On Sunday 11th August we went to Cobham Hall near Gravesend - it was an amazing house, rather scuffed around the edges...as it is a commercial girls' school most of the time. There was an affable but rather dithery guide - got a few fab facts wrong - I made allowances for his age, but it was a bit boring.
Before that we went to St James's Church Cooling, which gave Dickens some inspiration for Great Expectations - rather less atmospheric than I had hoped - no longer at the edge of the sea, it is now surrounded by a few suburban houses, a very nice village hall and some polytunnels. There is a distant prospect of the Canvey Island refinery... we thought it very fine.
Before that we went to St James's Church Cooling, which gave Dickens some inspiration for Great Expectations - rather less atmospheric than I had hoped - no longer at the edge of the sea, it is now surrounded by a few suburban houses, a very nice village hall and some polytunnels. There is a distant prospect of the Canvey Island refinery... we thought it very fine.
