two for the price of one is exactly what you get when you go to see scotney castle. the old medieval moated castle, built by roger ashburnham sits on an island and dates way back to 1378 and the new castle, more english country house, designed by anthony salvin and built between 1835 and 1843. the two castles are nestled in picturesque gardens in the valley of the river bewl in lamberhurst kent. it is full of rhododendrons, azaleas and kalmia in the spring time and wisteria and roses in the summer.
shakespeare’s globe
did you know that shakespeare’s globe on london’s south bank isn’t actually the ‘real’ globe, shakespeare’s globe? also it doesn’t stand on the original site either? and did you know that it was founded by sam wanamaker, the father of zoë wanamaker? no neither did we, but over the easter holidays we found this all out and more!
20 fenchurch street – sky garden
we trotted along to 20 fenchurch street or more affectionately called “the walkie-talkie” because it basically looks like one. it is currently the 5th tallest building in the city of london and in 2015 it was awarded carbuncle cup for being the worst new building in the UK in the previous 12 months. a bit harsh you may think, but in fairness it’s not pretty.
harry potter – wb studio tour – hagrid the half giant
many many moons ago as far back as 1997, back in the olden days as ronnie might say, a book was released that literally changed the world, harry potter and the and the philosopher’s stone. at the time i was travelling into london from sunny essex and reading was a must to get through the chore of the daily commute. essentially it was a children’s book, but it attracted a wide adult readership too, and soon harry potter was a world-wide literature phenomenon.
now i’m sure i don’t have to tell you about the story but just incase you haven’t heard harry is a wizard. the books tell the journey of harry and his friends hermione granger and ron weasley, through their years as students at the hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry.
a day with sage
so let me get things started on the right foot, Mr HPMcQ does most of the cooking in the house, i am better at DIY he is better at cooking. his cooking surpasses my cooking on many many levels, so why fight it, let the man cook. so when we were invited by sage to spend the day trying out many of their wonderous gadgets it was best i took Mr HPMcQ along because he would know what they were talking about and in fairness he was really really excited about playing with the new pressure cooker. ‘i’ve not used a pressure cooker before’ he exclaimed with a slight squeal. i know, each to their own!