Village Visits
Village Visits
What: Village Visit Members will research and organise a visit to a village within a 25 mile radius (approx) of Bearsted. Possibly follow up with a pub lunch.
Where: Local Villages
When: 3rd Friday of the month
How to Join: To enquire, show interest or join contact Linda the Interest Groups Coordinator or Liz the Village Visits group coordinators by clicking the blue pigeon button and send a message at the top of this page.
Annual Report 2023#
Village Visits (New for 2023) - Liz
The new Village Visits group had its first outing on 21st July. This was a guided tour of Rochester Cathedral after coffee in the nice café in the crypt. For various reasons the attendance was smaller than anticipated but this had the benefit of the chance to see what is said to be the oldest door in England. Because the area can only be accessed by two people at a time this is not included on tours for larger groups.
The tour, lasting just over an hour, was both very informative and entertaining. It highlighted the development over the centuries of this very ancient cathedral. It also covered the different construction styles and the improvements made possible by lottery funding. The connections with Charles Dickens and General Gordon were also covered. The links with the Royal Engineers Regiment, based locally, are strong with memorials dating back to campaigns including Waterloo, the Boer War and Khartoum.
This is a new Group and meets on the third Friday of the month. There will be a programme of visits to local villages and small towns with the option of lunch afterwards. There is space for further members to join so if it appeals to you please contact the Groups Co-ordinator through the website.
A visit to Lenham was made on the 20th October, 8 members attended, we met at St Mary's Church, greeted by a Church warden, refreshments were provided for which we gave a donation. The Church historian gave an excellent tour and description of the Church. We were then most blessed to encounter only a light drizzle - the forecast had been for torrential rain, all day, Jean gave us a most interesting talk of the history of Lenham, as we walked around the village, hidden alleys , the Tythe Barn and the property in the square being a Hall House, where she had lived for a number of years. Various other notes of interest around the square and up the hill to places of interest. The visit was rounded off by an excellent lunch at The Red Lion. Members later wrote to say how much they had enjoyed the visit and looking forward to the next one in November to Tenterden.