Bell, author of Whistle Down the Wind. The novel was turned into a film starring their daughter Hayley Mills in 1961 and into an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical in 1996. Their daughter, Juliet, was married in St Mary Magdalene Church, Cowden, with her sister Hayley as bridesmaid.

North of Edenbridge is The Cearne, an Arts and John Mills with his daughter Juliet Mills Crafts style building designed by William Cowlishaw, on her wedding day a disciple of William Morris. It was built 1895-6 for at Cowden Church 1961 Edward Garnett, literary agent, editor and critic, and his wife Constance, who translated Russian authors Chekhov, Dostoyevsky and Tolstoy.

Their son David Garnett wrote Lady into Fox in 1922, It was made into a ballet for the Ballet Rambert in 1939. His Aspects of Love (1955) was later adapted as a musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber.

It was at The Cearne that D. H. Lawrence took refuge from the scandal ensuing when he started a relationship with Frieda Weekley. He wrote many of his dialect poems there including Whether or Not and composed At the Cearne. Other visitors included Joseph Conrad and W.H. Hudson.

A stained glass window depicting Christ on the Tree of Life designed by Edward BurneJones and produced by Morris & Co. was installed at St Peter and Paul parish church, Edenbridge, although originally intended for Holy Trinity Crockham Hill. The social reformer and joint founder of the National Trust Octavia Hill lived nearby in Larksfield from 1884 and was buried in Holy Trinity churchyard. Her grave is to the right of the path that leads to the south porch.

Architects in the Arts and Crafts style with links to the area include William Lethaby, friend of William Morris and Philip Webb, Mackay Hugh Baillie Scott and Robert Schultz, who worked for Norman Shaw. Work by Lethaby can be seen in St Paul’s Church, Four Elms, and How Green House near Hever was designed by Schultz. Baillie Scott designed Winscombe House, Crowborough. He lived in Edenbridge for twenty years and his memorial stone can be found in the cemetery of St Peter and Paul.

The Sussex born classicising architect Benjamin Latrobe had his first independent commission at Hammerwood Park near East Grinstead 1792 and then designed Ashdown House in Forest Row. He later designed the front portico of the White House, Washington D.C., after emigrating to America in 1794 on the death of his wife.

Quebec House in Westerham (now owned by the National Trust) was the childhood

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home of Major General James Wolfe. The British capture of Quebec following a three month siege ended French control of Canada and resulted in his being called posthumously the ‘hero of Quebec’. His boyhood friend George Warde lived at nearby Squerryes Court which still belongs to the Warde family. Warde crushed the Irish rebellion of 1798.

Sir Winston Churchill, Prime Minister during the Second World War, spent most of the 1930s at Chartwell, a house he had bought in 1922. Here he was visited regularly by Desmond Morton, his chief political informant, and by a succession of world statesmen as well as by Charlie Chaplin. Morton, who lived in north Edenbridge, became Churchill’s personal Assistant at No 10 Downing Street in 1940.

Brigadier Bagnold, who arguably won the War for us in North Africa by halting the Italian advance, lived at Rickwoods, Markbeech. In Cairo 1940 he was given responsibility by Wavell for the creation of the British Army’s Long Range Desert group.

Another local resident was Diana Barnato Walker, one of the first female pilots for the Air Transport Auxiliary unit. She delivered Spitfires, Hurricanes, Mustangs, Tempests, and other fighter aircraft from the factory or repair base to RAF flying units. She also trained to fly Mosquitos and Wellingtons.

Anne Sorby, who lived in the Old Vicarage Markbeech, spent much of her War time in China as a member of the Special Operations Executive smuggling gold to pay the Chinese army.

Sir Francis Younghusband who led the 1904 British expedition to Tibet and was later president of the Royal Geographical Society lived at Westerham between 1921 and 1937. Alice Liddell, who inspired Lewis Carroll to write Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, lived briefly in the vicarage at Westerham and stayed with her sister at Hoseyrigge just before she died in 1934.

A figure from the world of motor racing with links to the area is John Surtees who remains the only one to have won World Championships on both two and four wheels. He was Formula One World Champion in 1964 and also won the motorcycle World Championship on four occasions. He started building his first Formula One cars on Fircroft Way, north Edenbridge. Also located here is the showroom and factory of Jaques of London, a firm manufacturing sports and games equipment whose games sent to prisoner of war camps often contained escape information. It was set up in 1795 by Thomas Jaques, of French Huguenot descent, and is still run by the family. It popularised the games of croquet and ping pong. John Jaques II devised the card game of Happy Families and is also credited with inventing tiddlywinks, ludo and snakes and ladders. Cards with the original designs made by the illustrator John Tenniel are still being produced.

John Surtees the only person to win the Formula One and Motorcycle World Championships

Another figure from the sporting world who lived locally is Matthew Fleming, elected President of MCC. He captained Kent for several seasons and played in eleven One Day Internationals for England between 1997-8. He grew up at Stonewall Park, Chiddingstone, where he played on the green.

Families with famous members are the Sackvilles and de L’Isles. The author Vita Sackville-West was born at Knole House, Sevenoaks. Unable to inherit Knole which passed to a cousin on her father’s death, she later moved to Sissinghurst Castle, near

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Cranbrook, Kent, with her husband Harold Nicolson. Her many lovers included Virgina Woolf and Violet Trefusis.

Penshurst Place has been owned by the Sidney family since 1552. William Sidney the 6th Baron and first Viscount De L’Isle was the fifteenth Governor General of Australia. During the Second World War he served with the 5th Battalion of the Grenadier Guards leading an attack on the Germans at Anzio. Despite being wounded he refused to have his wounds attended to until the position had been secured. For this act of bravery he was awarded the Victoria Cross.

Hever Castle and Edells have both been owned by the Streatfeild family, who still live locally. Well-known members of the family are Noel Streatfeild, author of the popular children’s book Ballet Shoes, and Geoffrey Streatfeild, an actor who has taken on the role of Prince Hal for the RSC and appeared in the films The Other Boleyn Girl and Spooks.

On the occasion of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in 2012, The Eden Valley Museum celebrated some diamonds of its own. In recognition of the people in the Eden Valley who had made a contribution to history, a list of sixty – one for each year of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign – was drawn up and a chart showing their portraits was produced.

This is still available from both the EVE Gallery and the Eden Valley Museum in Edenbridge.

Winston Churchill at Chartwell

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Films made in the area Hever Castle Anne of the Thousand Days (1969) starring Richard Burton and Genevieve Bujold The Famous History of the Life of King Henry VIII (1979) BBC TV adaptation

with John Stride, Claire Bloom and Ronald Pickup The Wicked Lady (1983) film starring Faye Dunaway and Alan Bates,

directed by Michael Winner Lady Jane (1986) film starring Helena Bonham Carter, directed by Trevor Nunn King Ralph (1990) film starring John Goodman and Peter O’Toole The Darling Buds of May (1991) TV series with David Jason and Catherine Zeta Jones Inkheart (2008) film starring Brendan Fraser

Penshurst Place Anne of the Thousand Days (1969) starring Richard Burton and Genevieve Bujold Elizabeth R (1971) TV series with Glenda Jackson The Famous History of the Life of King Henry VIII (1979) BBC TV adaptation

with John Stride, Claire Bloom and Ronald Pickup The Gathering (2002) film starring Christina Ricci and Ioan Gruffudd To Kill a King (2003) film starring Tim Roth Merlin (2008-12) TV series with Colin Morgan The Other Boleyn Girl (2008) starring Scarlett Johansson, Eric Bana and Natalie Portman The Hollow Crown (2012/16) BBC TV series Wolf Hall (2015) BBC TV series with Mark Rylance and Claire Foy

Chartwell The Young Winston (1972) film starring Simon Ward and Robert Shaw, directed

by Richard Attenborough The Gathering Storm (2002) TV film with Albert Finney and Vanessa Redgrave Churchill’s Secret (2016) TV drama with Michael Gambon

Chiddingstone Elizabeth R (1971) TV series with Glenda Jackson A Room with a View (1987) film starring Helena Bonham Carter and Daniel Day Lewis

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Kiera Knightley in Pride and Prejudice

Squerryes Court Emma (2009) BBC adaptation with Romola Garai and Jonny Lee Miller The Hollow Crown: Henry V (2012) BBC TV with Tom Hiddleston

Knole Park and House The Other Boleyn Girl (2008) film starring Scarlett Johansson and Natalie Portman Burke and Hare (2010) film starring Simon Pegg and Andy Serkis

Groombridge Place Pride and Prejudice (2005) film starring Kiera Knightley, Matthew Macfadyen

and Donald Sutherland

Gabriel’s Manor The Collector (1965) film starring Terence Stamp and Samantha Eggar,

directed by William Wyler

Helena Bonham Carter and Julian Sands in A Room With A View

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Four idyllic and fresh locations used for filming Four privately owned locations in North-West Kent Eden Valley within the cluster of the unspoilt and historic Weald villages of Chiddingstone, Penshurst, Markbeech and Hever.

Secluded, but with easy access to London (Rail – 45 minute direct service; Road – 10 miles outside the M25).

FALCONHURST ESTATE www.falconhurst.co.uk/venure-hire The Talbot family started to build the Falconhurst estate in the 1850s including the village of Markbeech, much of which they still own.

There are more than 30 separate filming locations which can include most of the village if required.

EDELLS VICTORIAN VICARAGE www.edells.co.uk A rare and original Victorian vicarage with oratory and hand printed William Morris wallpapers. Can also be hired for accommodation (sleeps up to 21).

Cowden train station is a few minutes’ walk down the hill. Outbuildings, gardens, woods.

The woods lead into the Falconhurst Estate (5 minute drive between the two locations).

STONEWALL PARK www.stonewallpark.co.uk Huge Georgian house was built in the early 19th century with mid-19th century alterations and extensions. On three sides it appears, at first glance, as a handsome Italianate villa of the 1850s with classical detailing on the cream coloured render. 5 minute drive from Falconhurst and Edells, 1 minute from Hoath House.

HOATH HOUSE www.hoathhouse.com A medieval/Tudor manor house surrounded by mature grounds.

Can also be hired for accommodation (sleeps up to 43).

Plus access to one of the world’s largest picture libraries and use of their gallery, EVE, Eden Valley Edenbridge, for filming space. 5 miles. www.topfoto.co.uk

http://evegallery.co.uk

Contact: Hugo Talbot +44 7880 707 150 h.p.talbot@gmail.com

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Edells’ History Long, long ago and hidden in the wild of Kent there were three small farms: Edells (named after Eadelm, an Anglo-Saxon chieftain), Coldharbour, the foundations of which are in the garden of what is now Edells Cottage beside a medieval well, and, a little further away in the wood, another farm of which all that remains is the dairy.

This is now a holiday cottage called The Hole and is in the care of the Landmark Trust and the Falconhurst Estate. The farms owed their existence to the fact that people could farm clearings in the Weald with tracks between them linking with a Ley line road running through Markbeech from Tunbridge Wells past the sweet water at Stonewall to the Stone Age Dry Hill Camp. Where the road from Hever crosses it, there remains the Kentish Horse and the Old Farm. From there it was possible to go down through the fields past Edells and join the Roman road at Cowden. The road built by the Romans was the best and quickest way to travel, which is why there are so many farms and grand houses along it.

Through the centuries ownership of Edells passed from religious foundations to landowners whose estates were built up by marriage. When Henry VIII was courting Anne Boleyn (Bullen) at her home in Hever Castle it was then owned by the Bullen family. Later, in the 18th century, it belonged to the Streatfeilds who also owned Edells. In 1833 the Edells estate was bought by Major-General William Woodhouse who had served in the Indian army. He demolished the old timber-framed houses of Coldharbour, Edells and much of The Hole, replacing Edells between 1839 and 1840 with a bungalow in the Indian style with which he would have been familiar. It is likely to have been a substantial stone and brick building with two floors and a verandah around it.

When General Woodhouse died, Edells was inherited in 1845 by his brother George.

An advertisement in The Times shows that in 1847 it was being offered for rent and described as “of modern structure, in a romantic situation, approached by a carriage drive, through an avenue of trees”. It is possible that some of these trees survive today.

It was taken by the Talbot family for a holiday and, when it was offered for sale in 1849, the London barrister John Chetwynd Talbot bought it.

Edells To Let in 1847 , For Sale in 1849.and Reverend Hunt (right)

Talbot had a house, Falconhurst, built on Lord’s Land with views across to the south and founded a church at Markbeech, the Holy Trinity, designed by David Brandon in the Early English style. A parish was carved out of Cowden and Hever especially for Talbot. In 1851 the family travelled to Rome for a holiday and in their hotel in Florence encountered a priest, the Reverend Robert Shapland Hunt, who was, like the Talbots, a Tractarian. At that time hotels in Italy would provide for the religious needs of their visitors by having clergymen, such as the Rev’d Hunt, attached to them. In 1852 he

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was appointed incumbent at Markbeech with Edells as his vicarage, where he lived with his sisters. In that same year John Chetwynd Talbot died leaving his widow, Caroline, to complete his project for the estate.

Between 1873 and 1875 Joseph Clark, the architect and surveyor to the Canterbury diocese, was appointed to make great alterations to Edells. This he did, doubling the size of the house, removing the Edells sitting room verandah, and installing features that were appropriate to a vicarage, such as carved crosses on some of the lintels, St Peter’s shells, and a little stained-glass window over the front door for an oratory. This typical red-brick house can still be seen, and careful scrutiny reveals that the two halves of it, which otherwise blend together, are in different styles. Falconhurst brickworks in the village of Markbeech supplied the bricks for these major works.

It ceased to be a vicarage in 1904 on the death of the Rev’d Hunt. He had lived there for more than fifty years in some style, having a cottage for his staff, extensive stabling with several horses, a carriage and full-time coachman. In his will he left £23,000. Edells was subsequently lived in by Miss Pearce. During the war years of 1939 to 1945 it was occupied by evacuees. In 1955 it was tenanted by Lady Macdonald of the Isles and her sister Miss Campbell. It was bought in 1967 by Alan Smith and his wife Joanna Talbot, sister of Chetwynd Talbot’s great, great grandson Charles, who now runs the Falconhurst estate. Edells’ cottage and its coach house is now lived in by Alan Smith, while the former vicarage building, as in 1847, is in use as a holiday retreat.

The intention is to preserve as much of the Victorian past as possible but with modern additions where necessary to compensate for the lack of the numerous staff once involved in running such a property. William Morris wallpapers adorn many of the rooms of the house. The designs were produced using the original Morris wallpaper blocks and historically accurate colours, which were hand-mixed. The garden has been developed over recent times under the guidance and supervision of New Zealander Christopher Masson, a pupil of American Lanning Roper, who was commissioned to landscape the grounds at Highgrove House. The Victorian ha-ha, which had fallen in, has been restored.

During the time the Smith family were living in Edells, John Seymour published (1976) his innovative book on self-sufficiency which promoted a self-supporting way of living.

They had already been strongly influenced by Armand Denis and by Rachel Carson’s book Silent Spring on the problems caused by pesticides and her work on raising environmental awareness. With a growing family to feed and in the belief that it was important to work closely with nature, from 1970 Alan and Joanna began to use their own garden as a small farm, keeping chickens, geese, ducks, turkeys and sheep, and growing their own vegetables. They were in the vanguard of the self-sufficiency movement that became increasingly popular on the airing of the 1975 TV series The Good Life.

Joanna published her book, Farm Your Garden, in 1976 and it was a Penguin paperback the following year. This was followed by The New English Vineyard in 1979

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which had the distinction of being awarded the André Simon prize for best wine book of the year. She had earlier in 1974 compiled a book of recipes supplied by people in Markbeech to raise funds for repairs on the church and the result was Village Cooking.

In a different vein is her Edwardian Childhood of 1983, based on the recollections of seventeen surviving Edwardians including the Dowager Duchess of Devonshire, Joanna’s father, Thomas Talbot, and several residents at St Andrew’s Convent on Stick Hill.

Another literary link with Edells is an association with Armand Denis, a film-maker married to Michaela Denis. Together they made wildlife documentaries for television. In 1963 he became the first editor of Animals magazine, a project on which he worked with Alan Smith. Several of these volumes can be found in the house. The articles published gave an early insight into ecology and threats to the environment.

Alan also worked with Robert Carrier for twenty years as his literary agent. Accepted milestones in English cookery are Mrs Beeton, Elizabeth David and the TV chefs of today. Linking David with the likes of Jamie Oliver is Carrier. Robert was an American who fought in Europe and, when the War ended, learnt to cook with Fifine in St Tropez.

His style of cooking was popularised on the wave of colour magazine printing, and his restaurants (Carrier’s Camden Passage and Hintlesham Hall) were the must-eatat places. Many of the things in Edells’ kitchen are derived from Hintlesham Hall: the unique chopping block, the Neff electric oven, the Medici medallion designed by Angus McBean and given as a gift to Carrier, and the kitchen crockery. There is a collection of his publications and cookery cards which are available for visitors to use.

In 1973 a neighbour, John Topham a photographer, retired. His collection of photographs which were mainly about Kent, rural life and the Hebrides, were acquired with the intention they serve as a basis for writing books. Today the collection has morphed into www.TopFoto.co.uk, a world visual resource which is run from Edenbridge and can be visited by appointment made via Alan Smith, telephone number 01732 863939.

Edells was first to let in 1847, rented and then bought by the Talbots - today it is again to let but now to those who want to enjoy holidays, to celebrate, to make films, and to hold retreats for many purposes: yoga, meditation, and music-making.

The location makes Edells the perfect spot from which to find out about private schools in the area: Tonbridge, Sevenoaks, Woldingham, Walthamstow Hall, and Kent College among them. It can also serve as a base for house-hunting with up to 300 new homes planned for Edenbridge alone.

Staircase and “Garden Tulip”, a William Morris wallpaper at Edells.

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I-Spy Look out for these curiosities on your visit: The two red benches outside the east end of the house were once on Hever Railway Station. Stranger by far is that when Alan Smith was on the Hollywood Universal Studios lot and was taken to lunch by Chris Costello (the daughter of the Costello of Abbot and Costello), the bar in use was the old Victoria Railway Station bar. Behind it was the destination board London to Uckfield, via Cowden. The meals were in the old railway rollingstock using the original wooden bench seats.

Alan’s father-in-law, Thomas Talbot, remembered them very well having to travel up to London daily on the trains. He said they were so uncomfortable to sit on day after day.

On the west end of Edells there was formerly a big greenhouse, which must have been picked up and whirled away in the Great Storm of 1987 as there was no sign of it in the morning. The wooden front to what became known as The Sprout (which replaced the greenhouse) came from architectural salvage in Bath, as did the stone seat at the north-east end with uprisers comprised of two stone blind windows which replaced glass windows during the period of the Window Tax. The Edells name-carving in wood was a present from Vasile Nedelcu, Alan’s son-in-law.

The name of ‘Edells’ is thought to be derived from that of the Anglo-Saxon chieftain Eadhelm, whose bridge – Eadhelm’s bridge - gave the town of Edenbridge its name.

The underfloor heating, a sort of hypocaust in the Sprout, is gridded with ironwork that previously fronted the chimney in the east hall. The tiles are all original and cover what was originally the big tomato bed in the greenhouse. They are similar to those that can be seen in Markbeech church.

There is a Sheila Maid above the hypocaust for drying clothes. The big pew in the Sprout came from a village near Uckfield. Alan’s brother-in-law helped him bring it back from there in the 1933 Rolls Royce re-purposed hearse Alan used for the school bus run.

It had plenty of room inside, so much that it was possible to walk in without bending.

It also had the Spirit of Ecstasy ornament on the bonnet showing a woman bending forward with billowing cloth flowing out behind her to resemble wings. The pair got lost and went round a roundabout three times. They were then stopped by the police who asked why they were driving a hearse containing furniture and who they were.

The unshaven brother-in-law said in his best bedside manner, “I am Professor Boyd and it is the only vehicle large enough for us to take the pew back to the vicarage.” The correct route was then courteously pointed out to them.

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The cobbles outside the door came from the Edells stables and those on the folly from a stable in Tunbridge Wells. The slate table under the pergola is a recycled full size billiard table resting on local stone cemented in a traditional way. Some of the other slate is from the old cooling larder, the arrow slits of which can still be seen in the food larder as you pass into the boot room. The larders have zinc doors so that the winds can blow through this north facing room which cooled food long before there were fridges.

The pump in the wall as you go up the orchard steps is the original hand-pump which drew up the water from the 10,000 gallon tank under the ground. There is a similar underground 10,000 gallon tank on the south side of the house. The water in the north tank was supplied by gutters and downpipes. It was pumped into the house for use and the waste then pumped out into the other tank, water from which could then be used for watering the garden.

Mains water came in about 1922 when the deep well in the cottage yard was capped off with a big block of concrete, which was covered in its turn with a shed and garden.

When clearing the yard in the mid 1980s the capping was discovered and two strong men lifted the block and nearly tumbled in. The well is 57 foot to the surface of the water and 30 foot deep. The advice was against using it for drinking water, so a wellhead was built. It was lit so that the black, hand-thrown bricks could be seen from a viewing panel on top.

This was all right until the Smith family’s children were found trying to lever the top off. It had to be made absolutely safe. To this end the present very large stone was located and brought down from Yorkshire. A special crane was tracked down which was driven over to Edells early in the morning. The crane operator shot out its stabilising feet, swung the block over the building and dropped it in place. The crane’s legs were then retracted, the operator collected his money and was gone, all in half an hour. The previous day the crane had been in Paris lifting a building over the British embassy and into the Embassy garden. A very special crane.

The same two men dug a new drainage system using an 18 inch pipe to get the water from the drive into the very deep ravine in the wood. When they were about 6 foot below the ground in what had been the old soft-fruit garden, they came upon a tiled farmhouse floor. When putting the posts in for the roses, one had to be placed out of line because, as the Smiths dug down, they found a flight of steps. The area there had once been a walled garden and a farmhouse.

The garden walls collapsed during the winter of 1967/1968 just after the Smiths had moved in. Below the wall was a huge pillow of material and, when this was cleared, the substantial retaining buttressed wall was found. The seat in it was added by the Smiths and is a modern invention. It is thought that this may be the remains of a fortified farmhouse, with the track from Hever to Cowden running past the foot of the wall. One hundred yards further down three tracks can be seen which would have been used when the others got too muddy.

A modern innovation has been the introduction of four solar heating panels placed on the roof, which provide the energy needed to help keep the house warm and to heat the water efficiently.

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The Talbot Family The Talbot family bought Edells in 1850, and have owned it ever since. ‘Talbot’ is probably from the Old German ‘Talabod’ deriving from ‘tal’ meaning ‘to destroy’ and ‘bod’ meaning ‘tidings’, hence ‘messenger of destruction’. It survived in Norman France as the male name Talebod.

The Talbots have been mentioned throughout British history. The Talbot family were vassals of the Giffards in Normandy. In 1086 Richard Talbot is known to have been a tenant in Bedfordshire of Walter Giffard. A descendent, Gilbert, married Gwenllian, the heiress of a Welsh Prince of the House of Dinefwr, in the thirteenth century. His grandson, also Gilbert, is believed to have been made Baron Talbot by 1331.

During the next century, the 7th Baron, John Talbot fought in the Battle of Shrewsbury for King Henry IV against the Percy family and was then dispatched to Ireland by Henry V. He joined Henry V in France to fight in the Hundred Years’ War. In Shakespeare’s play Henry V the king rouses his men with a stirring speech before the battle of Agincourt on 25 October 1415 (St Crispin’s Day), which was a great victory for England: But he’ll remember, with advantages, What feats he did that day. Then shall our names, Familiar in his mouth as household words— Harry the King, Bedford and Exeter, Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester— Be in their flowing cups freshly rememb’red.

This story shall the good man teach his son; And Crispin Crispian shall ne’er go by, From this day to the ending of the world, But we in it shall be rememberedWe few, we happy few, we band of brothers.

After another period in Ireland, Talbot returned to defend Normandy during the 1430s and 40s. For this he was made Earl of Shrewsbury in 1442. He met his death in 1453 at the battle of Castillon, a battle that finally brought an end to the Hundred Years’ War. Shakespeare’s play I Henry VI is based on the part played by Talbot during this period of the war. He presents Talbot as a tragic hero whose death is due to the quarrelling between the Dukes of York and Somerset which prevents their armies from relieving him.

The 6th Earl of Shrewsbury, George Talbot, became the fourth husband of Bess of Hardwick in 1567. He was made the keeper of Mary, Queen of Scots, after the Battle of Langside and was responsible for guarding her for fifteen years. He foiled a rescue bid

by Leonard Dacre at Wingfield Manor and a second plot to free her from Chatsworth.

In 1571 he was appointed Lord High Steward for the trial of Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk, for his part in the Ridolfi plot to assassinate Elizabeth I and replace her with Mary. A daughter by his first wife, Grace, later married Henry Cavendish, a son of Bess from her second marriage.

Charles Talbot, 12th Earl of Shrewsbury, was one of the seven men who in 1688 invited

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William of Orange to invade England and seize the throne from James II. He served as Secretary of State under William and was made Lord High Treasurer by Queen Anne on her deathbed in 1714. In this capacity, he helped ensure the peaceful succession of the Hanoverian dynasty. He died without heirs.

A relation, another Charles Talbot, was, in his capacity as Solicitor General, joint author with Sir Philip Yorke of the Yorke-Talbot legal opinion. In their view a slave did not become free on coming to England and could legally be returned to the colonies. For the next 40 years the opinion was taken by slaveholders to have established the legality of slavery. He was made a peer becoming 1st Baron Talbot in 1733 and Lord Chancellor 1733-1737.

The successful barrister John Chetwynd Talbot and his wife Caroline (daughter of James Stuart-Wortley, 1st Baron Wharncliffe) who purchased Edells were part of the Oxford movement which reinforced the traditional place of Catholicism within the Church of England. In 1869 their son Edward Stuart Talbot was appointed Warden of the newly established Keble College, Oxford. He married Lavinia Lyttelton, the sister of his brother John Gilbert Talbot’s wife. Edward became vicar of Leeds Parish Church, and was then bishop successively of Rochester, Southwark and Winchester.

Edward’s wife Lavinia was the daughter of George William, 4th Baron Lyttelton, chairman of the Canterbury Association. This was founded in 1848 to establish a Church of England colony in New Zealand, encouraging British workmen with appropriate skills to settle there. The port of Lyttelton was named after him. The first four ships brought 792 Canterbury Pilgrims, as they were known, to Lyttelton in late 1850 and early 1851. The plan was to build a cathedral and college modelled on Christ Church, Oxford. George Gilbert Scott who worked in the Gothic Revival style was commissioned to design the cathedral. The city of Christchurch became the administrative capital of the province of Canterbury.

Edward’s youngest son, Gilbert, was killed at Hooge during the First World War in 1915.

An army chaplain, Tubby Clayton, was sent that same year to Poperinge in Belgium by his senior chaplain, Neville Talbot, to set up a rest house for soldiers of all ranks. It was named Talbot House in honour of Neville’s brother Gilbert. It became known by the abbreviated form TOC H (TOC was the British Army signaller’s code for ‘T’). This was the origin of the TOC H movement, which promotes Christianity through acts of service to others, and now has branches worldwide. Talbot House itself is now a museum and guest house.

Dame Meriel Lucy Talbot was one of ten children of John Gilbert Talbot and Meriel Lyttelton. She coordinated The Women’s Land Army during WWI and later served on the committees of various bodies aimed at improving women’s welfare. She is buried in Markbeech church graveyard.

The Lyttelton family lived at Hagley Hall. Besides Meriel and Lavinia, there were two more sisters: Lucy and May. They were all nieces of the Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone’s wife Catherine, Lord Lyttelton’s sister-in-law. Gladstone was a close friend of the Talbot family and his relations visited many times. Lucy married Lord Frederick Cavendish, who was appointed Chief Secretary for Ireland

by Gladstone in May1882. Only hours after arriving in Dublin, he was killed in Phoenix Park by Irish Nationalists

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in a successful assassination plot against the Permanent Under-Secretary, Thomas Burke, simply because he happened to be in Burke’s company.

Two grandsons of John Gilbert Talbot were staying at the Loch Maree Hotel in 1922. On 14 August they were part of a group of 13 guests, 17 ghillies and boatmen who went out fishing on the Loch. The party was provided with packed lunches by the hotel.

Several holidaymakers were taken ill suffering double vision, dizziness, and muscle weakness. Eight of them died from what was subsequently diagnosed as botulism. Only one of the jars used for the picnic, that containing potted duck paté, was found to be contaminated. The 22 year old John had swapped his sandwich with his younger brother. John died: Tom survived. The Loch Maree Tragedy has featured prominently in medical journals, raising awareness of the risks of food poisoning from contaminated products and the deadliness of botulism. Although an inquest exonerated both the factory and the hotel from blame, the hotel’s owner, Alexander Robertson, was so badly hit by the tragedy that he found it impossible to carry on living with the burden of guilt and died not long afterwards.

Thomas Talbot married Cynthia Guest in 1933.

She was the youngest child of Ivor Guest (Lord Wimborne), a cousin and friend of Winston Churchill. Lord Wimborne had been appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in 1915 and proclaimed martial law in Dublin during the Easter Rising. Thomas, like his father before him, had a legal career. His father, George John Talbot became a judge and presided at the murder trial of Alfred Rouse in 1931.

Cynthia’s father, Lord Wimborne, was the grandson of Lady Charlotte Guest who had married an ironmaster and MP for Merthyr Tydfil in 1833. Already expert in seven languages, she taught herself Welsh and translated The Mabinogion, a selection of Welsh legends.

Her translation Tennyson took with him and read on his honeymoon with its becoming the inspiration for his Idylls of the King, a reworking Thomas Talbot and Cynthia Guest of the legends of King Arthur. On the death of on their wedding day, 1933 her husband she married her son’s tutor, Charles Schreiber, an academic and MP. With him she toured Europe and assembled a large collection of ceramics which she bequeathed to the Victoria and Albert Museum. Her collection of fans, board games and playing cards she donated to the British Museum.

Wimborne House, No 22 Arlington Street, had been rebuilt by William Kent 1741-51 and was subsequently bought by Lady Charlotte’s son, Ivor, in about 1870. Lavish parties were held here. One of Sir Ivor Guest’s sons, Freddie Guest, was private secretary to his cousin Winston Churchill at the Colonial office in 1921. The eldest son, also Ivor, succeeded to his father’s title in 1914. In 1931 he was elected President of the National Liberal party. Receptions before the State Opening of Parliament were held here.

Cesar Ritz of the Ritz Hotel next door wrote to say that were Wimborne House to be for sale, he would like to buy it to extend the Ritz. The reply came from Lord Wimborne that, if the Ritz were for sale, then he would like to buy the Ritz. The house is now in private hands and has been sympathetically restored.

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Visitor Comments “Special is how I would sum up my stay here. The long driveway got us immediately excited and the house is grand, spacious and full of character. The gardens were very well kept and the views from the bedrooms/garden are spectacular.” - Lee. “We had such a wonderful stay at this stunning home. Edells is a truly beautiful place to stay, full of character and charm, and the photos don’t do justice to how special it is. We loved having candlelit dinners and for small children there are some delightful and well-loved toys to discover. And no need to bring a book, there are several libraries along with board games to enjoy.” - Anna.

“The house, grounds, setting and views are amazing. It’s beautifully furnished and decorated and despite being such a large house, has a very welcoming and cosy feel and was perfect for our large family gathering. There’s a fantastic book collection, lots of games and toys. Great country walks, local pubs and places to visit, this really is a beautiful part of England and only 40 minutes away from London Bridge from Cowden station.” - Claire.

“The house itself is beautiful, and has a wealth of rare original features as you can see in the photos. We loved being able to explore rooms like the library, and found the place very comfortable. The kitchen has all the equipment you could need; the bedrooms are pretty; the bathrooms have a luxury feel as well as having a Victorian style.” - Holly.

References Mark Beech: the Unknown Village

by Timothy Boyle (Phillimore & Co., Chichester, 1999) Edenbridge Official Guide and Map issued by Edenbridge Town Council (Local Authority Publishing Co. Ltd., Lower Dicker, 2015) Edenbridge Historic Town Trail issued

by Edenbridge Town Council www.edenvalleykent.org

Main text by Alan Smith Research by Colleen Perry Design by John Balean Printing by Topfoto.co.uk Picture framing and hanging by Peter Clarke

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Where next?

If you have enjoyed your visit here, ask about our traditional stone house in Psematesmenos, Cyprus, at floras@topfoto.co.uk, and about our accommodation on Tiree, the outermost of the Inner Hebrides, with a vivid bird and plant life and the sunshine record for many months of the year. Stay in an island home or at a Hebridean Trust property (contact hebrideantrust.org). Available out-of-season is The Blue House at Trevose, near Padstow in Cornwall (info@falconhurst.co.uk).

A Cyprus hide-away Mary’s House: between the mountains and the sea To let for holidays: a fascinating old stone Cypriot house, large and converted, for privacy and paradise. Located in the centre of Psematismenos village, less than 30 km from the main airport at Larnaca, 30km to Limassol, and just 5 minutes drive to the sea. Psematismenos is a lovely traditional village with a first class restaurant and a small shop.

A Cyprus hide-away

A traditional Cypriot house but unusually generous in scale and beauty. Fully furnished with three double bedrooms, each with its own modern bathroom, also one single bedroom with a Cypriot sofa bed.

Three further single beds could be used by children.

Built on the hillside, the house is on two levels. On the upper level, accessed from a quiet village street, is the main part of the house with large, wellequipped kitchen, arched dining area, bathroom and the glory of the house – a huge living room spanned by a Mary’s House: beautiful carved stone arch. This room between the mountains and the sea also serves as a double bedroom, as is the Cypriot tradition. It leads onto a balcony and roof terrace of 20 square metres (with barbeque and outdoor dining table) and has lovely views down the valley to the sea.

On the lower level, accessed from the street through the shady garden planted with lemons, pomegranates and frangipani, or by an outdoor staircase for the garden from the upper balcony, is another huge double bedroom, also spanned by a great stone arch, with its own bathroom. The third double bedroom is in a delightful stone cottage in the garden, converted from what was originally the donkey house. It has its own bathroom and kitchenette. The single bedroom is also accessed from the garden and has a kitchenette.

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There is a stone table in the garden for meals or just reading. There are many books in the house including an excellent collection of works covering Cypriot history and culture, birds, flowers, maps and guidebooks. An electronic keyboard gives opportunity for music making.

The donkey house has air-conditioning. Other rooms can be cooled by fans. Gas heaters provide warmth for winter evenings.

Rent: [English edition] £120 per person, per week, regardless of season. Longer term rental possible by arrangement.

[Romanian edition] Euro 135 per person, per week, regardless of season. Longer term rental possible by arrangement.

Cyprus is a perfect place to rest and holiday. With it’s long season it’s possible to swim even until Christmas; and February/March is warm enough to be a perfect pick-me-up after a draining Northern winter.

A paradise for artists, writers, musicians, thinkers, families, friends, birdwatchers.... and foodies.

Cyprus food markets are a wonderful experience, find huge piles of herbs, fruits, luscious vegetables and treats like the famous Cypriot honey, the sublime Greek yoghurt, farmfresh halloumi and the freshest of bread and pastries at the crossroads, 5 minutes drive from the house.

Swimming pool: it is usually possible to use the neighbouring swimming pool immediately below the Donkey House cottage, by arrangement in advance, and there is a connecting door.

The neighbourhood – around the village Some local amenities and attractions Necessities The crossroads: a line of shops including excellent chemist/pharmacist, baker, butcher, food market, charcoal for the barbeque, gas canisters for the fires if required in winter.

Banking: the village centre has the Co-Op bank (English spoken). The nearest cashpoint is in Maroni village (5 minutes drive). There are also cash-points at the crossroads and in all the main towns.

Diversions The village Greek Orthodox Church is ancient, although altered in the 19-20 Century; the whole village attends. Visitors always welcome on Sundays; you can arrive any time after you hear the first bells but don’t leave once you’re in!)

Lord Kitchener’s Tavern, excellent restaurant 2 minutes walk from the house. Numerous other tavernas within 5 km radius.

Chirokitia Neolithic settlement 10 minutes drive Ayios Minas, small and delightful convent 15 minutes drive

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Lefkara, beautiful hill village where silver and lace are made 25 minutes drive Kiti Byzantine church, Sultan Tekke Mosque and the salt lake with flamingos 20 kms Mountains: 20 minutes drive away the mountains begin behind the house, perfect for seeing the Unesco World Heritage painted churches and for cooling down for a day or two in the hottest days in August Larnaca: restaurants, shops, famous ceramic workshops such as Studio Ceramics (www. studioceramicscyprus.com) with lovely stoneware for sale, some of which you will find in the house.

Limassol with great covered market open daily and the castle, now a good museum, where Richard Lionheart married Berengaria Vouni donkey sanctuary “Home of the Cyprus Donkey” in the mountains approx 1.5 hour drive Transport Airlines include EasyJet and Monarch from Gatwick; BA and Cyprus Airways from Heathrow.

Direct flights from the UK take approx 4.5 hours (Cyprus is much nearer to the Middle East than is commonly realised – hence the lovely long warm season). [for Romanian edition please add: Direct flights from Romania (Bucharest) take approx 1.5hrs and are very inexpensive if booked in advance.

Family-owned firm Theodolou Cars will meet you at the airport and are an excellent alternative to the big brands. Contact Maria at theocars@spidernet.com.cy (fluent English and Greek) Parking: There is an alcove next to the house at top, on the hill, with space enough for one car. There is free parking in the village centre which is 1 minute on foot to the house.

In short, a home-from-home for the adventurous with guidebook in hand, for walkers and birdwatchers, or for those who simply want to retreat to a light and airy old stone house/citrus garden paradise where they can read, think, swim and sunbathe in glorious surroundings and cook with the freshest of ingredients. The house is very Cypriot: it has its quirks and idiosyncrasies. But those who appreciate the experience of living in a different culture will find this house a doorway to another world. The house, being old, sometimes needs a little attention but an English-speaking local handyman is available to help fix things if necessary.

The house is not really suitable for children under 10 nor the very elderly, nor is it wheelchair accessible. Please ask if in any doubt.

For more information contact: Flora Nedelcu on 07916 062 451 or fs_confidential@hotmail.com

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EVE (Eden Valley Edenbridge) Gallery is a stunning space hosting regular photographic and visual image exhibitions of international, national and local interest.

Edenbridge Station Fircroft Way

EVE Gallery

Visitors can purchase bespoke postcards and greetings cards, and invest in affordable posters and framed or signed art prints.

Our state of the art print service enables YOU to CHOOSE any image from our vast archive for high quality giclée custom printing or real photographic prints direct from the original negative.

St. John’s Way

 FREE ADMISSION

Westways

Wellingtonia Way SENCIO Leisure Centre

 PICTURES AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE

 EDEN VALLEY DIGITAL MUSEUM  PLUS THE EDEN VALLEY GALLERY FOR LOCAL INTEREST  PLUS HOUSE OF JAQUES MUSEUM AND SHOP - SEE HOW THEY TAUGHT THE WORLD HOW TO PLAY SPORTS AND GAMES SINCE 1795

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Four Elms Rd Eden Centre (cafe)

Penlee Close Edenbridge Town Station Station Approach

Stangrove Rd High Street

 YOUR CHOICE OF IMAGE ONTO A GREETINGS CARD, WHILE YOU WAIT

Edenbridge Relief Road

Edenbridge Relief Road

 FULL FRAMING AND MOUNTING SERVICE

- THE ROMAN ROAD -

 DONATIONS WELCOME (to be divided between The Eden Valley Museum and The Henry Surtees Foundation)

Commerce Way

Station Road

EDENBRIDGE

FREE PARKING FOR VISITORS: EVE at the Gallery, The Roman Road, House of Jaques, 1 Fircroft Way Edenbridge, TN8 6EL Monday-Friday 9.00am-5pm Weekends by appointment - 01732 863939 Member of the Eden Valley Chamber of Commerce

Forge Croft Tesco

Lingfield Rd Waitrose

Thursday AM market Church St

N River Eden Edenbridge Relief Road

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“Vine� William Morris wallpaper at Edells

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