We didn’t have much on our list of jobs today so I pottered around and once the rain had stopped I took Suzy for a long walk through Darenth Country Park. My mum and dad moved to this area with me in 1982 and the previous hospital, Darenth Park Hospital was partly still open. I remember exploring its fields and farm as a child. It was a great place to ride a bike and run down the avenue of horse chestnut trees, collecting pocket fulls to then challenge dad to a match.

Today it is completely different. The old hospital gone and a new modern hospital was built in a slightly different part of the site. We are fortunate that lots of the land is SSI therefore protected and we get to enjoy the rolling fields and birdsong daily.

The history of the old site always fascinated me, so I wanted to share it with you. Please excuse that I have copied it and it is long but in my opinion interesting.