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Tuesday, December 14, 2010

DOORSTEP DISCOVERIES..


Barney and I have a kind of ritual, whereby each afternoon we go off in the car to different places for our walkies.   Yesterday, we paid a visit to the village of Trottiscliffe, pictured above, just a handful of miles from where we live.   Our journeys make sure that Barney stays used to car travelling and give me a chance to have a closer look at nearby villages, whilst Barney enjoys the new sniffs they have to offer.

Trottiscliffe is, for some reason, pronounced `Trosley` and it is one of those quiet, `nice` places with smart renovated houses, a couple of good pubs, a school, village hall, duckpond and a general air of rather well to do refinement that somehow belies its agricultural history.   It has two or three of claims to fame.  Perhaps the most well known is the 4,000 years old Coldrum Stones, the remains of a neolithic burial chamber overlooking the wide sweep of the Medway Valley.   It also has a medieval church, said to have been constructed between 1077 and 1107 by Bishop Gundolph of Rochester.  And Trottiscliffe was also the home of the artist Graham Sutherland, whio lived in the white house on the left of the picture above.  Here`s the same view in the recent snow:-


Curiously, for a village deep in the Kent countryside, it has a Country Park - inventively named `Trosley Country Park` and run by Kent County Council who are in danger of forgetting how Trottiscliffe is actually spelt.   No matter, for Barney and I parked by the church, had a wander around the village and found a footpath alongside a large field that ran up to the North Downs escarpment.   There was still snow on the ground but that didn`t deter Barney from making himself known to the local canine population, some of whom were also scampering around the open fields.  As we got back closer to the church, the ground became slushy, mud everywhere where the footpath had become compacted, so Barney, I and the car all needed a bit of a hose down and a good rub when we got home.

But, for all that, we found our visit to Trottiscliffe interesting - it`s good to discover what`s on your doorstep - but I think we`ll wait for the good weather before we venture there again.   For more about the village, have a look at their own website - http://www.trottiscliffevillage.co.uk/

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