In all, we counted 13 other people during our three-hour visit. There may have been more but we didn’t cross them on the empty paths. ​

With so few visitors now is the time to soak up the peace at Penshurst Place – and take a picnic. The benches are spaced far apart so there will be no feeling of being uncomfortably close to others. The Porcupine Pantry, with outside seating, is also open for takeaway drinks and snacks. 
 
And on the delicate subject of the Happy Place (toilets), they are close to the entry point, scrupulously clean (with every other cubicle open), plenty of hot water, hand-dryers and hand sanitisers. 
 
Entry to Penshurst Place is through online booking only so morning and afternoon time slots can be strictly allocated, but don’t let that sound like your day will be regimented, the charming reception team offer a huge welcome, and although you can’t see their smile through their masks, watch their eyes light up when seeing you arrive to appreciate the gardens.
 
Visit in June and July to see The Union Flag garden at its peak with red and white roses edged by blue lavender. It’s a chance to celebrate the best of British again – garden visiting has always been a national institution and Penshurst Place is more than ready to embrace garden lovers (at a comfortable social distance!).
​
 Visit penshurstplace.com
Tickets £12.50 adults

​



 
My cruise-writing travels take me far and wide, witnessing the most stunning destinations in the world – but they also expose me to seeing the uncontrolled pollution of our seas.
 
To me, the ocean is our biggest garden, but the problem of First World plastic and waste has grown in front of my eyes.
 
This year I have watched barefoot children walk on broken glass that has been washed up onto the shores of their remote villages, seen piles of plastic containers on tropical islands and plastic bags caught round birds’ necks.
 
It has kept me awake at night.
 
At RHS Chelsea Flower Show my two favourite pastimes, gardening and ocean sailing were brought together in a lightbulb moment.
 
I’m no eco-warrior but I realised, after visiting the Pearlfisher Garden, that I am in a ‘Lightweight lifecycle’ – I am someone who has become aware of plastic pollution and is now actively reducing the impact I make by, where possible, not buying plastic.
 
One third of the 78 million tons of plastic packaging that is produced every year ends up in our ocean – the equivalent of pouring one rubbish truck of plastic into the ocean every minute.
 
I had felt helpless to do anything – it's almost impossible to shop without a product having some plastic packaging – but at RHS Chelsea I came away with some inspiration and signed up to the charity Plastic Oceans Foundation.
 
I am now part of the #lightweightchallenge!
 
The Pearlfisher Garden at RHS Chelsea has given me a focus, so I will continue to refuse plastic bags, straws and cups. I will start to use foil and baking paper instead of clingfilm.
 
I have already begun to buy most food from local shops and have returned to using glass milk bottles.
 
Yes, I have double standards because I drive a car, I travel on cruise ships, planes and trains. I use gas and electricity but probably like many others I can’t always stay indoors.

The answer is just to make a start. 
 
So now, when buying plants I will ask my favourite nurseries to keep the pot and re-use the ones I already have. Not much, I know, but Lightweighting is about making more of an effort. We can all do that.
 
Former Tonbridge School student John Warland’s Pearlfisher Garden showed our planet drowning in waste. On first sight it was all glamour, colour and movement, but on closer inspection it told the story of the destruction in our oceans.
 
Set into an underwater world, the garden was made up of below-water level aquatic tanks that transported visitors into a unique underwater world. Beneath a 3D-printed sculpture of a Pearl Diver – or Japanese Ama – made from recycled plastic, there was plenty of specimen planting including cacti, succulents and exotics.
 
The garden also contained 500 water bottles which filled the boundary walls of the installation, representing how much plastic packaging is thrown into the oceans every 2.5 seconds.
 
John, who I got to know when he was creating his RHS World Vision gardens, always has his eye on the environment and he said that when he entered the Pearlfisher Garden for RHS Chelsea last year, plastic pollution was not high on the agenda.

He said: “Mother Nature is the ultimate designer and we should all be thinking about the impact we are making and how we can work with nature to create a better, more beautiful and more sustainable world for us all."

John is also calling on the RHS to push home the message. He said: “This garden is a wake up call, drawing a line in the sand. Hopefully the RHS will now lead from the front with the demographic they have."

The Chelsea show banned plastic straws but the RHS could go further with a restriction on plastic bottles, cutlery, plates, cups, packaging and plant pots etc. I am sure show visitors would buy into having no one-use plastic items at shows, that would be a good start.
 
With 27 million gardeners and garden visitors in the UK we can all help reduce our environmental impact. I have written to RHS Director General Sue Biggs CBE and I am sure she will be offering me a positive update for my next blog.

As for cruise lines, a big link to my working life, I have already seen improvements but the companies, led by the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) need to go further.
 
Firstly though, well done to Hurtigruten for banning all single-use plastic on its ships.
Many ships such as those run by Pandaw and Uniworld also give passengers metal containers to carry water and Saga Cruises’ executive chef George Streeter has made all sort so improvements with fresh water in jugs replenished everyday in the cabins and he has invested in a yoghurt maker, thus dispensing of thousands of plastic pots –and the yoghurt is far superior! Small steps and there's much more to come.
 
CLIA officially recognises that proper waste management is fundamental to the protection of the environment and there is a code of practice; members are encouraged to manage their waste in accordance with sound environmental principles and expand their  waste  reduction  strategies  while increasing environmental awareness by educating crew, guests and the communities in which they operate. I've also written to CLIA's UK & Ireland boss to get updates for my next post.

I would love cruise lines write to me about the improvements they are making so I can highlight their efforts.
 
Plastic Oceans Foundation
Supporting the Pearlfisher Garden at RHS Chelsea was Jo Ruxton, CEO and founder of the Plastic Oceans Foundation. She features in the alternative Sunday Times Rich List of people who bring great wealth to our world. She is truly inspirational.
 
Film producer Jo’s work A Plastic Ocean (you can see it on Netflix) highlights how eight million tonnes of plastic ends up in the sea every year, killing marine life and entering our food chain.
 
She has seen the issue at first hand and showed me two jars of albatross stomach contents including an ink cartridge, toy soldier and sink plug among the dozens of items.
 
Jo told me: “Whoever in the 1950s said plastic was recyclable was completely wrong. We all need to make a change – and we can all make a difference if we believe in something.”
 
A Plastic Ocean has been shown in more than 60 countries and Sir David Attenborough says it is “one of the most important films of our time” so that's it. If Sir David says so, he has to be right. 

More from me again soon, meanwhile do visit plasticoceans.org; www.pearlfisher.com; http://rhs.org.uk and https://www.netflix.com
​

Let’s be honest, the former spa at Eastwell Manor Hotel, near Ashford, Kent was not exactly a place to be seen, if you get my drift.
 
When Champneys Health Spa took over the property my hopes were high­ ­– a place of well-being that welcomes the likes of Kylie Minogue, Dame Helen Mirren and Dame Judi Dench, as well 007 Daniel Craig and Brad Pitt. It was also a favourite of the late Diana, Princess of Wales.
 
After a multi-million pound refurbishment of the health club I returned to find a completely different environment. The chic and contemporary décor, all clean lines in creams and white, a mix of tiled and Amtico-style flooring, designer lighting and polished marble reception desks set the scene and receptionist Abbie added to the favourable first impressions.
 
She led my guest Jacquie and I on a tour of the two-storey building’s pool, treatment rooms and gym which ended in the restaurant – a welcoming space complete with sofas, coffee tables, leather chairs and a choice of tables for two to eight.
 
“Enjoy some breakfast to start your day,” she suggested and we found ourselves drinking tea and catching up on news in this lovely room with French windows and fine views across the North Downs. 
 
At 9.30am Abbie obviously realised we would be talking all morning so she provided us with a smart Champneys bag containing our robes, flip-flops and wristband for the lockers. The perfect subtle hint to get on with our day.
 
In the changing room nothing was forgotten; the electronic touch wristband opened the three-part lockers – hanging space, bag space and another shelf for personal items. Hoorah for sensible storage.
 
There were large individual changing rooms, six super-spacious showers with frosted glazed doors (complete with hooks on the outside for robes and towels) plus body wash and conditioner dispensers, a hair and make-up area with funky seats, Ghd hairdryers and straighteners, cotton pads and cottonbuds, a spin dryer for wet swimming costumes and plastic bags to put them in, plus a fresh drinking water station. Smart, spacious, clean and functional – sorted.
 
The 20-metre pool was spotless and the water exceptionally clear, always the first sign of whether a spa is on its game!

With plenty of double cabanas – daybeds with cushions and curtains – surrounding the pool  we lazed and read the paper and enjoyed more time to chat before giving the hydrotherapy pool, whirlpool, steamroom and sauna a whirl.
 
At 10.30am, music wafted across the pool and we joined the Aquarobics class before moving on the treatments reception to check our bookings.
 
We both opted for a full body massage and after 55 minutes of pummeling Jacquie and I met in the relaxation room to lounge on large armchairs and put our feet up on the matching footstools. With duck-egg blue velour blankets to keep us warm we enjoyed more time to chat and a flick through magazines before lunch.
 
We stayed in our fluffy robes and flip-flops to eat our three-course lunch which was healthy, nutritious and beautifully presented. The spinach soup was a triumph and our main meals – pan-fried sea bass and roast breast of Gressingham duck were a visual delight and tasted as good as they looked! A cheeky vanilla brûlée completed the treat.
 
There was not too much time to linger before our afternoon treatments. Jacquie was pleased with her sparkly manicured nails and my gold crystal collagen facial was a special  indulgence. After plenty of cleansing with a series of delicately fragranced products, the gold crystal mask did its work. The plant and gold collagen, with natural healing properties and, evidently, nutrients which are absorbed by the skin at 10 times the rate of a traditional face mask left my skin feeling soft and glowing. Lovely, lovely, lovely.
 
By now Jacquie and I were both so chilled out it was difficult to choose between going to the gym or having a little snooze on the poolside cabanas.
 
... Perhaps we could try the gym next time.
 
PRICES
Now you are probably thinking a spa experience at Champneys is pricey.
Well, call in for the deals.
We enjoyed a £99 spa day for two which included lunch and use of all the facilities. Our treatments were extra, ranging from £45 to £75, but at the time of writing there were further offers available including a £45 treatment giftcard which buys £100-worth of treatments.
 
MEMBERSHIP FROM £2.50 A DAY
Even more tempting is Champneys Health Club membership which starts from about £2.50 a day.
Standard membership (Mon-Fri 6.30am-10am & 6pm-9pm and Sat-Sun 6.30am-9.30am & 5.30pm-9pm) £69 a month (or £680 a year) plus £150 joining fee
Weekday membership (Mon-Fri 9am-4pm) £69 a month (or £680 a year) plus £100 joining fee
Premier membership, open every day from 6.30am-9pm, £120 a month plus £200 joining fee
 
I might not be able to resist the temptation …
 
CONTACT
Visit eastwellmanor.co.uk or email fitness manager paul.foreman@champneys.com
Eastwell Manor Hotel, Boughton Lees, Ashford, Kent TN25 4HR
 
 CHECK OUT THE SLIDESHOW

 I love a hotel with a history and Dukes London is my latest find – a hidden gem just four minutes’ walk from Green Park tube. Yes, I timed it.
 
The Queen Mother and Diana, the Princess of Wales, loved Dukes, and no wonder, it’s tucked away in a quiet cul-de-sac off St James’s Place, yet within a hop from Buckingham Palace, Fortnum & Mason, the Royal Academy of Arts in Piccadilly, Jermyn Street and Bond Street.
 
The five-star boutique hotel has an elegant red-brick façade with wrought-iron railings and flower-filled window boxes where an inviting arched double doorway leads to a classically furnished reception.
 
Here, the Dukes’ staff are friendly and efficient so you immediately at home in a property that evokes a timeless elegance. Plenty of beautifully arranged fresh flowers and well-chosen artworks grace the public areas which also add to the welcoming atmosphere.
 
Light pours through the tall box-framed windows and my three-room suite made for a peaceful retreat with tasteful décor and sumptuous furnishings that included two generous two-seater sofas, a polished wood dining table and chairs, a blissfully comfortable bed and a large marble bathroom with Floris amenities.
 
Dukes also offers a generous helping of ambience which echoes through to the bar where it is said James Bond author Ian Fleming coined the phrase ‘Shaken, not stirred’. 

Yes, I did try the famous martini. I also loved the GBR restaurant, which is open all day, offering traditional British menus with a modern twist.
 
Breakfast was a triumph with a quiet corner and a newspaper to read while working my way through yoghurt with sliced bananas and honeycomb plus a rainbow of poached eggs and avocado on sourdough bread with plenty of freshly squeezed orange juice. Service was spot on and coffee topped up without a chase.
 
To walk off the calories I took myself on a Blue Plaque tour of the neighbourhood which turned out to be an extraordinary enclave for writers, musicians, politicians and royalty. (Download the Blue Plaque app which links the people of the past with the buildings of the present).

I had already spotted the plaque marking the home of former Prime Minister Sir Robert Walpole (1676-1745) and his son Horace in Arlington Street on my way to the hotel but now, just over the road from the hotel, I found 4 St James’s Place – the house where composer Frederic Chopin stayed before he went to the Guildhall to give his last public performance.
 
Further on, at 4 St James’s Square, I came across the home of Nancy Astor, the American politician and society hostess who was the first woman to sit in Parliament, holding her seat for more than 25 years.
 
At 1c King Street, St James's, I was surprised to find the scheme’s earliest surviving plaque, marking the home of Napoleon III, the nephew and heir of Napoleon I and the last Emperor of France. It was erected in 1867 by the (Royal) Society of Arts. 
 
Evidently, Prince Louis Napoleon Bonaparte was exiled from France after the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 and in the years that followed he lived in Switzerland, Germany, Italy, America and London, where he lived briefly at 1 Carlton Gardens – also in St James’s.
 
On his return to France in 1840, Louis Napoleon was imprisoned for life, but six years later he managed to escape and fled to England. In February 1847 he took a lease on a newly built house in King Street and transformed its interior into a shrine to the Bonapartes, installing a portrait of Napoleon I by Delaroche, uniforms worn by his uncle and other relics that survived the first Emperor’s fall.
 
The Prince became a leading figure in London society and was given honorary membership of some of the most celebrated clubs in St James’s, and enrolled as a special constable during the Chartist riots of 1848. According to English Heritage, greater disturbances across the Channel in 1848 led to the overthrow of the French Bourbon monarchy and in September Louis departed for France.
 
It seemed he left King Street in some haste, as his landlord found ‘the Prince’s bed unmade and his marble bath still full of water’.
 
I made my way on to St James’s Square to find a plaque commemorating Ada King, Countess of Lovelace (1815-1852) who in her short life was a pioneer of computing. Who'd have thought it?
 
At 82 Pall Mall was the former home of painter Thomas Gainsborough (1727-1788) and in Carlton House Terrace, still only 10 minutes from the hotel, there was a plaque commemorating Marquess Curzon, a statesman Viceroy of India. In the same row a lovely porcelain plaque from 1925 marked the former home of Prime Minister William Gladstone (1809-1898).
 
Before I crossed the road for a loop around St James’s Park, at 2 Carlton Gardens I found the plaque for Field Marshal Kitchener of Khatoum (1850-1916) who also had a home in my county of Kent. Quite a who's who in such a small area.
 
After a squint at Buckingham Palace I took a walk across Green Park, where there’s a shortcut back to the hotel.

While relaxing in my suite I decided that although I travel for I living, I become more proud of my home city every time I build in time to explore its rich history and heritage – I always discover something new and this time Dukes completed a joyful stay.

Dukes London is a five-star hotel at  35 St James's Place, London, SW1A 1NY


​Factfile
90 recently refurbished rooms including fifteen suites (nine junior suites, five deluxe and one penthouse
Cognac and cigar garden
All-day restaurant also serves traditional afternoon tea
Complimentary WiFi
Prices from £320 per night, including breakfast
dukeshotel.com
Telephone 020 7491 4840

If I was going to run a seaside hotel these would be the rules:
 
A simple kettle, a teapot, a jug of fresh milk, Tregothnan Cornish tea, small bone china mugs, plus a cafetiere with choices of coffee and home-made biscuits in every room … simple luxuries instead of fiddly plastic cartons of milk, those yellow packets with weak tea and complicated coffee machines.
 
A Roberts radio and a sea view would replace a television and iPad, plus plenty of good books would be on the shelf to help guests’ transition from work to play in their precious holiday time.
 
Rooms would have a subtle sea-side theme in blues and cream, pale grey and sandy gold. The bed would be seriously comfortable with fluffy pillows and crisp white linen. Maybe a soft checked wool blanket to add a cosy feel, sash windows that open to breathe in the sea air plus chunky radiators and air conditioning for full comfort when the weather’s too hot or cold.
 
Classic period furniture, original paintings on the walls (all for sale) and fresh flowers in Cornish-ware jugs would create a warm welcome while a pristine bathroom with polished fittings, a simple-to-work shower, soft white towels and generous quality amenities – shower gel, shampoo, conditioner and hand lotions would be also absolute musts.
 
To complete the picture, let’s throw in a garden with tropical planting that leads down to the harbour, plus a private terrace to enjoy morning tea to watch the sun rise.
 
Next, I would turn my attention to the menus; sourcing fresh, local produce to be served in a bright, light, flower-filled bar-cum-dining room that would be neither crammed or stuffy.
 
Breakfast would offer a choice of waiter-served or help-yourself delights with squeezed juices and fruit, freshly baked croissants and a choice of home-made breads plus tasty slabs of butter (no hard, mini-packs just out of the fridge). Cereals and home-made muesli with milk from the local farm would complete the offering on a giant-size farm table.
 
From the kitchen guests could order everything from full English to fresh smoked salmon and the yellowest of scrambled eggs washed down by good, strong coffee.
 
Dinner – now that would have to be exciting but unpretentious – and being near the sea, boast a range of tasty fish and seafood from hake, lobster, crab and my favourite, the whitest of plaice, all gloriously served with seasonal vegetables. 

Oh yes, and an exceptional wine, beer, cider and gin list.
 
Friendly, informed, attentive staff would complete the picture of my hotel – a home-from-home with special treats where friends, families and well-behaved dogs could enjoy the spectacular setting and surrounding natural beauty.
 
Well, would you believe it? The Old Coastguard Hotel, in Mousehole, in south-west Cornwall, got there first. The 14-bedroom hotel provides the perfect stop before catching the Scillonian III ferry to the Scilly Isles which is a 10-minute taxi ride to Penzance Harbour.
 
My only regret? I stayed just one night.
 
oldcoastguardhotel.co.uk
 

What’s in my diary for December 4?

I’ll be enjoying an early Christmas present, previewing the Victoria & Albert Museum's exhibition Winnie-the-Pooh: Exploring a Classic.

There’ll be 230 works from 1920 to today – sketches, proofs, letters, photographs, cartoons, ceramics and fashion.

My job will to consider what has made A.A. Milne’s Winnie-the-Pooh such an enduring character, and of course, I’ll have to try the multi-sensory exhibits to explore the world of Pooh Bear that my family has feasted on over the years.

If you’ve played Pooh Sticks in Ashdown Forest, read the bedtime stories and know Now We are Six off by heart you will no doubt be queuing for this one.