Inimitable Emmetts

On our rain sodden truncated trip to the village of Ide Hill last week (see previous blip 10/10/2024) we had spotted a sign for a Emmetts Gardens but had decided to delay a visit until conditions were more favourable.
Today the outlook was more agreeable so we decided to make it our destination for today. Emmetts Gardens is owned by the National Trust and is a wonderful example of an Edwardian garden. Under the ownership of Frederick Lubbock, a banker and passionate plantsman, the  garden was transformed to how it looks in the present day - with a rock garden, a rose garden, spectacular views of the Weald of Kent, glorious woodland walks and a paradise of rare trees and shrubs from across the world - whose design was influenced by William Robinson, a well-respected gardener and horticultural writer.
We started our visit in the rose garden, which is where I took my main image of the angelic statue surrounded by a waterlily covered ornamental pond (see my first extra) before we set out on what turned out to be a much longer woodland walk than we had anticipated.
The walk had started on a gentle decline until we eventually came to the viewpoint where we finally got to see those expansive views out across the Weald of Kent (see my second extra with the two ladies, who might have actually been twins, both with red hair carrying almost identical looking scarves) but it was all very much uphill from there for what felt like over a mile which left us puffing a bit (poor old boys!).
As you can see it was quite overcast whilst we were there, so of course the sun came out just as we were leaving but we still thoroughly enjoyed our visit to these unique and incomparable gardens.
We then decided we would continue our journey back to the village of Ide Hill itself, which we had not lingered in on our last visit as it had been pouring it down.
We were intending to have lunch at the village's pub, The Cock Inn, but the somewhat dishevelled, albeit polite, landlord informed us there would be a long wait for food (over an hour) as three tables full of people had just arrived but we were still able to enjoy a pint in front of an open fire in a wonderfully atmospheric setting.
Feeling quite starving by this point we settled on having lunch at The White Horse in Sundridge a couple of miles away and which I remembered as it used to be just across the road from where I worked. The lady who served us was lovely and more than happy to chat on a variety of topics - from how the shape of beer glasses alter the taste of the beer itself to food being served on wooden boards instead of plates (she's not a fan) and the moody chef, although she did sing the praises of his food!