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- The Royal Connection
- Kent Eats
- Owlbut's Birdwatch
- Kent VIPs
There are two castles in Kent which
have a specific royal connection and, in a way, a further connection. I will explain. The first is Leeds Castle which for years I thought was near Leeds
in Yorkshire. I could never work out why people would travel to Kent to visit Leeds Castle. Once I realised Leeds Castle was in Kent, all became clear.
It is said to be the loveliest castle in the world and, based on this picture, I would not disagree. It was Henry VIII who turned the castle from a
fortified stronghold to a magnificent royal palace. Major alterations were made between 1517 and 1523 so that Henry and his first wife Catherine of
Aragon could enjoy comfort and splendour whenever they came to visit.
However, those who know
your history will be aware that when Catherine seemed unable to provide Henry with a son and heir, he grew tired of her. He then found a new love who
happened to be one of Catherine's ladies-in-waiting. Her name was Anne Boleyn and Anne's insistence that she wanted to be Henry's wife not his mistress
completely changed the history of England. Henry eventually divorced Catherine, was expelled from the Catholic Church and founded the Church of England. The
connection was that Anne was brought up in Hever castle which is also in Kent.
After 3 years of marriage Anne Boleyn was found guilty of adultery, incest and high treason and beheaded. Henry then married one of Anne's ladies-in-waiting, Jane Seymour.
Sadly Jane died giving birth to a son and, after a four year wait, Henry married again. This new lady wasn't a lady-in-waiting nor was she a success as a
wife, lasting just six months. Her name was Anne and she came from Cleves in Belgium. She wasn't beheaded, just divorced and as part of the divorce agreement,
Henry gave her Hever castle which he had inherited when Anne Boleyn's father, Thomas, died in 1539.
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Kent is known as the garden of England. It
has this title because the weather makes it a good place for fruit to grow (and other things). It is said that Henry VIII gave it this title after eating a
delightful bowl of Kentish cherries. It is also conveniently situated close to London so was able to get its produce to the capital fairly quickly even before
the motor car.
The video on the left is about making a Canterbury Apple Tart. There is a story that says the first recipe for such a tart was mentioned in Geoffrey
Chaucer's famous book, The Canterbury Tales. Who knows? Rhetorical question which means I'm not expecting an answer but if I did get one it would almost
certainly say, I don't.
The base of the tart is just a simple pastry base. The topping is slices of eating apples sprinkled with sugar which brown during cooking. But
the middle is the interesting bit, well to me it is, because it is a combination of grated cooking apples mixed with sugar, butter and the juice and rind of two
lemons. This gives the tart a nice, tangy flavour although Owlbut seems more interested in a grey quirrel.
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The Canada goose was introduced into England from North America. It is a large goose and has a black head and
neck with a large white patch on its throat. Its feathers are a mixture of black, brown, cream, grey and white. It has brown legs and a chunky, black,
medium-length beak.
They are a common sight around lakes, gravel pits and parks and can be a bit of a nuisance. They eat roots, leaves, grass and seeds. There
are over 60,000 breeding pairs while 3 times that number may winter here.
Canada geese are between 90 and 110 cms in length, have a wingspan of between 1.5 to 1.8 metres and can weigh between 4.3 and 5 kilograms.
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Seven random people who were born in Kent in the last 100 years:-
Katherine Rundell (Author), Dr Ranjit Singh (Doctor/TV Presenter), Pixie Lott (Singer), Dina Asher-Smith (Athlete), Keith Richards
(Guitarist/Co-Founder The Rolling Stones), Gemma Arterton (Actor/Producer) and Harvey Leigh Cantwell aka Hrvy (singer/TV Presenter)
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