I fancied a day out at Pashley Manor, the original house at Pashley was on the moated island and was probably a hunting lodge. This house was owned at the outset of the Wars of the Roses by Sir Geoffrey Boleyn, Lord Mayor of London in 1457 and great-grandfather of Anne Boleyn. His son, Sir William, and then William’s eldest son, Sir Thomas, who held court at Pashley in 1518, and eventually Sir Thomas’ brother, Sir James Boleyn – uncles to Anne Boleyn, each owned Pashley in turn.
You can't actually go inside the house, but the gardens are lovely and entrance is £10.50 which seems a bit steep, but the parking is free, and I have been there before, so I knew what to expect. You go in via the gift shop which is also your exit, but you could bring a picnic and have it outside, which there is a closed off area at the bottom of the car park.
The weather was a bit of a disappointment at first, but the sun eventually did come out! There are a lot of statues dotted about, which you end up playing a game of hunt the statue if you are not into plants. I even got buzzed by a Spitfire which flew over, you can't mistake it due to the sound of the Merlin engine, with its D-Day markings I think is "The Spirit of Kent". There was a cheeky Robin which sat on the dog statue's head, but I was not quick enough to get a picture, not the only one playing games or could be camera shy.
The statues are for sale if you can get them into the boot of your car! The roses are not quite out yet, which was a bit of a disappointment, but that just gives me another excuse to go again. There is a café which serves food at 2:30, but there was a coach load of people, so they got their food earlier, so when it was time there shouldn't be a very long queue, but you could get a drink, filtered coffee was £3.50 which was OK, drinkable.
The facilities were nice and clean, I can only vouch for the ladies. I even made some friends, I have no idea who they are but a happy bunch and there are also ducks, and I am calling it a black swan which probably isn't, but he will follow you around the pond on the off chance you have a pocket full of bread. It does feel good to be able to go out as a woman and enjoy the freedom of being one.
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