The green at Ide Hill

We visited the village of Ide Hill in Kent the day after the early May Day Bank Holiday.  This sketch was done late afternoon while sat in the sun on a bench on the edge of the lovely village green.

The Village Green in evening sun at Ide Hill
pen and ink and coloured pencils in Moleskine Sketchbook
copyright Katherine Tyrrell

I assumed they hadn't got round to taking down the bunting for the May Day celebrations however it turns out The Ide Hill May Fair is on the second May Bank Holiday.

This village is a little way from Emmetts Garden.  It has the same name as the hill on which it stands.  Apparently the name of Ide Hill was first recorded in 1250 as Edythehelle and is meant to denote 'Edith's hill' - which makes it an eponymic name ie derived from the name of a person.

Which is interesting as the area is normally associated with Octavia Hill who was one of the three founders of the National Trust.  She was a a social reformer, philanthropist, artist and writer, who campaigned for open spaces for  poor people.  One of the things she did was saved Mariners Hill, Toys Hill and Ide Hill from development and these three hills became part of the Green Belt around London which has stopped urban sprawl.  Last year to celebrate the centenary of her birth, the National Trust created the Octavia Hill Centenary Trail East and the Octavia Hill Centenary Trail West

According to the National Trust

Ide Hill is 33.5 acres of semi-natural woodland that lies on the side of the Greensand Ridge. The area is designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest due to its abundant wildlife.

People may remember the woodland which suffered very badly in the Great Storm of 1987 - that was on Ide Hill.  It lost 70% of its trees.  Emmetts Garden lost 95% of its trees and virtually everything we see today has grown since 1987.  So basically - all those trees you see in the background have grown since 1987!

Here's a view of the church in Ide Green (to my immediate left from where I was sitting) from the most easterly point of the Bluebell Wood in Emmetts Garden.  It's the highest church in Kent - and there's a pun in there somewhere ;)

The Highest Church in Kent
St.  Mary's Church at Ide Hill from Emmetts Garden
photo copyright Katherine Tyrrell

Links to posts about Emmetts Garden:

• The view of the Weald from Emmetts Garden
• Sketching bluebells at Emmetts Garden, Kent
• Through the fence