After travelling from Windsor to Hever, Mute and I found ourselves stood outside the small trainstation of Edenbridge. After throwing our heavy bags down on the floor rather unceremoniously, because of our own devised detours on the train (which didn't save us any time, like we had hoped it would), we called a taxi to take us to Hever Castle. Within minutes the taxi had arrived, and we were cruising our way to the Castle.
The first time I had been to Hever Castle it was with 'The Tudor Roses', in which we had a private photoshoot within the castle in our Tudor gowns. I chose to wear my Henrican styled gown, rather than Elizabethan as I felt it more appropriate for Anne Boleyn's childhood home. Thus, I was eager to show Mute one of the places that the group had visited during the summer season.
Hever Castle - The Childhood Home of Anne Boleyn
Eventually, we came to the private entrance of the castle, where we soon were buzzed to be allowed in. Slowly creeping up the drive, my thoughts began to whirr back to the memories of my visit in the summer. This time though, we would be entering in to Astor wing directly, and not in through the back corridors, and I had no gown with me. After leaving the taxi woman, we sauntered in through the doors, with big smiles on our faces. After payment, and a short talk we were shown to our room, the Daffodil suite (which is pictured on the advertisements).
The Daffodil Suite - Our Room For The Night
After settling in somewhat, Mute made a beeline for the bath (after showers all the time, you can imagine the sense of joy), and I for the tea and coffee's tray. After a cup and saucer of Earl Grey, and a catch up on facebook, Mute emerged from the bathroom looking bright pink, in a matching pair of white towels. It was then my turn to have a bath in the wonderful en-suite. After, sinking in to the hot water, it was so hard to want to move, and get back out again. After using the Molton soaps provided and a half hour soak, I came out into the room, and sunk into a chair. There must be something in the water, because I found it so hard to remove myself from the chair afterwards.
Our Wonderful Bathroom!
Bathing complete, Mute and I dressed, and made our way out of the suite to the reception, where we borrowed some torches to walk to the Henry VIII Inn pub just down the road for tea (exploring the Astor Wing would come after dinner). When in the pub, I was amazed to see the small quaintness of it, it was just like a true country pub, and had a real sense of locality about it. Without realising it, we were suddenly taking part in a pub quiz, with which we were quite rubbish! The states of America really isn't our fortay unfortunately.
After a delightful meal, we wandered back to the Castle, and decided to take a tour of the Astor Wing. We started with the Billiard Room, which was next to our suite. We proceeded to play our own version of Billiards, which was if you can get a ball in a hole you get a point - cheating a little! As you can see in the picture below, the fireplace with the mounted stag heads on top was a real eye catcher. I could just imagine Lord Astor and his many friends, surrounding the fire, lounging in the chairs with a brandy and cigar, whilst sporting a game of Billiards.
The Billiard Room - This Room Also Houses Card Tables
Moving on from the room we made our way down the oak panelled corridors to the Music Room. This room has no musical instruments in, in any way, but it probably used to be used for that purpose. The room itself is large and cosy, with many sofa chairs. There are no televisions or radios in sight, just a log burner and a writing desk (which I hope to write one of my poems at when I return - yes, we so want to go back!). Hever Castle also provide a number of books for you to read. This was by far my favourite room of the Astor Wing, and the picture below will give you an idea of why.
The Music Room
After spending a few moments within the music room, we retired to our room (as it was very late), ready for a well deserved nights sleep in the most comfortable bed in the World. We spent the night dreaming of what delights the next day would hold, as we got to explore the Castle, Astor Wing and Gardens properly.
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