10 GOOD REASONS TO VISIT TENTERDEN

This rural town is as pretty as a picture and is home to several of Kent’s best attractions

- Caroline Read

1 EATING OUT Tenterden is a charming little country town with a broad, leafy High Street, full of great places to eat and drink. There are coffee shops, tea rooms and cafés galore, as well as several excellent pubs and restaurants. Ones to look out for include The French Gourmet, Peggotty’s Tea Shoppe, Bottega Montalbano, The Lemon Tree (see also page 58), The Vine, The White Lion, The Nutmeg, Ozgur and Moretto’s. The Swan Wine Kitchen at Chapel Down’s nearby winery is also highly recommended and appears in this year’s Michelin Guide.

2 VINTAGE ENGINES There’s still a lot of love for the nostalgic days of steam engine travel and in Kent we’re lucky enough to have a choice of heritage railway attractions. Based in Tenterden, the Kent & East Sussex Railway uses a 10-mile rural light railway line that had been disused since 1961. Now visitors of all ages come to experience the vintage steam and diesel engines. The trains stop at Rolvenden, Wittersham Lane and Northiam, terminating at Bodiam. Special events held throughout the year include a 1940s Weekend (16 and 17 May) and the CAMRA Real Ale Festival (19 and 20 June).