Christmas at Sevenoaks

I spent the festive days with the family of a friend at Sevenoaks - lovely food, wine and company - and excellent presents, books and the makings of some seriously luxury baths. It was the first Christmas I've done in about 10 years, so quite a novelty.

I also learnt a little about the history of a town now known most as a commuter suburb of London. (It was the only place I know of in Britain where the trains were running on Boxing Day - such an odd concept there is of stopping public transport on the days when many people just have to get around.)

There's an outline of Sevenoak's historyhere. Most famous is Knole House, best known as the home of Vita Sackville-West, although it has plenty of other historical associations.

There are many Tudor notes in the region - it was handy for London but definitely "country" then, and from those times onwards everyone who was everyone seems to have passed through.