AN ENGLISH COUNTRYSIDE ESCAPE

Happy to report that I’m fully recovered and ready to share all about our time in Bodiam. This trip was meant to be an English countryside escape for us and it definitely lived up to our expectation.

One of the plans we had for 2019 was to explore more of the UK. I suppose it’s quite easy to forget the beauty you’re surrounded by when you keep looking elsewhere for it. It took us a while, but we’ve come to appreciate what we have here.

In order to properly enjoy our time away, we booked a trip for a week. We chose Bodiam based on a certain accommodation we fell in love with, known as The Prince Regent situated in the Quarry Farm amongst other delightful accommodation.

A couple of trains, and a few taxi rides later, we finally made it to Bodiam. Upon arrival on the farm, the first thing we noticed was how different it was from the city life. There was little or no mobile phone service and no wifi unless you found yourself in the cafe or pub a few minutes walk away. We were delighted as we would enjoy a disconnected vacation which would allow us the opportunity to connect more with our immediate surroundings.

John, the owner of the Quarry Farm was quick to help us settle in. He showed us around and shared some history about the farm and Bodiam. A lovely gentleman indeed. He noticed we didn’t drive and offered to assist us with transportation when we needed one. And he did.

The Prince Regent is an 1890 showman’s salon. It’s amazing to see how much time and effort was put into creating something so practical yet beautiful. It felt like a dream so much so we made a short film about our stay while here which you can watch at the bottom of this blog post.

John took us to get some supplies in his 1960s Alvis. It was a lovely ride indeed. We stocked up on some food which meant we spent most of our time indoors truly relaxing.

We visited the pubs a few times, once with John to enjoy a nice Sunday roast dinner. We also took long walks on the farm, not forgetting to stop by Bodiam Castle which is one of the landmarks of this beautiful place. We got to see what the other accommodations on the farm was like and took some pictures. We also got to spend time with another lovely couple from Derby who where staying on the farm as well.

Not too far from us was an old train station. We got on the steam train to experience what it was like to ride on one. First class carriages cost an extra £2 and was a private booth which I quite liked. We visited the train museum. It was nice and quaint. An experience we’ll no doubt remember.

It turns out an English countryside escape is exactly what we needed. I can’t remember the last time we switched off this much. Not being able to make calls or keep up with our favourite TV shows made us see and experience more of life and it felt refreshing to say the least.

We really enjoyed our time on the farm and look forward to visiting again. For us it might be sooner as we’re looking to capture the farm over various seasons so John can eventually put a story together about the farm and how far it’s come.

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