The House Matters More Than The Town

...And if we can't find anywhere in Rochester we'll look elsewhere. The town we end up in matters less to us than the house. There are towns we won't look at because we're not fond of them- Tunbridge Wells for instance- but that leaves plenty that'll do very nicely.

So now we're looking at Tonbridge- just a few miles down the road from here. I know Tonbridge as well as I know anywhere, having spent my teens in a village in its penumbra. It's a rough and ready sort of town, untouristy, multicultural but as historical as they come, sitting athwart a river crossing that was strategic enough for the Normans to gift it with a huge castle. The top end of its long High Street is pretty.

We've surfed the property on offer- and found two houses we like the look of: one is a late Victorian/Edwardian semi and the other is a 17th century property within yards of the High Street. There's no guarantee either will still be on the market when we're in a position to buy- but there'll be others...