Back Roads Great Britain (Eyewitness Travel Back Roads)

DRIVE 9: The Garden of England 101

PLAN YOUR DRIVE

Start/finish: Ashdown Forest to Battle

Number of days: 3–4, allowing for

a half day’s walk at Rye.

Distance: Around 280 km (175 miles).

Road conditions: The roads are

generally well maintained. Some

lanes are narrow and hedgerows can

get wild, so be careful not to scratch

your paintwork.

When to go: May to June is a good

time to visit, when apple and cherry

blossom paints the area pink and

white. July and August are often the

warmest months but are also the

busiest. September is harvest time,

when the sea is still warm.

Opening times: Museums and

attractions are generally open 10am–

5pm, but may close earlier (or are

closed altogether) Nov–Easter. Shops

are often open longer. Churches are

usually open until dusk.

Main market days: Tonbridge: 3rd

Sat in month; Yalding: Farmers’

Market: every 3rd Sat; Hythe: Tue

8am–4pm; Rye: every Wed 10am–

1pm; Battle: Fri 10am–11.15am;

Farmers’ Market: every 3rd Sat.

Shopping: Look out for Winnie the

Pooh memorabilia in Ashdown Forest;

teapots on Tea Pot Island, Yalding;

pottery and antiques in Rye and

smoked fish in Dungeness.

Major festivals: Hythe: Venetian

Fête, Aug 2011 (every two years);

Rye: RX Wildlife Festival, May; Arts

Festival, Sep; A Taste of Rye, Oct;

Tenterden: Folk Festival, Oct.

DAY TRIP OPTIONS

For a good family trip, visit the church at

Hythe and picnic on the beach before

riding the steam train along the coast

for some birdwatching. Historians will

enjoy visiting the abbey and battlefield

at Battle, lunching at the Great Dixter

gardens and exploring the fairytale

castle at Bodiam. Another day out

might take in the ghosts of Pluckley

and the gardens at Sissinghurst followed

by a castle and a lakeside stroll. For full

details, see p107.

Above Traditional oast houses at Sissinghurst, see p106

Above Fisherman’s hut at

Rye Harbour, see pp104–5

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