As It Was Diana's Day Off,

we decided on a ride out,

 to the borders of Kent and Sussex,

 where eventually we found Bayham Old Abbey,

we parked the car, plenty of space as there was only one other car in the park, so assemble the cameras,

 meanwhile Diana spied some leaves, 

 so a leaf shower it was then,

 great fun,

around the corner, the abbey,

 time for a few poses,

 the ruins of the building were huge,

 so plenty of places to pose in,

 meanwhile I had started to take both normal and infrared photographs,

 smile please!

 it was incredibly windy, I was lucky, at one time the wind blew the tripod over, I managed to catch it in time before it hit the ground, phew! that was close,

 Bayham abbey goes back a few years, it was built from local sandstone in the first half of the 13th century by Premonstratensian canons,

 mind the wind!

 the ruins of the abbey are well preserved, with a few original features still seen,

 to access the ruins we had to walk past this house, most of which appeared to be boarded up,

 the abbey has quite a history, in the 15th century the original design had been enlarged with new transepts, though the original transepts are still visible within the structure, as I mentioned before the Abbey was home to Premonstratensian canons regular: that is to say they followed the life ascribed to the Roman African St Augustine of Hippo, keeping the Augustinian rule in its purity,

 I should mention admission is free,

 but there are no shops, or as far as we could see toilet facilities, although things may be different in the summer months,

here I am again, my turn to pose!

 as it happens there was only one person other than us there,

 and he like myself was busy taking photographs,

 just a pity the weather could not have been a bit nicer, 

 going back to the abbey, it was suppressed by Cardinal Wolsey in 1525 in his 

attempt to gain funding for two of his new colleges, before falling into the hands of Henry VIII in 1538, once Bayham was under the King's control, it was leased to Anthony Browne, 1st Viscount Montagu, until Queen Elizabeth sold the estate outright, following various changes in ownership, Bayham was finally sold to Sir John Pratt in 1714, and remained in that family until 1961, when it was donated to English Heritage, the ruins it has to be said were very impressive,

 I mentioned to Diana when up and running it must have been a sight to behold, 

 I made my way slowly round the perimeter,

 looking back to the boarded up house,  

 unfortunately,

 there was not a lot of signage to help with where exactly we were,

 but what an abbey this must have been,

 the roundal on the right over what I guess was a part of the inside main building,

 I was now at the rear of the building,

 looking at another of the circles,

 I made my way by one of the arches,

 stopping to take a photograph through it, 

 I was now at the side of the building,

 making my way,

 back to the house where the entrance was,

 also on my right was another ruin, much smaller than the main one, I think this is the Kentish Gate, the abbey is sited on the Kent/Sussex border and is presumed to have had an entrance in each county, no trace has been found of the corresponding Sussex gate, also other buildings, normally associated with abbeys, such as stables and barns, these too are yet to be located,

 the partially boarded up house,

 just as we were about to go, 

 blue skies,

the abbey ruins are currently maintained by English Heritage, they largely consist of partial walls, though the room layouts can still be seen, and there remain many examples of ornate capitals and other carved stonework; including stone frameworks from the three giant windows comprising the nave, the address is Furnace Lane, Little Bayham, Tunbridge Wells, postcode, TN3 8LP. what a lovely place to take a few photographs, all of these are straight out of the camera, next week I might play with a few in CC 2015, 

 next stop,

 breakfast at Polhill Garden Center,

 whelks for myself,

 then inside to join Diana,

for a cream tea, next, drop off Diana, she is meeting some friends from work, so back in the car we went, dropping Diana off, after the party I meet Diana at the station,

  and we were out for an evening walk through Beckenham, past the church,

and the George, 

arriving at The Big Catch,

 for a fish and chip supper,

 plenty of tartar,

 nearly done,

we both went with cod and chips, plus a gherkin, with coke for Diana and a glass or three of wine for myself,

arriving home we rounded off the evening with Dad's Army, the film, this will be the only post today as we are out early, Christmas shopping! and with that we were off to bed.