Formal Gardens – Pluckley
Staying up on the ridge beyond Pluckley I walked along the edge of numerous orchards. In the midst of this latent apple heartland I came across this farmhouse with a south facing aspect.
The geometric low level hedges, and formal lawn gave the property a stately grandeur quite beyond the property’s moderate footprint.
Ten minutes later the path speared of to the left and popped out into the hamlet of “Little Chart”.
Once again there was a Greensand Way signpost pointing in two directions (anyone following the left turn in front of the Swan Inn would have gone the wrong way).
After skirting a curiously bland St.Mary’s Church (still sporting Christmas decorations) the route now crossed a barren field, with no visible path to follow over the brow of the hill.
Thankfully my All Trails map set me on a course, which popped out alongside a delightful 14th century home, and cricket ground.
I would have missed the house but for the sudden call of a Moorhen behind me, revealing an impressive property and a lady dressed in pink attending the garden.
She explained the windows were original and so fragile they couldn’t be washed, and so historic they could be replaced.
Asked if it was drafty in winter she agreed that it was, “but you get used to it”.
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