I haven't been to Bedgebury Pinetum for ages, I remember learning to ride my bike there in the walled car park many, many moons ago. There is a new entrance about 200 yards up the road. I followed a Volvo xc90 full of bikes and kids, so at a good guess that must be where they were going, and I was right if's half-term, so you can't move without spotting and hearing the screaming kids! The car park was almost full of mums cars!
I just followed the crowd looking for the ticket machine, it's one of those touch screens which don't give clear instructions, and you have to put your car's registration number into, luckily I guessed right the number, I know it starts with a "G", anyway being peak time you have to pay to peak prices, so the car park ticket came to (I hope you are sitting down!) £13, I understand the money goes to the forestry commission, electric, tree upkeep etc... But they franchise the café etc... out, so I would call it a "fair price" not by a long way especially if one person is in a car, a group in a car, more understandable put they should charge per person.
I checked out the Café, good seating, the ladies loos were hard to find as there wasn't a sign, well I almost forgot to mention I left the map in the car! Well, I swapped coats and put the map in my original coat pocket!
It could have been worse being my car keys, as the kids were going one way I decided to go the other! You can buy a Gruffalo pack for an extra £3.
I wasn't planning to hunt Gruffalo! Honest! But I wasn't going to be outwitted by a smug five-year-old either!didn't see one! I eventually found it, including loo paper on the floor. After I went for a coffee, not a bad price, there were a few tables still with used plates on, it's a five-minute job to clear them as the two girls behind the counter had a chinwag. There are mixed reviews on the food and service, so I will leave it up to you to decide.
So off I went towards the lake, yes the one next to The Glory Hole woods according to the map which I commented on the earlier blog. It's official, I went to the Glory hole! I just followed my nose and happy snapping away, the first Gruffalo creature I came across was the fox, there are more but not having a map I did miss a few but was now determined to find the Gruffalo! How hard can it be to find a big Brown creature in the woods surrounded by big brown trees? Yes! You end up asking total strangers, "Have you found the Gruffalo?" One even had a map and they were lost! So the chances of me finding it, well I would just say I had more chance of finding a Yeti! Once I finally found him, it was swarming with kids, and mums taping every movement of their little darlings!
Just when you think they are just going to get your selfie pic with the Gruffalo another swarm of kids comes around the corner! The mums seem to be oblivious to what their kids are doing, usually involves kicking the crap out of the trees with logs or the snapping of branches! These are the same mums that if their precious little darlings happen to fall over would probably sue the forestry commission! I think I must have spent about four hours dodging kids and mums! The trees were nice in their different colours, I was going to wear boots with heels, bud decided against it due to the uneven ground. It's had enough just to walk on normal pavement.
I did think about a new Horror film where a load of kids go into the woods and the forest takes revenge, anyone got the number for Stephen King? It's the usual story, a meteorite crashes into the forest and then takes it over and kills anyone who abuses it! I have even thought about the sequel where they build a town in the forest! That soon disappears as well, set in the good old USA, at the end there is just a road which just stops then there is just forest.
Back to reality, it cost too much, I won't be returning for a while! Especially at half-term! Ended up at Cranbrook for jumbo sausage and chips! £3.50 and sat outside eating them. I did pop into the garden centre, well several actually, why waste an opportunity, if you can remember in one of my blogs about my old neighbour who works in the pharmacy and hasn't seen for ages? Well, she works now at one of the gardens centres, I don't think she recognised me, I am tempted to get served by her, but she probably knows someone, who knows someone else who knows my family that doesn't all know that I cross-dress as Julie, well she was a bit of a gossip and probably still is!
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