Thousands of motorists will have glimpsed Leeds Castle through the trees just beyond Hollingbourne as they passed by on the A20 or M20. Lord Conway considered that, on an Autumnal evening, when the bracken, is golden and there is a faint blue mist among the trees, Leeds Castle is the loveliest castle in the world.
On an afternoon in early November I entered the grounds of the castle, on a public footpath, near the junction of the A20 with Broomfield Road. I was hoping that I would end my walk on the kind of Autumnal evening that Lord Conway had in mind. Just inside the Broomfield Gate entrance to the castle I passed some old sweet chestnut trees. They are knarled, twisted and riddled with holes. In the distance I could hear jackdaws calling and I have no doubt that a colony of the birds use the holes for nesting sites. The sweet chestnut is native to the mountains of southern Europe and was probably introduced into this country by the Roman for the tree's nuts.
I walked down the drive towards the castle I paused briefly when the Fairfax Hall restaurant was on my left and the moated castle itself was on my right. Overlooking Fairfax Hall is a group of tall trees, which includes an English elm. An article The Times of a little over two years ago, reporting on a readers’ survey of surviving elm trees, said that the Leeds elm was the tallest specimen so far found in the UK. It seems to have escaped the attention of the beetle which spreads Dutch elm disease because it is closely surrounded and hidden by other species such as beech, lime and horse chestnut.
On the moat, or feeding beside it, were mute, whooper and black swans, Canada geese and coot, among other wild fowl. It was, however, a great crested grebe that caught my particular attention. The bird has a tall, slim profile with a noticeably flat head. It is well known for its beautiful and intricate courtship ceremonies. The great crested grebe is an expert diver and at Leeds, feeds on the bream, carp, tench and roach which a leaflet lists as inhabitants of the waters of the moat.
I crossed over the embankment separating the moat from the Great Water, which acts as a feeder reservoir for the moat. Feeding beside the Great Water was a flock of barnacle geese. They are black, white and grey and are smaller than most species of geese. Although the majority of barnacle geese seen in Britain are Winter visitors from the Northern hemisphere, those at Leeds are resident and were presumably born and bred there. They are quite tame and are absolutely charming. To see completely wild barnacle geese you would probably have to travel as far north as the Solway Firth.
Leaving the castle behind I followed the public footpath up rising parkland towards the Leeds and Broomfield cricket ground. Having reached the ground I looked back towards the castle nestling in the valley of the River Len and with the sweep of the North Downs as a backdrop. The castle's parkland is dotted with many fine old trees, among which were feeding sheep, rooks and jackdaws. At the time of my visit in early November, the lime trees had dropped their leaves, the oak trees were still fairly well covered in leaf and the horse chestnut, sweet chestnut, beech and sycamore trees were at a stage between the limes and the oaks.
I walked to the edge of the castle grounds on Burberry Lane and gazed across a field to the massive tower and dumpy spire of St Nicholas church, Leeds. I then retraced my steps to my car, which I had left at an attractive vantage point on the A20 where it cuts through the bracken and Scots pines of Warren Wood. Unfortunately there had been no Autumnal sunshine to give the bracken a golden hue and there had been no faint blue mist to be seen among the trees, but I had enjoyed my walk through the grounds of Leeds Castle.
The pictures below were taken by Joe's daughter, Annabel, in July 2015. They include behind-the-scenes glimpses of the castle's guest accommodation.
