Located just a short drive from Cranbrook, a friend mentioned that there’s a museum in the town too (open April to October), which would be worth a visit. Always keen to visit somewhere we haven’t been before, we set off on our mini adventure and here’s how we got on…

On arriving at Sissinghurst Castle, we saw several signs saying that picnicking isn’t allowed within the gardens, but that there is picnic area behind the cafe close to the entrance. It was getting close to lunchtime anyway and the kids are pretty much always ready to eat, so we followed the signs to a beautiful paddock with picnic benches and plenty of space for the kids to run around while we set up.

The gardens were almost like a maze of mini gardens all merged into one. I have to admit that it was tricky to keep track of the children in places. Strapping my youngest child into the buggy wasn’t an option (and would probably have been a bit mean) as buggies aren’t allowed in the formal gardens, and I now know I need to refresh my tactics for making them listen to me when I ask them to ‘wait’! The wider estate is accessible to pushchairs though, and there is a new pushchair parking area near the entry to the formal gardens.

However I managed to just about keep track of them and we headed up to the Tower so that we could look out over the property. The narrow stairs to the top are very steep and we were advised to carry the children up.

There are a couple of rooms on the way up worth exploring – my son enjoyed having a go on the typewriter, which was used by the last owner, Vita Sackville-West (before being taken over by National Trust) to type up her poems, and there were lots of questions about the printing machine in another room, which he had never seen before.

It was a short drive to Cranbrook where we parked up next to the church. The museum is across the road from the free car park, nestled down a little lane in a tranquil setting. Entry is completely free, though donations are welcome and there’s a quiz which children can take part in while walking around the museum – something which we only found out afterwards. Doh!

The building itself dates back to the 15th Century and the museum is a lot bigger than I thought it would be. Each room has a different theme, encapsulating the history of Cranbrook and the Weald of Kent. Spanning across three floors, there were so many questions from my five year old throughout! We are in the progress of reading the Harry Potter books, so my middle son was fascinated with the selection of owls on display in the ‘British Birds’ room.

The ladies who were working there that day were very friendly and encouraged us to walk around the peaceful and pretty grounds and to pick a couple of strawberries from the allotment where they are growing some fruit and vegetables.

This was a bit of a breakthrough moment for us as one of my children actually ate some strawberries – the first piece of fruit (with the exception of bananas) to pass his lips for a while! It was difficult to stop him eating many more and seeing the strawberries growing in their natural habitat (and not just in a box on the shelf in Tesco) must have made a good impact as he has been partial to them ever since.