Sunday, September 6th, 2026

After a summer of chaos and utter confusion, with road closures left, right and centre, and the road between us and Benenden Hospital being closed since the end of June, we are pleased to report that all the local roads are now open. The photo above, taken a couple of weeks ago, shows the incomprehensible signage at the crossroads near us, causing bewildered drivers to stop in the middle of a notoriously dangerous junction which has seen a lot of fatalities in the years that I’ve lived here.

A lot of the closures related to emergency repairs to burst water pipes in the area as the clay has shrunk over the summer, as well as (on the Benenden side) to long-overdue upgrades to the local mains water system which is struggling to pump enough water to the higher-lying properties, of which we are one. Our supply has been unreliable for years, ranging from low pressure to no water at all, particularly during the summer months. This morning, however, in spite of the completion of these road works, our water pressure was right down once again, failing to reach our upper storey and preventing our loos from flushing. This always happens at the weekend when we invariably have guests. The particular problem today has been caused by a burst pipe about a hundred yards away from the crossroads in this photo. But the water authority attributes the more general long-standing disruptions not to its leaky pipes but to high demand resulting from the unusually hot weather we’ve had this year. It’s hardly what you might call very hot — the forecast is for a pleasant 24 degrees C later today — but up the road near the hospital, 85 new houses are now in various stages of completion, which is going to increase demand whatever the weather, and that scenario is being replicated in and around our Wealden villages all over the water authority’s patch. Watch this space for more road closures!

Monday, August 24th, 2026

July and August 2026 will be remembered for the extreme and relentless heat that we all experienced in many parts of the UK and Europe. The overhead fan that I had installed last year in our East Wing (the hottest part of the house in summer) really came into its own. When a recent set of guests had gone, we found to our horror that they had completely removed our layers of mattress protection in the mistaken belief that it was they, and not the ambient temperature, that was causing them to feel too hot.

We found it hard to believe that guests could be so thoughtless and selfish. On a blistering summer night, human bodies naturally perspire more. Without that specialised, breathable barrier, all that moisture goes straight into the mattress core, which ruins the bed and creates a breeding ground for bacteria. Mattress protectors are most critical during hot weather. They act as a hygienic shield against sweat and allergens, ensuring that the mattress remains pristine for all future guests. We wouldn’t have minded so much if they had said something after the first night. I could have given them a cotton towel to use as an underblanket. I could have swapped over their duvet for just a single top sheet. I could have explained that our mattress protection is hotel-grade and made of breathable fabric. It is standard practice, all over the world, to use mattress protection, and guests should not be sleeping on a new, expensive mattress with just a thin cotton sheet between it and them. Had they sought my permission it would not have been granted, which is presumably why they did it. They were found out because they hadn’t thought to put the protection back on before checking out. In eight years of hosting, this was a first! I thought these guests from the south of France would know better.

Monday, August 10th, 2026

Well, that’s an implausible claim if ever there was one. Yet this morning, as my guests came in to breakfast, I asked them if they had enjoyed their visit to Sissinghurst yesterday. “Dry as a bone,” they said. “There was nothing to see. There are more flowers here than at Sissinghurst.” We were astonished. But apparently, the National Trust has adopted a no-watering policy as a climate adaptation strategy, although surely Sissinghurst would be exempt from our current hosepipe ban. Incidentally, ours was the first water authority in the country to impose such a ban this summer, in what feels like a very long time ago. Apart from two minutes of rain last week, we have had not a drop since maybe the beginning of June — it was so long ago that I’ve forgotten when. I’m a life member of the Trust, but I’d be rather upset if I paid good money to visit the gardens only to find a lot of brown, dried up organic matter.

Ever since the hosepipe ban was enforced, we have been watering our front borders with watering cans. There is a lot of ground to cover, especially as the nearest taps are not all that close by. It is exhausting work that must be done at least once a day. But we weren’t going to let a hundred pounds’ worth of plants bought in the spring just shrivel up and die. We found a dead tawny owl and green woodpecker in our pond, which now has only about one inch of water in it. The poor birds got trapped in there and couldn’t fly out. We have now put out spare cat litter trays filled with water to act as drinking troughs and bird baths for the desperately thirsty creatures out there.

Wednesday, July 29th, 2026

I wonder what the verb “to spruce” has to do with spruce trees, if anything. In this case it’s the old oak beams that have had a bit of a make-over. They have had a preservative coat of stain applied to them, and we’ve given the bits of wall in between them a lick of white paint.

Bressenden consists of three blocks (four if you count the Annexe). The eastern end of the central block, seen in the photo above, is the oldest part of the house. It mostly survived the fire in 1942, which was caused by a lightning strike, and it is interesting to speculate that the rest of the house might have had similarly exposed beams if they had not burned down. The western end of the central block also has a few exposed oak beams and an upper-floor balcony with an oak balustrade. With the passing of the decades, that balustrade has become rickety and unsafe, as well as contravening modern regulations in various ways, so it is being replaced with a new hardwood version (oak being prohibitively expensive), which will look similar if not identical. It will be taller than the frighteningly low original, which was barely hip high, never mind waist high. Every time I go out there to hang up the laundry my heart is in my mouth, especially on a windy day! As an extra safety feature, it will incorporate a steel bar in its top rails, cleverly concealed under the woodwork. This will make the whole structure altogether safer and more robust. We are planning to do the construction work “in-house”, and the new balcony will appear on this news page once it is in place.

The above photo is the view of the house that greets guests when they first arrive; it now looks so much smarter and more inviting.

Monday, June 29th, 2026

UPDATE: As of 5th September, the road has re-opened.

Until the beginning of September, Bressenden is only accessible from the east side (from the direction of Biddenden). You will not be able to reach Bressenden from the west (Benenden). You will also not be able to drive directly from Bressenden up to Benenden Hospital during this time as road works are taking place from Mockbeggar Lane (see photo above) to Green Lane.

To get to the hospital by car, follow the yellow diversion signs along the circular route indicated with a dashed blue line on the map below. Please do not attempt to drive south along Frog’s Hole Lane and then north along Green Lane, which your SatNav may suggest as an alternative. This route will take you down extremely narrow, single-track lanes with no verges, tall scratchy hedges, very few passing places and some deeply concealed ditches, not to mention two bridges crossing a stream. These lanes are full of deep potholes, and long stretches of steeply broken-off tarmac road edges have made the drivable surface even narrower. To make matters worse, local drivers, as well as trades and delivery vans, will be using these lanes, so there will be a high chance of meeting on-coming traffic and having to reverse some distance. You could end up with two wheels in a ditch or, worse, your car on its side, and you won’t get there any quicker than you would by following the diversion signs. I tried that shortcut on a Sunday when there was little traffic and after meeting three vehicles, and passing them with difficulty, decided never to repeat the experiment.

The map below shows the location of the closed section (the closed stretch is marked with two no-entry signs above the word “Hospital”). If you booked a taxi, please show this map to your driver. Allow 15 minutes to get from Bressenden to the hospital instead of the usual 2 minutes! Whether you are arriving at Bressenden or leaving, in each case your travel must be from/to the crossroads to the east of us (the right-hand side of map, where North is at the top). Ignore any “road closed ahead” signs at the crossroads and near us. We’re the second house on the right after the crossroads going west.

Route from Bressenden to Benenden Hospital until September 2026

Sunday, June 21st 2026

Following the unbearable sadness of losing Peonie, I wanted a new black cat to fill the hole as soon as possible and ease the pain. After all, a black cat is part of Bressenden’s identity. We’ve had black cats here for many decades. I found a delightful, impeccably behaved little one-year-old at an organisation called Wisteria Cat Rescue in Rochester. I went to fetch her yesterday and she is settling in remarkably quickly. Her given name wasn’t really what we would want to call her so I tried hard to think of a name that was similar enough to Peonie that I would keep her memory alive at the same time as acknowledging a new cat’s personality. I couldn’t think of anything suitable, and then it came upon me quite suddenly as I walked in the woods. Just one letter different, and highly appropriate with its French connotation of lioness.

Tuesday, June 16th, 2026

Today we said goodbye to my sweet little black cat, Peonie. She fell ill during the recent heatwave last month, while the peonies were in full bloom. After many attempts to reduce her fever and get her eating again, and following multiple tests, it was clear that she had several health problems that were not going to be easy, if even possible, to fix. She had a lovely last afternoon out in the sun, and a lick of custard from my pudding bowl, her favourite evening treat. Next morning, with medication still not working, she was further examined under sedation at the vet. What they found there enabled us to decide that the kindest thing for her would be to not let her wake up again.

It is such a shame for this to have happened after she made such a remarkable recovery from having had her leg shattered in a multitude of pieces by a vehicle last March. After a long rehabilitation in a pink cage, by August she was running around indoors and outdoors on all fours and no one would ever have known that her leg was full of metal screws and plates.

Peonie came to us in 2015 to join ginger Georgie (who is now bereft). She oversaw the two-year conversion of the house to B&B accommodation and has greeted hundreds of guests in the eight ensuing years. She is dearly missed, not least by Georgie. A new kitten or cat will be sought to keep him company as soon as possible. Georgie and Peonie (below) were a truly devoted pair and spent 11 years of their lives together.

Monday, May 18th, 2026

Three hours. That’s all it took to renew the bottom half of the driveway. The men and their heavy equipment arrived at 7:30 and got to work immediately, removing the old surface, laying new a new base foundation and topping it off with a deep layer of tarmac right up to where the gravel starts. At half past ten, it was all done. Barely ten minutes later, the heavens opened. I just had time to chalk up a sign warning drivers not to venture up before having to rush indoors. The surface has to solidify overnight and will be good to use from tomorrow morning.

I’m told the new surface should last for thirty to forty years. This work was certainly overdue as the poor driveway has taking a hard beating over the past few years while various building works and renovations were taking place. Central heating oil always used to be delivered in smaller trucks on request, but these days we are never offered the choice, and those enormous trucks are largely responsible for the ever-deepening ruts and depressions, which we’ve been covering up with gravel without getting to the root of the worsening problem. We thought about a patch and repair job, which would involve getting the potholes filled in the same way as the highway agencies fill the holes in the lanes, but we found a local company that gave us a good price for resurfacing the whole thing. This will provide a much smoother experience for us and our guests driving up (the slope is steeper than it looks in this photo). Maintenance will be a lot easier too.

Friday, May 15th, 2026

Mid-May is when the rhododendrons at the peak of their blooming glory. This year, however, we are in the middle of a prolonged cold spell. Nightime temperatures dip to single figures and if the sun hides behind clouds, we’re not getting much above 12 degrees. The incentive to walk around and admire the blooms close up is not so great. Even the cats are demanding to stay indoors away from the chill of the north winds. But at least we can admire these gorgeous flowers through the breakfast room’s windows. Here are some more views of these Himalayan mountain plants.

Saturday, April 18th, 2026

The wisteria usually flowers in May, or occasionally at the end of April. For it come out in mid-April is quite unusual. There are two vines, one on each side of the front door. This one took just a few days to go from bare branches to full blooms. The one on the eastern side always emerges more slowly. The pink shrub at the far end of the photo is an azalea, with a smaller red one a little way to the right and some pink rhododendrons just beginning to flower in the background.