Tuesday, June 25, 2013
Betchworth. Surrey.
Today we have been in Betchworth, Surrey.
It is the home of one of my favourite local garden centres.....Knights, close to the A25.
It is dedicated to plants.....not a gift shop and tea rooms.
Too many garden centres focus more on these money making ventures than they do on plants.
We bought well and then stopped a while in the village.
It is yet another village we have passed through quite often, but never explored. There will be more exploring on another occasion.
Our first stop was the pub - it has always seemed popular and we could see why.
The Dolphin is lovely.
The menus are interesting and the pub boasts of an excellent chef.
We were not eating today, though.
I had half a pint of Surrey Hogs Back Ale.
Bill enjoyed a cider.
It glowed by the little oil burning lamp on our table.
The church and the old forge are across the village street.
This looks so rural and as if there has been no change for centuries.
It is the home of one of my favourite local garden centres.....Knights, close to the A25.
It is dedicated to plants.....not a gift shop and tea rooms.
Too many garden centres focus more on these money making ventures than they do on plants.
We bought well and then stopped a while in the village.
It is yet another village we have passed through quite often, but never explored. There will be more exploring on another occasion.
Our first stop was the pub - it has always seemed popular and we could see why.
The Dolphin is lovely.
The menus are interesting and the pub boasts of an excellent chef.
We were not eating today, though.
I had half a pint of Surrey Hogs Back Ale.
Bill enjoyed a cider.
It glowed by the little oil burning lamp on our table.
The church and the old forge are across the village street.
This looks so rural and as if there has been no change for centuries.
Despite the broken window this is a flourishing blacksmith's, where fine gates and railings are forged and many lesser tasks and repair jobs.
We looked around the interior of the church - lovely.
The font was of interest - dated 1951, by a noted sculptor. It was donated in honour of a husband and son by a local resident.
There was a tablet on the wall in memory of another local resident, Sir Benjamin Brodie. He was surgeon to both William IV and Queen Victoria.
In memory of Marjorie Trower.
Those notes pick out the first line of "Jerusalem".
There was a gravestone close by which moved me.
It was the grave of Hannah Esther Honey - who lived on Christmas Day 2009.
We already have another project lined up for Betchworth. The old lime quarries, a little north of the village have been converted into a nature reserve.
