Lywood House, Ardingly, Sussex

Lywood House, Ardingly, Sussex

Lywood House in Ardingly, Sussex is the home of Max and Cleone Pengelley who take  Wolsey Lodge guests.  I had the good fortune to stay with them during my recent visit to Sussex.  This was a wonderfully ‘English’ experience.  Just picture a 14^th century listed timber framed house with a view of a perennial border packed with vibrant colours, sweeping lawns and paddocks with one horse wrapped up in blankets as a fly deterrent.  Outside the front door was the horse box.

It was a sweltering hot day so Max was quick to produce elderflower cordial and lime squash on my arrival.  Cleone cooked a delicious dinner for myself and two other guests – a green salad with egg and thinly sliced prosciutto, fish with broad beans and spinach from the garden and a delicious mousse-like dessert with a strawberry compote – Yummy.   The other guests mentioned that normally they would go abroad but this year they had decided to explore the South East of England.  They gave me some great tips of places to visit including Hever Castle which I thank them for as it was a treat!

Had I remembered my swim gear, I would have been able to take a dip in the pool.  I highly recommend this accommodation.  Thank you to Max and Cleone for a very enjoyable stay!!  I also compliment Cleone on producing an excellent dinner.  We gave up offering dinners a few years ago as it was such hard work.

Wakehurst Place near Ardingly

Wakehurst Place

Wakehurst Place is another gem of a garden located in Ardingly near Haywards Heath It is often referred to as ‘Kew in the country’.  It was created by Gerald Loder who purchased the estate in 1903 and spent 33 years developing the gardens. The estate now belongs to the National Trust and is managed by Kew.  The Millenium Seed Bank project was opened at Wakehurst in 2000 and its aim is to assemble a collection of seeds from more than 10pct of the world’s flora.  You can actually see the scientists at work when you visit the building.  You could easily spend a few hours here roaming through the natural woodlands, down through valleys and past lakes, streams and rivers.  You will find a large number of water and bog plants.  When I visited in early July the irises were in full bloom and quite a sight to behold.

The Loder Valley nature reserve is well worth walking through.  In some parts it felt a bit like being in a tropical jungle particularly as it was extremely hot on the day of my visit.  Wander back through the Himalayan glade and enjoy the superb views from the top of the glade.  By all accounts Loder was fascinated with Rhododendrons and these must be an amazing sight in the spring.

Take a look inside the mansion as several of the rooms are open.

A view of the Garden at Wakehurst

Himalayan Glade at Wakehurst

A lake at Wakehurst

Wisley – A garden lovers dream

The New Glass House at Wisley

I had the good fortune to visit Wisley on 1st July.  Sprawling over 240 acres, it is just 30 minutes drive from Heathrow and an absolute ‘must go and see’ for garden lovers.  It surpassed all my expectations in what it had to offer.  Just make sure that you allot several hours for your visit.

The gardens encompasses everything from trials fields, a vegetable garden, fruit field, model gardens, wild gardens, walled gardens, lily ponds and arboretum and a recently opened glass house.  There are a number of excellent cafes and restaurants as well as a plant centre.

I was particularly interested in the perennial planting outside the new glass house.  The plants are cleverly grouped together and striking colours such as various types of hemerocallis, blue salvias, campanulas, heleniums, verbascums, geraniums, scabies and euphoria are all used in abundance.  I had no idea there were so many varieties of some of these plants.

Take a look at some of my photos to whet your appetite!

Wisley Annual Display

The Lilly Pond at Wisley

The Trial Garden at Wisley

Bramley Lodge Food Store and Cafe

I passed Bramley Lodge on my way to Fota Arboretum so stopped for a quick cup of hot chocolate and carrot cake.  What a disappointment.  The chocolate was just about undrinkable and the carrot cake was rock solid – a really hopeless recipe and the bill …. euro 6.45  Next time I will carry on to the Ballymaloe cafe which has consistently high standards.

Perhaps I might have had better luck with the lunch but I am not heading back any time soon to find out.

The Church Restaurant in Skibbereen

We really missed the Church Restaurant after it was burnt down by an arsonist a few years ago so it’s really great that the owners have been able to bring it back to life and wow, what a fantastic work of art.  The carpentry is fantastic so well done to the Linehans who even made my kitchen here at Kilbrogan House.

The menu is decently priced.  We had a delicious pepperoni pizza with a generous topping, a bowl of butternut squash soup, a coke and a sparkling water for just euro 18.95 which I thought was great.   The place was buzzing and the staff were extremely attentive so well done to all!!!   We’ll be back and anybody who is travelling through Skibbereen, don’t forget to stop at The Church even if only for a coffee or soup.  There is a huge car park right behind the restaurant so no excuses to miss this gem.

Marmatiece – Bandon

Marmatiece in Bandon has now opened for lunches during the week.  Last week I paid it a visit with some friends.  I had a ham open sandwich on white spelt bread which was garnished with salad leaves.  The price was euro 6.50. The sandwich was tastey and the price was reasonable.

I like the airy atmosphere in this bistro at lunch time and think that the menu is overall well priced as well as interesting.

Jacobs on the Mall – Cork Restaurant review

The service in Jacobs on the Mall is dreadfully slow.  Unless you have a minimum of two hours to spare for dinner, give this place a miss.

I love the food.  I had delicious tomato and sweetcorn bread made on the premises followed by mixed leaves, a Thai green chicken curry and their delicious chocolate fondant.  My brother had crab claws, a tastey chicken dish and the chocolate fondant.  The dessert takes 15 minutes but believe me, if you have the patience to wait for the great food, you won’t mind waiting the extra 15 minutes for the dessert.

The head waiter during my visit was a chap who likes to put  his arm around people and call them ‘folks’ – Far too touchy/feely/flippant for my liking.  He was in such a rush that he was all over the place.  It’s a shame that the service is so bad given the standard of the food.

Aga Saga solved

Happy Days!  Graham Summerskill is the aga expert and he took very little time to fix our aga.  He works out of Waterford so covers a wide area and is well worth waiting for!!   Forget Murray Cleaning and Maintainance – A total rip off.  We were left minus our oil meter on our oil tank and a bill for euro 365 for an aga that was still broken.

It took Graham Summerskill just 20 minutes to figure out the real problem and a few days to order the new part – More importantly at euro 178, his bill including the part was a fraction of that charged by Murray Cleaning and Maintainance – And remember, Graham has to travel from Tallow in Waterford.

The Ireland rip off days are over so wake up Murray Cleaning – Once bitten, twice shy.  We won’t be recommending your aga servicing ability to anyone who has any sense.  Lets hope that a few people benefit from this blog!!

Bandon’s winter plants go on summer hols

Bandon Tidy Towns volunteers have now removed all the tulips and polyanthas from the beds and will put in the summer plants next week.  Meanwhile the tulips have been stored away and the polyanthas have been planted in a shady place for their summer holidays.  Nothing like re-use, recycle.  We thank Cork City Council for letting us have more of their ‘throw outs’ which have now all been planted up and are being fed and watered diligently so that they will look great for next year.

The departure of the Bandon Polyanthas

Bandon Town Hall gets painted

The outside of the town hall in Bandon now reflects the great work done to the inside of the building.  How happy are we all now as it has looked shabby for such a long time.  All we need is the removal of the ugly boarding at the top of the stairs.

Bandon Town Hall's New Image

This blog was posted by Catherine FitzMaurice of Kilbrogan House Guest Accommodation