Jane Dallaway

  • Today’s walk: Waterhall

    26 August 2026

    Earlier in the year, I went to a Café Scientifique talk: “Wilding Waterhall: Working with nature to maximise biodiversity” given by Mike Luscombe, one of the rangers. One thing I learned that evening was that they’d created some named walks across the reserve. It’s been on my to-do list ever since, but the opportunity hadn’t arisen, or when it did, we had a problem with temperature or access.

    Dry summer grassland sloping down into a wooded valley at Waterhall

    Today, we managed to get there. We mostly followed the Buzzard Hike and were impressed with the size of the place. There is still plenty more for us to explore.

    View over the Waterhall reserve with a patchwork of fields and wooded hillside under a wide sky

    It is so easy for us to get to that I suspect we will return in autumn.

  • Exploring Royal Tunbridge Wells

    24 August 2026

    Tunbridge Wells is one of those places that I don’t really know much about. When I worked in Crowborough 20 or so years ago occasionally I’d rush there and back in my lunch break if there was something I specifically wanted. But I’d never really spent any time there. I thought it might be useful to consider it an explorer day and plan accordingly. While doing some research I came across the Marc Chagall windows at All Saints, Tudeley and so decided to combine that into my day.

    It was another beautiful sunny day and Tunbridge Wells seemed pretty busy, at least at the cafes along the Pantiles. I found a spot for a coffee and updated my notes before heading off for a wander.

    Royal TW Mineral Water shelves labelled with the elements they contain, iron, zinc, calcium and manganese

    Old wooden delivery cart bearing the Royal TW Spring Water crest and an 1736 date

    I walked past the site of the spring which seems to be a bit of a ghost town.

    I then headed off to The Amelia Scott. It is a museum and library combined, which is an excellent idea actually, putting art with books. I was met at the reception area and handed a leaflet with a map of the exhibitions, and was warned that the upstairs ones were closed because of the heat. Some of the artifacts weren’t coping that well with the temperatures and so they’ve put them away for safekeeping. This wasn’t something that had previously occurred to me, but I guess up and down the country museums and galleries have been making difficult decisions, working out what could stay out and what had to be put away. What a responsibility. There was a useful little exhibition called Story of the Wells, which says

    Discover how Royal Tunbridge Wells grew from a woodland spring into a celebrated spa town. It begins in 1606 with the discovery of the Chalybeate Spring by Dudley, Lord North. Trace the town’s transformation into a fashionable retreat, the elegant development of The Pantiles, the architectural legacy of Decimus Burton, and the invention of Subbuteo.

    This was a useful exhibition and helped fill some gaps in my knowledge - like why is it Royal Tunbridge Wells?

    Notice titled Temporary Migration explaining that some objects have been evacuated due to the heat

    I enjoyed the sign about the unavailable exhibits flagging it as a temporary migration.

    Ornate former opera house interior with gilded balconies and chandeliers, now a pub

    After leaving the Amelia, and hearing someone giving advice to another group, I headed into the nearby Wetherspoons pub to see the Opera House. An elaborate drinking establishment. The advisor had mentioned that every now and again it is closed as a pub and reopens to host an opera. That must be quite something!

    Sandstone rock outcrops on the open grassland of Tunbridge Wells Commons

    Having discovered that most of the cafes had closed by the time I got around to wanting lunch, I grabbed a sandwich from Gail’s and went and sat on the Commons to eat it before driving home. The Commons is a lovely space and I missed having Breezy with me to explore it more thoroughly.

    An interesting day out. The windows at All Saint’s church, Tudeley were my absolute highlight.

  • Visiting the Marc Chagall windows at All Saints' Church, Tudeley

    24 August 2026

    Large three-lancet stained glass window in yellow and red tones

    All Saints’ Tudeley is a quite remarkable place as it

    is the only church in the world* to have all its twelve windows decorated by the artist Marc Chagall

    *Despite some claims to the contrary, Tudeley really IS the only church in the world to have all its windows decorated by Chagall. The other contenders are the Hadassah Medical Centre in Jerusalem, but this is of course not a church, but a synagogue, and Le Saillant, Limousin, France, which is a chapel.

    I enjoyed the pedantry there!

    Close-up of a yellow stained glass panel showing Chagall's signature, the date 1974, and the Reims workshop mark, and the light reflected on the sill

    Yellow-toned stained glass panel with bird and ass, and light reflected on the sill

    Deep blue stained glass panel with light reflecting on the sills

    Coloured light from the stained glass windows cast across the stone floor tiles

    Blue and gold light patterns cast by the stained glass onto the floor

    I was really lucky with my timing and the day as I got to see the sunshine pour through the windows at the South side of the church making playful patterns on the sills and on the floor.

    Close-up of blue stained glass showing Marc Chagall's signature

    I enjoyed seeing Marc Chagall’s signature on the glass.

    Two lancet stained glass windows in pink, blue, orange and green, with a quatrefoil above

    I think this window was my favourite colours.

    Wide view inside All Saints Tudeley showing wooden pews, a pulpit, and a visitor looking closely at a sunlit stained glass window

    The light in the church changed tone and feeling as I moved from the south side, where the yellow windows are, and towards the north and east where the blue windows are. It’s almost impossible to capture that quality in photographs, so that’s something I’ll just have to remember. A beautiful place to visit.