Ashburnham Place (the weekend away)

What a weekend. Jules and I went to Ashburnham Place with Jubilee church for the weekend. This was a weekend organised and (gratefully) subsidised by the church for the purpose of getting to know each other. I think it was a great success. Jules and I had time not only to meet new poeple and friends, but also to have "time out" because both of us felt that we hadn't stopped since before we were married 80 days ago (as of 29th May). Ashburnham Place is a wonderful place. Situated near Battle in East sussex in 200 acres of beautiful open and wooded land.

We set off on Friday morning and negotiated the QE2 bridge (traffic) and went on to Leeds Castle for lunch. I had lived near the castle for a year some time ago but never visited, so this was new for me and Jules. We didn't have too much time, but enough to have a brief look round the grounds, have some lunch and take a few pictures. It is a beautiful place to visit and we will be returning. We had lunch on a lawn overlooking the moat and the castle. Chocolate box picture! Then onto Battle where we wondered round the Battlefield where Harold and William fought with their troops, Harold was killed and William became king. The rest is as they say is history... On the site William had built a large church with the alter stone positioned where Harold fell, and in commemoration of those who fell at the battle. An interesting place. There is now a school on the site, but you can still walk round.

Ashburnham Place is a stunning place. The drive seems to go on for ages through woodland and then over an old stone bridge spanning a narrow section of the lake, up to the house. A large impressive building. One of the buildings was built by Capability Brown. The time there was wonderful. Jules and I had a comfortable room with basin and shared shower/bath/toilet and tea/coffee making facilities. The staff there went the extra mile to welcome us all and to make our stay wonderful and being in the background was just perfect.

Our time there was spent making new friends, and getting to know old friends better. Having this amount of time and knowing you didn't have to rush off somewhere was really helpful. Time is one of those valuable commodities that here had no real value because the pressures of the world were no-where to be seen. Wonderful. The times of worship and prayer was stunning. There was also time for fun games and football, crafts for the kids (and parents) or just "time out" to reflect on "life" or whatever. Saturday evening consisted of a quiz. Great fun.

The church is growing at such a rate (praise God) that another weekend like this is unlikely as there doesn't seem to be anywhere that could accommodate such numbers in such a setting. Shame. Maybe we should all go camping! or do a small "Stoneleigh"?

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