Summer Picnic 2025
Following the success of last year’s picnic at Chiddingstone Castle in Kent, this year’s picnic was arranged at Belmont House near Faversham Kent at the end of August.
Belmont is the elegant 18th century house (designed by Samuel Wyatt) commanding stunning views over the surrounding Estate and the rolling Kentish North Downs. One of the most prestigious historic houses in Kent. Steeped in history, this unique households’ mementos of the family’s history and travels. The grounds of the estate amount to more than 3,000 acres which hold the house, gardens, cricket pitch, orchards, and surrounding farmland and woodland.
Within the house itself lies three exciting collections: the armoury, collected by five generations of the Harris family (Lords of the estate for 200 years); the Cazabon collection, the finest collection of Cazabon paintings in Britain; and the Clock Museum, an extraordinary horological collection created by the 5th Lord Harris.
The house also offers a talk on the clock collection once a month so if you have an interest in Horology then this is for you.
Belmont has some stunning award-winning gardens. The present layout of the ground’s dates from the 1790s, though the planting has been altered over the past two centuries.
The gardens consist of a walled garden, pinetum, wooded areas, formal lawns, and a large kitchen garden.
We were a few weeks late for the lavender but from what was left, it would have been stunning to look at the smell would have been very intense. There were some plants and produce from the grounds for sale in the greenhouse which several members took home.
We arranged with the house to arrive from 10.00 and were kindly parked in front of the orangery. Although the weather had been unsettled for a few days before, we were lucky
to experience pleasant weather all day.
Some members started off with a trip to the Tea rooms which were in the old stables, others enjoyed a walk around the grounds or took advantage of the artist who arrived to
paint watercolours of the cars.
Two groups took advantage of a house tour arranged by the trustees. The tour was informative and engaging and everyone said that it was worth going on.
After the tour, everyone met on the Picnic area near to the Orangery for a picnic lunch followed by a delicious selection of cakes bought in by our members to share. Several
members bought along their picnic loving dogs which was lovely to see!
It was so lovely to see so many members and of course their beautiful cars in a lovely country house and garden setting.
Already looking forward to finding next year’s venue!
Barb