DAY OUTING TO DARWIN'S  HOUSE AND QUEBEC HOUSE FRIDAY 14th MAY 2010

We left Crawley on a pleasant day at 9.30 am for our journey into Kent and arrived at Darwin’s House at 10.30 am,  in good time to be greeted and divided in to three groups for our morning visit. We collected our personal interactive multimedia tour device narrated by David Attenborough and wended our way through the upstairs exhibition, the family rooms and the extensive gardens known as Darwin's 'Outdoor Laboratory'.

It was at Down House that One of the world's most eminent scientists, Darwin lived with his family for 40 years, and it was here he researched and wrote his most famous and explosive of works, On the Origin of Species.    

The exhibition, Uncovering Origins, charted the progression of Darwin's ideas and the controversy they provoked as well as the his experience about life at sea on his epic 5-year voyage on board HMS Beagle.

Needless to say we browsed the gift shop and found time to relax in the tea room, where for most of our time on site we could sit in the open air to enjoy the atmosphere.

After lunch at Darwin's House we had a short coach drive into Surrey to visit Quebec House, a Grade I-listed gabled house in the beautiful village of Westerham.

We were met in the car park by the National Trust  staff and divided in to two groups for a conducted tour of the house. The house  has features of significant architectural and historical interest and Quebec House was the childhood home of General James Wolfe, and is full of family and military memorabilia.

The coach house contains an exhibition about the 1759 Battle of Quebec and we had time for a cup of tea and ice cream in the afternoon sunshine.

And so to home in time to beat the M25 rush hour after a most interesting day out organised by Mike