PassPorter pals at the world’s loveliest castle COMPLETED About This Page:

[chezp]

PassPorter pals at the world’s loveliest castle

Part one: there are some advantages to a damaged ankle!

Date: Sunday 15 May
Location: Leeds Castle, near Maidstone, Kent
Adventurers: Me, Cheryl and DH Mark, Annabel (Annabel) and her DH Andy, Isabel (Disneynutinlondon), her DH Paul and sons Joshua and Ethan.
Event: Trying to get all the PassPorters on this side of the Atlantic together for the first time…

Introduction:

Well, it had been a long time in the making, but I was determined that we would round up some of the British PassPorters, since there are now quite a few of us and get everyone together for a meet sooner or later, especially as so many of us literally only live about an hour from each other. It ended up being later, as it took us much of spring to settle on a date that most of us could meet, when various people weren’t in Disney and eventually we settled on the weekend of 14 and 15 May.

But what were we going to do? I automatically suggested London, as I knew there were at least three people who lived in London and I figured it would be an easy place for everyone else to get to, as all the train lines run into London for starters. However, Isabel soon came up with an even better idea – and one which was (literally!) right up our street – how about Leeds Castle, she posted. It sounds great to me, especially as it’s only about seven miles down the road from where we live!

So we had the date, we had the place, we set a time of 10.30 and then it was just a question of seeing who would be joining us. I would certainly be there and Isabel, Annabel, Karen (BritDisFan) and Mark (Markb) also signed up for the meet.

Fast forward to the day itself…

For us, the day started at 7.05, as that’s when we woke up. I was quickly out of bed to catch up on the boards and see if everyone would still be coming – no cancellations… … yet! So it was time for a bath, to put our house back together a bit after the woodworm treatment the day before and to prepare our picnic lunch. By the time that was done, it was almost time to go.

I did a load of washing and went outside to put it on the line and it was at that moment I knew that the forecast for today was spot on – that it would be hot and sunny. No need for anything else but a T-shirt and definitely a day to put my contact lenses in, so I could wear my sunglasses. Those things done and my ankle strapped up and painkillers taken and we were ready to go – just as well, as it was already 10.10 by then and we were all due to be meeting in just 20 minutes time. Just as well it’s not far to go then!

We bought a newspaper and then headed off and were there by about 10.25. We stopped to ask the guy who was directing the cars into the car park if we could park a bit closer, as I was on crutches due to an ankle injury and he immediately directed us to the disabled parking bays right by the ticket booth! I was really impressed by that.

As soon as we got to the entrance and the crowd of French tourists moved out of my way I saw three people that I immediately recognised – Annabel, Andy and the cheeky grin of Josh. I figured the adults with him must be Isabel and her husband, Paul. Of course, a photo of them on the boards beforehand would’ve helped us to identify them!

We quickly discovered that everyone else had been early – so much so they’d been waiting outside for the gates to open at 10.00 and were the two cars were in fact one behind the other. Of course, I just knew when we set out that we’d be the last ones there – somehow it always works out that the people who live nearest to somewhere are the last to arrive.

I went to get our tickets and was delighted when the guy serving me said he’d try and get me in as cheaply as possible. I asked for one adult and one student ticket and he asked if I’d be offended if he put me down as disabled, meaning he could sell us two disabled ones, because I was obviously limping and had a crutch. We were only planning to see the gardens and not the castle itself 1) because we’d seen it so many times, 2) because I knew there were steps in there and they’re not good for my ankle and 3) because it would give me an opportunity to sit down and rest my ankle. So I got us two disabled tickets for the grounds only – just £6.50 each, instead of the usual price of £9.00. Not bad!

Next: where’s my husband gone?!

[Colexis Mom]

Great start Cheryl More please

[karmic]

for starting this so quickly! Looking forward to more!

[Disneynutinlondon]

Oh Cheryl, you can tell you don't have any kids to run after or entertain after a FANTASTIC day out!!! It's quite amazing how quickly you've started your TR - WELL DONE

I won't be doing a TR but then I guess you'd have know that given my lack of one after our Easter trip - many thanks to both you and Annabel for the digs to do one

It was a fantastic day and many thanks to you, Mark, Annabel and Andy in making it so, it was great to meet you all.

[lauren-roxy]

Yeah!!!! Another Cheryl trip report!!Can't wawit to read more!! I hope your ankle didn't give you too much trouble!!

[wdwlovers]

Woohoo! Can't wait to hear about the grounds & gardens of hte castle!!

[GoofyMom]

Looking forward to reading about your day! You know what, Chez? It's so cool that you live 7 miles from a castle!!!

[Grammy Grumpy]

Great start, can't wait to see pictures too!

[JulieandChris]

Well I spent yesterday morning thinking I`d like to be at Leeds Castle!
Great start will look forward to more.

Julie.

[disneymom9092]

Great job as usual CHeryl. Can't wait for the pics!

[Cam22]

Very enjoyable reading!

[Annabel]

Yayy, great job so far Cheryl I have finally been able to sort thru some of the photos David Bailey aka DH took so will post some of those tomorrow, as well as add a bit of a report from us. It was great meeting up with you all, DH and I had a lovely time

[Tink and co.]

Wonderful start! More please!

[chezp]

Part two: where’s my husband gone?!

So we set off slowly, with me knowing that it’s a long walk up to the castle. It was quite nice though, because it gave us lots of opportunities to chat and to admire the scenery as we walked along. Although we’ve visited the Castle on a number of occasions, I don’t think I’ve ever taken it so slowly and therefore noticed so many things in the grounds.

The first area we got to was where the birds leave – you have to enter and leave through gates to ensure that they don’t wander off anywhere they shouldn’t. And we certainly saw plenty of birds in this area. We stopped on a bridge to admire the view….


Isabel and Ethan looking at the birds


And here’s what they were admiring!

… and then only a few steps later, we came across something else of interest:



And here’s what it was:


As we were watching this bird, I became aware that someone was missing and realised it was Mark. I figured he’d just gone ahead, but no, I couldn’t see him. I wondered whether he was back on the bridge. Maybe he thought he’d lost me, as I wasn’t exactly moving fast and had fallen behind. Where on earth was he?

Just then he walked over to us from along by the lake with a big smile on his face – “come and have a look at this”, he told us. It was a swan nesting!



As you can see, they had tried to rope the area off and there was a notice asking people not to disturb the bird, but Mark had literally stumbled on its nest by accident. We quickly moved on and left it to its nesting duties and carried on walking, snapping more photos of the beautiful scenery along the way:




It couldn’t have been a more perfect day weather wise, especially considering that it had been unseasonably cold for the past week or so and originally they had forecast rain for today. I would guess that this was probably one of the (if not the!) warmest day of the year so far…

The next bird we came across is one that Leeds Castle is renowned for. It’s got quite a collection of peacocks and penhens and also has a few albino ones as well:




Honestly, this bird just loved the camera – it was posing and preening away like a film star! Again, I got some more shots of the beautiful gardens – and in the first, you can probably still make out the albino peacock, managing to get into another photo!




Next: the castle at last and my kindred spirit in photography!

[DopeyGirl]

How gorgeous are Leeds Castle's grounds?! WOW!!!

Great photos . . .

Looking forward to more!