Knole and Sissinghurst

At Knole we walked around the park, which is basically a mausoleum for trees. I can't begin to tell you haw annoyed I get with the National Trust's absurd determination to keep every scrap of dead tree in situ. It's just horrible. But it was a lovely bright day and not too muddy.

There are 800 deer at Knole, very tame. There are fallow deer and sika. The deer have to be culled every year.

At Sissinghurst I completely forgot to take any photos. There was not much open but we could go up the tower and were also able to do a circular walk, which took in the vegetable garden. The rhubarb is already growing!! and the posts supporting the raspberry canes are even more enormous than at Chartwell, like six foot tall telegraph poles, with wires under tension. There were some very decorative sprouts, purple, but not looking good enough to eat.