insideKENT Magazine Issue 22 - January 2014 | Page 105

COVERSTORY

The Goods Shed, Canterbury

The Historic Dockyard, Chatham

Reculver, Herne Bay
Knight, Hever Castle, Nr. Edenbridge

Rochester Castle & Cathedral

Famous Connections, Authors and Artists
53. The 17th-century Indian Princess Pocahontas
is buried at St George’s Church, Gravesend.
54. Lawrence Washington, great uncle of the
more famous George, lived and was buried
in 1619 in All Saints Church, Maidstone. The
church contains the family coat of arms; three
stars and stripes, a clear influence on the US
flag.
55. Algernon Sidney of Penshurst Place, helped
his friend William Penn draft the Constitution
for Pennsylvania, USA, which in turn became
the basis for the US Constitution.
56. When a boarder at West Heath, Sevenoaks,
in the early 1970s, a spirited Lady Diana
Spencer bought a kitten from a pet shop in
Tubs Hill. It lived in the sixth form dorm for a
week before anyone found out.
57. Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales
(1476) was the first book to be printed in
England.
58. Jane Austen was a frequent visitor to
Goodnestone Park Gardens, near Canterbury.
After one sojourn in 1796, she began writing
Pride and Prejudice.
59. The artist JMW Turner lived in Margate and
claimed the area had ‘the loveliest skies in
Europe’.
60. The Kent coast inspired 100-plus of Turner’s
works.
61. The Turner Contemporary art gallery and
contemporary arts space in Margate was
inspired by his legacy.
62. Charles Dickens featured Rochester in his
writings more than any other town apart from
London. While much of the capital that the
author knew has vanished, he would still
instantly recognise a lot of Rochester.

Secret Wartime Tunnels, Dover Castle

63. The model for Frances Hodgson Burnett’s
children’s classic The Secret Garden was the
charming 18th-century walled garden at Great
Maytham Hall, Rolvenden.
64. Virginia Woolf said of Canterbury (in 1904):
“There is no lovelier place in the world… and
I have seen Venice too.”
65. It’s believed Ian Fleming took James Bond’s
famous 007 tag from the number of the
London to Dover coach.
66. Fleming wrote You Only Live Twice at The
Duck at Pett Bottom, but it’s not known if
his drinks were shaken or stirred.
67. Fleming frequented the famous golf club
Royal St George in Sandwich, using it as
inspiration for Royal Mark’s in Goldfinger.

Good Living
68. Kent welcomes 57.5 million visitors a year,
generating £3.4 billion for the local economy.
69. It was Henry VIII who coined the epithet for
Kent as the ‘Garden of England’ after
sampling a bowl of the county’s cherries. He
then ordered that orchards be planted at
Teynham, near Sittingbourne.
70. Royal Tunbridge Wells developed as a spa
resort following the discovery of a mineral
spring circa 1606. Costumed ‘dippers’ still
serve glasses of the iron-bearing water at
the Chalybeate Spring.
71. Eastwell Manor, near Ashford, combines the
traditional country house hotel experience
with state-of-the-art health and beauty
facilities.
72. Kent has 100-plus golf courses, many of
which are of Links standard and two of which
have hosted the British Open.

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73. There are many fine dining opportunities
around the county, including five Michelinstarred restaurants: The West House at
Biddenden, The Sportman at Seasalter,
Thackeray’s in Tunbridge Wells, Apicius at
Cranbrook and Chapter One restaurant at
Locksbottom.
74. According to Kentish legend, it was the lure
of succulent Whitstable Oysters that
prompted Julius Caesar to invade England.
You can eat the delicacy in many pubs and
restaurants, and the town hosts an annual
summer oyster festival.
75. The Garden of England is home to more than
45 farmers’ markets selling fresh local fare.
76. You can find over 250 businesses providing
genuine Kent food, drink and products listed
on www.producedinkent.co.uk.
77. Shepherd Neame, Faversham, is Britain’s
oldest brewer and also the country’s first
‘green’ brewery.
78. Award-winning Chapel Down Winery at
Tenterden Vineyard is the country’s largest
producer of English wines.
79. You can enjoy a comprehensive array of retail
therapy in Kent, from specialist shops tucked
away in Canterbury’s medieval side streets,
to the 300-plus stores and 13-screen
multiplex cinema at Bluewater, Europe’s most
innovative and exciting leisure destination.
80. The best place to find out about where to
stay, what to see and do in the Garden of
England is www.visitkent.co.uk.