insideKENT Magazine Issue 73 - April 2018 | Page 53

Belmont House and Gardens
Godinton House
arrivals, and the Rare Breeds Centre in
Woodchurch offers a daily opportunity to meet
the animals in the barn. gems like Belmont House and Gardens near
Faversham, which reopens for their main
spring and summer season from 1st April.
4. Spring flowers 6. More time to spring into action
Daffodils followed by primroses followed by
bluebells and tulips…the flowers just keep
springing up and, whether it’s formal planting
or wild woodlands that you prefer, you’ll find
somewhere to suit you in Kent. How about
visiting the National Trust’s Sissinghurst Castle
Gardens near Cranbrook, taking a spring walk
at Godinton House in Ashford, or joining in
with one of the spring events in the gardens
at Hever Castle? Another fantastic feature of spring’s arrival is
longer days! Now we’ve got over losing that
extra hour in bed, there’s more time to explore
and get active. Why not head for Betteshanger
Country Park near Deal where the Easter and
spring events make the most of the great
outdoors. Don’t miss their brand new, free-
to-enter Spring on the Park event which takes
place 7th and 8th April. Alternatively, start the
new season with some pedal power at
Gravesend’s Cyclopark, or take to the trees at
Bedgebury’s Go Ape course.
5. Kentish gems reopening for
the summer season
April marks the start of the tourist season,
which means many of the places we love to
visit fling open their doors after a winter break.
It’s a great time to rediscover some of Kent’s
7. Wildlife waking up
it’s a great time to get out and about to spot
birds, animals and insects. Try Kent Wildlife
Trust’s Tyland Barn near Maidstone; Bough
Beech Nature Reserve near Sevenoaks;
Buckland Lake Nature Reserve near Rochester;
or the RSPB reserve at Dungeness.
8. Spring breaks
All this activity makes spring the perfect time
to invite friends and family to the Garden of
England for a Kent getaway. Both Mulberry
Cottages and Kent and Sussex Cottages have
a range of attractive collections with some
great late-availability stays. You may even
wish to join them and enjoy a bit of a spring
staycation yourself!
For more inspiration on things to do in Kent
this season visit www.visitkent.co.uk.
It’s not just us humans feeling the spring in
our step – the warmer weather encourages
our wildlife to wake up and get active too, so
53