Thursday 31 March 2011

Pluckley and Smarden (with a Brighton Treasure Hunt thrown in!)

What a busy day I've had over the last couple of days, and more to come with the Rochester Tour I've been asked to do on Sunday, so forgive me if my blogs are a bit thin on the ground and picture-less at the moment!

Treasure Hunt in Brighton on Wednesday morning was good fun and I think the local corporate team enjoyed their day - I was a mystery woman at a mystery location with a task for them to do (I won't reveal what the task was as don't want to spoil it for anyone!). Being in the cold was a bit of a trial, but was fun and it was a close run thing between the teams at the end. Not the nicest of weather, but at least it didn't rain until the afternoon when I went on a ghost walk training session. Very atmospheric!

Today, it was a CPD day at Pluckley and Smarden and meant I could meet many of the members of SEETGA (South East England Tourist Guides Association) as well as meet up again with some of my colleagues who trained with me. Fascinating talk on the history of Pluckley - the Dering family, the ghosts and H.E. Bates' "Darling Buds of May" which was filmed around and in Pluckley itself. Then we had a Church tour of St Nicholas, and lunch at The Black Horse. Lots of old beams and nooks and crannies in the pub.

After lunch we set off down the road to the very pretty village of Smarden with many old Wealden Hall Houses, timber clad and weatherboard buildings, so typical of Kentish vernacular architecture. We had a talk and a tour around the History Centre by the local Smarden History Group and then a tour of the village and a talk in St Michael's Church - the "Barn of Kent" because of its vast spanning roof. Tea and home-made cake ended the day before heading back to Tunbridge Wells and for me to catch up on my e-mails and to look at things for the tour I have on Sunday. Keeps me out of trouble!

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