K&ESR/Bodiam Castle

Hi,

we should probably start by introducing ourselves...

I'm Lauren, a blogger, among other things, from Lozhashersay and its sister blog Lozdoesdisney. Primarily I will be in charge of the actual blog posts, so it will be me you see waffling on during each post.

Alongside me is my long suffering partner, also a blogger (as well as other things), Jamie, previously known from Puresportuk and now Phantomsportsuk. He is our photo man as well as interjecting during the posts as he sees fit.

As two 26 year olds from Kent, looking for adventure in even the smallest of places, we have decided to combine our love for adventures- and blogging about them, all under one roof. Thus Phantom Adventures UK was born. The lifestyle blog scene wasn't one either of us foresaw, however when our forces combined to produce our joint Instagram blog of Theautumcook, we realised we actually really enjoyed chronicling our dates and so decided a second collab was on the cards. It's really a memory book for the both of us, but one we have decided to share publicly.

This of course doesn't mean that you won't see glimpses of these adventures throughout our other blogs. As a reviewer I am bound to stick my ore in and give an opinion about wherever we went, and our original collaboration blog will still chronicle our scrumptious meals as who doesn't love seeing food?! But primarily the full details and exclusive photos from our adventures will be posted here. 

So without further ado, please join us for our first official adventure! (which was actually on the 1st of June, it has taken a while for us to get this going...).

On 01/06/24, on a complete whim might I add, we decided to don our casualish gladrags and attend the 50th Anniversary Steam Gala hosted by the Kent & East Sussex Railway.

Now this heritage railway is a vaguely local attraction to us, about a half an hour drive away, and is 100% one of our top 10 Kentish attractions. Now this is a list to publish separately in the event anyone is interested, but as this is hometurf, you can certainly trust us on this. 

The event spanned the whole weekend, but we only attended on Saturday, however that didn't mean that we didn't take advantage and pack our day full of everything on offer.

K&ESR is a little known gem in my personal opinion, and it was Jay's first time attending, but I think even he agrees that the event wasn't as big or as popular as was anticipated. There were a handful of stalls located at Tenterden station, as well as traction engines (both full size and the mini ones at Bodiam station), a chance to ride a section of disused track located at Robertsbridge which is being worked on in order to be reopened soon, and of course the standard visitor attractions always available. The latter includes the museum located at Tenterden, the model railway display also at Tenterden, the Hop garden at Bodiam, the Cavell van & Unknown soldier at Bodiam, and of course Bodiam Castle (this is not actually part of K&ESR but considering it is less than a 5 minute walk down the road and within the very small catchment area in the middle of nowhere, it was included in what would have otherwise been a very short day).

Our adventure began at Tenterden station, where we headed off to get a cup of tea to start our day and then had to double back to join the queue for the ticket office as this wasn't open when we first arrived. Due to the large line which had grown during our quick refreshment break, we managed to miss the reenactment which started the day, but arrived on the platform in time to see the first VIP train of the day, pulled by two in house steam engines, shunt off down the track towards Bodiam.

It was the second train, this one open to the public, which we boarded and this was pulled by a visiting engine borrowed to take part in the gala in order to make it more galaish. You can't exactly have a grand party when you only have 3 engines of your own currently in use. As mentioned before, this is actually quite a small attraction and relies on volunteers and donations in order to keep going, but it is a magical place and such a large part of history and our heritage that you can forgive the lack of working engines (they do have more but these are mostly being overhauled). You may be interested to know that the K&ESR is actually the first Light Railway of its time and works hard to preserve its vintage heritage through the countryside, letting you experience the railway as it was during its original run.

You can find out more about the railway's heritage here: https://kesr.org.uk/about/ 

Now our train took us on the 45 minute journey from Tenterden, passing through Rolvenden and Northiam with the occasional stop, before coming to the end of the line in Bodiam. We went on a packed train which occasionally doubles as a simple dining car, and alighted in Bodiam to the cloudy countryside, a gentle breeze lifting the skirt of my dress (thank god for shorts).

We decided to have a quick look around Bodiam station before heading off to the castle. As you can see below, Jamie explored the hop garden as an enjoyer of beer (no thank you for myself), and then we took a mosey through the Cavell van and learnt of the history surrounding it including the Unknown soldier. We also got to poke our head in to see how a hop picker back in the day would live during their time on site.

After seeing all there was to see (aside from the mini traction engines and a single stall there was nothing else here), we took a brisk walk down to the castle where we explored to our little hearts content. Bodiam Castle doubled as the origin for the chocolate factory in the Wonka film released last year, and honestly it isn't too far fetched to believe.

The castle is surrounded by a moat. A real actually-full-of-water-not-just-empty moat. You can't stand in this one like the one at Walmer, you'd drown. Anyway, Bodiam Castle is picturesque, huge, beautiful, and home to nesting bats. It's also a ruin, may have forgotten to mention that bit, but it is the most intact ruin we have visited (it's the only) thus far.

The highlight for the castle aspect had to be standing at the very top of the tower looking out at the K&ESR as the train pulled in. Seeing the smoke puff up through the trees in short yet powerful bursts was magical and yet also quite dizzying as we were up very high!

We endorse this as a history based date for sure. You'll soon realise as we post more that we both love history, and honestly both of these places are absolutely soaked in it. The castle, despite being a working ruin, is fun and immersive, and it even has a well full of glowing green water! It took every fibre of my being not to stand at the side and quote Macbeth, specifically the witches scene...

As our blood sugar began to decline following our exploration of the castle, we headed directly opposite to The Castle Inn. This is such a cosy little pub, and the portions are massive. They clearly liked us in there as not only did we get extra Halloumi fries, but do you see that portion of dirty fries?! That's a side for one, it's basically a meal all to itself! What was meant to be a case of sharing ribs and halloumi between us, we both ended up with a plate of the squeaky cheese and then shared the salt and chilli chinese ribs. On top of those massive starters, Jamie had a bloody mary burger and I had the ploughman's lunch. Then of course the dirty fries as a side for Jay so I could have his boring chips! It's safe to say we were stuffed and did not finish all of the food on our plates. A gin and non alcoholic beer rounded off our lunchtime date nicely and then our adventure continued.

We then took a rather sluggish walk back down to Bodiam station where we waited for the vintage bus which would take us to Robertsbridge in order to take the 5 minute journey on the disused track. 

The ride there was on an old double decker, the journey calming yet a little bumpy. We got to cuddle up next to each other on the back seat like teenagers and just let our large lunch go down while taking in the country views.

When we got to Robertsbridge it was packed. There were food stalls and other market bits dotted about, but we were only really interested in the grand train ride offered to us in that moment. A beautiful first class coach was laid on with a huge steam engine one end and a helpful diesel the other. We stood back and watched the first ride as it was full when we arrived on the platform. The diesel pulled the train and loco backwards to the end of that small section of track which went just around the corner beyond the treeline, then you would hear the soft 'chug' as the steamie took over and pulled the train back to the station in all its glory.

I'll admit, Jamie had to hold my waist at this point as while the train came towards us on the platform all powerful and gleaming, I got wobbly knees. This engine was stunning as seen below, it was also huge and the massive puffs of steam which erupted from its chimney and from under the engine was enough to make anyone stare in awe. 

 

The second journey was the one we took, boarding the first class carriage and sinking into the plush red seats. The upper class were certainly comfortable back in the day, however being swallowed by our seats for a long period of time is not perhaps my idea of fun. I think I'm a second class kinda gal. However, we're excited to travel the line when it's properly reopened and in full as it's connected to the existing Tenterden line

Following our little excursion, we conducted a small photo op and then went back to the bus. The return journey would be conducted by an old open top bus, one of the old fleet which would have travelled London during their tours. Jamie thought this was a good idea to sit up top in the open, baring in mind it was a very windy day and there were many low slung trees along the way. Long story short, the tall man whose idea it was spent the journey ducked down into the bench to avoid being decapitated.

We returned back to Bodiam station and perused the small gift shop before boarding the train back to Tenterden. We picked the option of having a first class compartment this time and paid the £4 uplift which comes with having this luxury, we were also lucky enough to be able to have this to ourselves so enjoyed the homeward bound ride in our solace.

By the time we had arrived back in Tenterden, the museum was closed and almost all of the stalls had packed up for the day. If we were to do something like this again I think we'd spend more time in Tenterden as they even have a drive the diesel experience (which we missed). It was this moment we decided our adventure was done and it was home time for us too, but what a lovely day it was.

It is worth mentioning that this is a really fun family based day out and it is full of historical knowledge just waiting to be absorbed by a hungry mind. There are adventure trails at the stations for the young ones and lots more going on that we either aren't interested in or didn't get a chance to have a look at.

 Although it seems like a pretty clear cut day out, at the end of the day the adventure is about the journey and not the destination!

DISCLAIMER: Now for the official bit. This blog does not receive any paid promotions from the places mentioned above. We have not been approached to promote or act as spokespersons for any attraction mentioned within this post and this is simply a post intended to act as a day in the life of a couple on a cute date. All photos included are taken by ourselves and as such the rights for these images our ours, no links, brands, or companies mentioned otherwise belong or are associated with Phantom Adventures UK. We are responsible only for this blog and the individual blogs mentioned within our introduction. Opinions are our own and not influenced by any third party source, our views are a friendly recommendation only to help support heritage sites. 

If you have any recommendations on places to visit or somewhere you would like to see on the blog, please feel free to drop us a message on instagram under @phantomadventuresuk or email us at phantomadventuresuk@gmail.com