Walmer Castle and the Cinque Ports

This morning, after breakfast, we will set off for the nearby town of Sandwich, which has one of the best-preserved medieval centres in England, with an opportunity for lunch (not included) after a walking tour of the town centre with a local guide.

Later we visit Walmer Castle, which was originally built as a Tudor fortress but evolved into a stately home for the Lords Warden of the Cinque Ports, and became the residence of famous names from the Duke of Wellington to Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother. Our main focus is on the gardens, which have been rejuvenated thanks to a £2.3m restoration project. Begun by William Pitt the Younger in 1802, over the years parts fell into decay. The last major addition was in 1997, when Penelope Hobhouse made a new garden to celebrate the birthday of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, the then Lord Warden. Over the course of our guided tour we will see how dilapidated areas of the garden have been brought back to life and view the new features that have been added to make this a very modern garden experience.

Dinner is served back at the hotel in the evening.

This morning after breakfast we begin at Hythe, one of the Cinque Ports and the starting point for a ride on the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway. Trains are hauled by beautiful 15-inch gauge steam engines which are perfect replicas of their standard gauge cousins. Our route takes us through Romney, one of the original Cinque Ports until its harbour silted up and it was replaced by Rye. Our journey ends at Dungeness.

We continue to the Pines Garden, near Dover, which has many fine features including a cascade and adjoining lake, a grass labyrinth and organic kitchen garden.

Our next stop is Pashley Manor, an award-winning, quintessential English garden on the Kent/Sussex border, which offers a sumptuous blend of romantic landscaping, imaginative plantings and fine old trees, along with fountains, springs and large ponds.

We continue to Hastings, another of the ancient Cinque Ports which we visit. The origins of the Cinque Ports can be traced back to Anglo-Saxon times, when certain south-east ports were granted the local profits of justice in return for providing ships. Here we see the ruins of Hastings Castle, the remains of the stone fortress built after William the Conqueror’s invasion and coronation in 1066.

We return to our hotel, where dinner is served in the evening.

This morning after breakfast we will leave the hotel and travel Smallhythe Place, near Tenterden. The half-timbered house, built in the early 16th century when Smallhythe was a thriving shipbuilding yard, was the home of the Victorian actress Ellen Terry from 1899 to 1928, and contains her fascinating theatrical collection. The cottage grounds include her rose garden, orchard, nuttery and the working Barn Theatre.

Following this, our final visit, we return to our original departure points.