Ka Pai Visits Hever Castle

Thursday July 29th

Well they finally got me out of Hemi and took me out for the day. I haven't had an outing for ages so it was about time. Turned out to be a great day for me.
It was a lovely fine summer day and Sue drove Mary and Alan off over the High Weald towards Hever Castle. This castle was the childhood home of Ann Boleyn, the second wife of Henry VIII . It is a compact little castle that would be fun to live in. No one is allowed to take video or photos in the house, so Mary bought the guide book and read it as they went around. There were lots of things to see and they spent a lot of time in the house.

Hever dates back more than 700 years and many notable people lived there. However it was a wealthy American, William Wardolf Astor who used his fortune to restore and extend the castle in the early 20th century. He assembled a magnificent collection of antique portraits, furniture and tapestries. The Astors turned the castle into a lavish but comfortable home where they entertained royalty and famous people.

Nancy Astor famously said to Churchill, “Winston if you were my husband , I’d poison your tea”. Churchill replied, “Nancy, if I were your husband, I’d drink it”.

The gardens, which were designed to display William Wardolf Astor’s collection of Italian Sculpture, cover 125 Acres. 1,000 men worked on the garden for four years to create it and it took 800 men to dig out the ornamental lake that cover 38 acres alone. There is a photo of the golden yew chess set in the garden.

There are two mazes, a traditional yew tree maze. You will see is photo of me after we all made it into the middle. The best one was a splashing water maze. You had to try to get into the centre up little stone tower without getting wet. There were heaps of kids (mainly boys) running around and trying to get wet. We all managed to get through carefully and keep dry. There were lots of wet kids, but it was a hot day and a great way to cool down. There is a little video to watch at the end of the page of the kids having fun in the water maze.

It was a busy full day out and we spent the whole day there enjoying the gardens and grounds and having a picnic lunch.