Finally got a chance to get out for a day, so it was off in the car to Standen, a National Trust property we last visited with the girls and Jesse in 2005.

After a morning coffee, Rocco was rather full of energy, so I took him for a walk in the woods while Tina explored the house:

Rocco managed to find a muddy stream, so I had to wait a while throwing sticks for him in the long grass while he cleaned himself up (next time, put a towel in the car!):

Then a short wait in the shade while Tina finished in the house:

The house is in “Arts & Crafts” style, but much more homely than similar properties we’ve visited:

We then explored the upper garden:

By then it was time for lunch. Unfortunately, there was no shade in the picnic area so we got a bit hot.

After lunch, we explored the other gardens:

Then the lawn by the house and the quarry garden:

By then, Rocco was desperate for a run-around, so we followed an estate walk through Hollybush Wood. Unfortunately, there is a lot of problems with Ash dieback in these woods, so many paths were closed and the walk was much shorter than advertised, the last bit going through a field of cows:

Just for reference, this is a photo taken on our last visit in 2005:

After a couple of false starts, we finally got to Barking Riverside today. The trip we did can really only be done at a weekend as the riverboat doesn’t run to Barking Riverside during the week (apart from rush hour).

As with most of our London journeys, it started with a fast train to London Bridge. From there it was a brisk walk through all the new developments to London Bridge Pier. After negotiating a confusing ticket machine, we we waited a few minutes for our boat:

After loading, we set off past the Tower of London and under Tower Bridge:

Finally, we got up to speed and headed past Docklands to Greenwich:

Then onto the O2 Dome and North Greenwich, tracing the route we walked the other day!

By this time, most of the tourists had got off and we were left with an almost empty boat:

Next, we went through the Thames Barrier:

And past the (non-operational today) Woolwich Ferry:

An hour after leaving London Bridge, we got to Barking Riverside Pier, as far east as the boat goes. By this time, there were only us and one other passenger on the boat!

From here, it was a short walk along deserted streets to Barking Riverside station:

We had a bit of an explore – I’m sure it’ll all look different when fully developed and the area is full of people!

It was quite windy, so we soon headed back to the station and caught the next train:

The track and the station, was only opened last year, so it’s all very new. A viaduct takes the tracks over the existing railway and then we join the main line and head to Barking:

We got the train to Wanstead Park station (we were here last year!) and walked to nearby Forest Gate station past an interesting display made of bottle tops:

Luckily, there was a pub by the station, so we stopped for a quick drink:

Then on to Forest Gate station and an Elizabeth Line train to Shenfield:

Time for a second beer at Shenfield:

And then back home via Stratford and London Bridge. A good day out!

We had short day out today as we had various other things to do, so caught the 61 bus to Chislehurst:

Rocco is more used to the bus now and he could look out of the window as well.

Once in Chislehurst, we visited the memorial at St Nicholas Church, where Tina’s parents are remembered:

By which time Rocco needed to let off steam, so we walked to one of the many Chislehurst commons and let him run around:

We then had lunch in the Crown, just off the common:

Rocco did well; the head chef visited him several times with treats (and cheese). After lunch, the weather was looking a bit unpredictable so we headed back across the commons to the bus stop:

And it started raining just as we got home. Bonus!

The second visit today was to Sissinghurst Castle & Gardens, not far from Scotney.

Lovely gardens:

Including a new Mediterranean Garden added in 2019:

I climbed the tower:

Lovely views from the top:

And on the way back, it started to rain! Perfect timing…

We visited Scotney Castle today; a short drive down the A21. We couldn’t decide if we’d been there before until we talked to one of the staff, who told us the house only opened to visitors in 2007. So we obviously hadn’t!

There was a long queue for the house when we arrived, so we started with the grounds:

The stone cat was fun:

Then on to the gardens:

And then on to the (largely ruined) castle:

After a coffee break, we toured the house. Interesting in it’s own way…

Then after a break for lunch, we looked at the walled garden:

And that was Scotney!

We had planned to go to Barking Riverside and Shenfield today, but the weather forecast was a bit varied, so we opted for a more “indoor” visit to the British Library.

It’s located a stones throw from St Pancras International station, so caught our usual fast train to London Bridge and a Thameslink train to St Pancras – the latter train was very busy with holidaymakers travelling from Gatwick.

We finally escaped onto the relative quiet of Midland Road by the side of the station, and a short walk to the library itself:

By now, it was time for our morning coffee:

We then had a quick tour of the library itself – much more a working environment than a tourist attraction!

We visited the “Treasures of the British Library Exhibition”, a collection of some of the more significant works in the library. I was impressed that it also included modern culture; as well as some Beatles memorabilia, this is the original script for Monty Pythons’ Spanish Inquisition sketch:

Artifacts from around the world were also included:

It was quite dark in the exhibition space, so after a while we had a break and some fresh air, just in time to see a very heavy downpour – luckily there was plenty of shelter!

Then back to see the rest of the exhibition, including a Magna Carta:

The rain had now (mostly) stopped, so we explored the Plaza a bit more:

These are the towers of St Pancras peeking above the library:

We then tried to find a beer, but the only pub at St Pancras was VERY busy, so we gave up and caught a train to Blackfriars and had a beer in the Black Friar pub nearby – noted for its interior and external decorations:

Then back home for a cup of tea!

Nice weather today so we visited a local tourist attraction, Eltham Palace:

Behind the gates in the background of this photo you can just see a fingerpost which marks the route of the Capital Ring Walk – you can see the photo that I took in 2017 when walking past this spot here: Capital Ring Walk 1 & 2 – Woolwich to Grove Park

We crossed a bridge over the moat to get to the palace:

and inside, greeted by a stunning circular reception room in Art Deco style:

Most of the rooms are more reminiscent of a hotel than a home:

Then on to the Great Hall, renovated from part of the original building on the site:

After a coffee break, we explored the gardens (with views across to London):

and then under the bridge we walked over earlier:

Looking over to docklands:

A lovely morning out!

We left Rocco with his favourite dog-sitter and headed off to Rye on the train.

Our first train was from Orpington to Sevenoaks, where we had time to grab a coffee before our next train:

Following the route the Eurostar used to take before the High Speed line was built, we soon arrived at Ashford International – the “International” platforms on the right looking rather neglected these days:

Our little diesel train was waiting for us:

And soon we were heading off across Romney Marsh:

As Rye station is on a single track, the hourly service in each direction arrives at the same time to cross over, so the station was surprisingly busy:

It’s a short walk up the hill into the town

We visited Lamb House, a National Trust property that’s only been open since 2018. An interesting house and lovely gardens:

Then through the cobbled streets and paths to St Mary’s Church:

It was now time for a beer, so we walked down the hill a bit to the Ypres Castle Pub:

Then a quick look at the view from the castle:

We retraced our steps back into town and found another pub (The Standard Inn) for an excellent lunch of fish and chips:

After lunch, we explored the rest of the town on our way back to the station:

There’s a lovely little preserved Signal Box at the station:

After a short wait, the train arrived to take us to Hastings, where we caught a fast train back to Orpington.

A lovely day out!

We had planned to continue walking the Jubilee Greenway path around London (our last stage was back in 2018!) from Woolwich to North Greenwich.

Unfortunately, a derailed train decimated the service to Woolwich so we decided to skip those sections for now and start from London Bridge. Our fast train was cancelled, so we had to use a slow (and quite busy) train to get to London.

The Jubilee Greenway path is very close to London Bridge station – you can see the marker disc in the pavement:

Eventually we reached the river near the memorial to the London Bridge bombing:

Then stopped for a coffee at a cafe in Clink Street, named after the prison that was there:

Now following the river path (which was a bit too busy for Rocco to be off the lead), we passed the rebuilt Globe:

and lovely views of the river and city:

Finally, there was a patch of ground by the Tate Modern where Rocco could run around:

The tide was low enough to expose a beach, but decided against Rocco getting muddy and wet!

The OXO tower has now been re-purposed as apartments:

Eventually, we reached Southbank, which was quiet here but VERY busy by the London Eye:

And the shiny new Big Ben:

We’re now on Jubilee Greenway Section 9, with the Houses of Parliament looking glorious in the sunshine:

Behind the wall on the right is St Thomas hospital, and the wall is now a Covid Memorial:

We crossed Lambeth Bridge and decided it was time for a beer. Luckily there was a pub in a fairly quiet street not far from Millbank with some tables outside. And then on to Victoria Tower Gardens to eat our lunch.

The route then goes past Westminster Cathedral and Parliament Square (both busy with tourists). Rocco had a bit more “off lead” time in College Green:

Shortly after, we reached St James’s Park and walked around the lake.

A lot of the paths were quite busy with tourists and waterfowl, but Rocco excelled himself off lead, even walking to heel occasionally. But managed to somehow find a muddy puddle, much to the amusement of passers by.

We then stopped to cool down under a plane tree:

From there, it was a short walk to Buckingham Palace, then to Victoria Station and a train home.

A very interesting day out, but quite warm at times!