A short drive out of London and you can reach Kent, where the landscape changes dramatically. It’s pretty important to connect to this from time to time, gain a new perspective on things, see where you are going and what not. The London bubble is hard, so when a little place on the bank of the Great Stour River in Canterbury cropped up on our radar, we filled up the hire car and made our way toward the Blackwall tunnel.
Grove Ferry went through a bit of a revamp in July 2015 and now has six cute rooms, a restaurant and bar with open fire and a huge garden with plenty of animals inside and out. Our room for the night was ‘Elderflower’ and boasted a four poster bed, huge bath with over head shower, balcony, views of the river and some in room luxuries like a TV (not that you need to watch TV when you have an outside to explore) and in room tea, coffee and popcorn.
Breakfast in the morning is served in the pantry with hot and cold options, including a pretty impressive Full English. For lunch onwards, the restaurant knocks up British classics and with local produce to hand you couldn’t get any more sustainable; eggs from the chickens and vegetables grown in their allotment.
[URIS id=59761]The peeps at Grove Ferry are proud of their fam and will no doubt introduce you to Pickle (the pig) the hobbit pigs, Sam and Bilbo, the rooster Elvis, the chickens and baby chicks and newcomer Pedro, a rare golden pheasant rescued by the RSPCA. It’s like living on a farm for a weekend. For an easy escape from London Grove Ferry is not a bad option and it’s affordable too.
Grove Ferry Pub, Grove Ferry Road, Upstreet, Canterbury, CT3 4BP
www.thegroveferry.co.uk