Redruth to West Sussex & London

Charleston House, Firle, West Sussex

April 2026

Despite the rain right through Cornwall and no hot water for coffee till London, excitement could not be curbed. This trip was one I had wanted to do for so long: namely to visit Charleston House, home to artists Vanessa and Duncan Bell and their numerous friends and, just down the road, Monk's House home to Virginia and Leonard Woolf.

Very easy journey. At Paddington we took the District Line to Victoria and then a direct train to Lewes where we were booked into the Dorset Arms and as it transpired, the Virginia Woolf Room!

Flanked by the South Downs and the River Ouse, Lewes is a very pretty town with calf muscle-stretching hills which reward the effort with great coffee shops, restaurants, antique and vintage shops in abundance and many an independent shop, relaxing parks and nature reserves, lots of history and still feels modern. It has evidently been favoured by writers over the centuries. Thomas Paine, the eighteenth England-born philosopher who supported revolutionary causes in America and Europe, lived in Lewes in the 1760s as a tax inspector (he was then posted to Grampound in Cornwall). His most famous book being 'The Rights of Man'. Virginia and Leonard Woolf bought a house at auction but sold it almost immediately as they had found Monk's House in nearby Rodmell. We also discovered a plaque to Eve Garnett who wrote The Family from One End Street which is thought to be set in Lewes. Also on Bonfire Night the town comes aflame with huge effigies of political characters who are processed and then ceremonially burned.

We took the bus to Charlston House and en route met a delightful Italian couple from Venice who are passionate about the house and its inhabitants. The wife told me that she takes photos of the wall paintings and painted objects which her son then reproduces for her back at home ... that is fandom! Painter Vanessa Bell, sister to Virginia Woolf, took on the tenancy for Charlston House as a safe place to be in WW1 and so that her partner Duncan Grant and his lover David Garnett could do agricultural war work as conscientious objectors . Her husband Clive Bell and father to her sons, often visited (a very complex family set-up!). It became a haven for artists, writers, critics and philosophers and was the hub outside London for the Bloomsbury Set, many of whom had enormous influence on art and culture in the 20th century. They were also famous for their liberal unconventionality.

The house is a wonder of art and craft yet still feels like a home. The room stewards are both informative and good storytellers and take great delight in sharing their insights. Every surface and object is decorated. Portraits of children and friends hang in the rooms. And windows overlook a riot of tulip colour (we visited in Spring).

It was impossible not to get caught up in the eye-wateringly complex family saga with its mix of joy and tragedy. I became engrossed in Angelica Garnett's memoir Deceived with Kindness. She was Vanessa's daughter and the youngest child who assumed that her father was also Clive Bell, who behaved as such. As a young woman, it was revealed to her that Duncan Grant was actually her birth father. In a state of shock or perhaps rebellion, she married David Garnett who, twenty five years her senior, had once been her father's lover and remained a family friend... They had four daughters together but once she discovered the truth, she did leave him. There is a real tragedy in her story. There was such sadness despite what to outsiders could seem like an idyllic childhood.

Portrait of Angelica by Vanessa Bell

Monk's House was very different, though Vanessa's paintbrush is still much in evidence. It was the home of writers and not visual artists. Also it is now owned by The National Trust so although beautifully kept, there are none of the backend parts of the house on view, nor the upstairs. But the garden is beautiful and with a large walled vegetable area it would have been very productive. Virginia's writing shed in the garden has some wonderful photographs of the Bloomsbury Group in the garden. And there is a beautiful bowling green where we sat on deckchairs in the sunshine listening to bell ringing practice. I must admit, it made me sad sitting there as it is from this place that Virginia walked for fifteen minutes to the River Ouse on her final journey; no turning back ...

We really enjoyed our brief stay in west Sussex and my bus pass proved indispensable. Then it was time to head to London and the drama of having a family of urban foxes in your garden...Our son Be and his partner Jessy live in a flat with a large garden which seems to follow the 'no mow May' policy. A haven for young foxes. The day we arrived two cubs had been exploring and found their way into their cellar but not their way out. Just before we arrived Be had managed to let them out - or thought he had. In fact only one had left. That night the parents set up a caterwauling and shrieking outside the window. Meanwhile the cub was leaping around on the stuff stored in the cellar under our room. It was bedlam! The others, in another part of the flat, slept through it. In the morning the blearied eyed pair, us, were positioned by the window, while the others shooed out the cub who had instinctively 'gone to ground'. Eventually, it dashed past us and hid in a patch of nettles while two pairs of eyes were watching from the far end of the garden. The vixen, quite thin and mangy, emerged, collected the cub in her mouth, where it flopped, contrite, and took it back to their den for a sharp talking to, I imagine. When all were safely gathered, the dog fox, marched round the garden and sprayed on anything upright, then stretched out in the sunshine. All was back as it should be. What a privilege to observe 'wild' animals at such proximity.

We had such a good weekend with visits to Brockley Market, walking Freddie's Way which is a memorial route with hundreds if not thousands of cherry trees all in blossom leading up to Hilly Fields park and then the Summer Fayre at Joyce's Wine Bar in Brockley where Jessy had created the decorative bouquet. In the evening we met up with my sister and her husband for Turkish supper and lots of chat and laughs.

Apologies to Mark from my inept photography!

On the Sunday we met up with my brother who took us on a guided tour of the alley ways in the City where we snuck off the wide streets of high commerce to loiter in narrow byways with eighteenth century coffee houses, wine bars, chop houses and tailors, as well as churches. One of which was St Stephen Walbrook which we couldn't visit as all churches in the City are closed on a Sunday. The Samaritan's was founded in this church and the original telephone is still there. One church was open and full of Chinese Christians engaged in loud debate and consuming large amounts of tea. I especially enjoyed the sight of contemporary statement high rise buildings squeezed in between the older streets and infrastructure. Such a feat of engineering.

Before getting the train home, we all walked through Kensington Gardens to the Serpentine Gallery to see the David Hockney exhibition of 'A Year in Normandy' with digital paintings from his ipad. Apart from their beauty, evocation of the seasons and 'frenchness', I came away in awe of an artist who is innovating his practice in his nineties.

Statue by Henry Moore in Kensington Gardens; A Year in Normandy by David Hockney

Such a stimulating trip. Think we may stay put for a bit. Meanwhile Women Speak Volumes SW have just launched their new publication (in)visibilities and we are 'on tour' doing readings and discussions. Maybe see you there? For more info: https://www.instagram.com/womenspeakvolumessw/ or

https://womenspeakvolumessw.wordpress.com/

Thank you to Tony for his photos and to you for reading.

Stop Press

Yesterday we were invited to the launch of the Eleana on the slipway in Falmouth. Friend and writer Wyl Menmuir has been restoring her as part of his next book exploring 'seaworthiness'. Under cover of sea mist, she was welcomed, blessed and launched with Wyl and his wife on board. And she sailed! Later the plan is to sail her to the Isles of Scilly in the summer.