Happy New Year West Sussex and friends

Here's to another fabulous year of events in and around Sussex starting with the Constable exhibition at Petworth House!

Petworth House

The exhibition is from 11th January - 14th March 2014 and will provide an opportunity to admire over 40 outstanding watercolors and drawings created in and around Petworth by the great British landscape artist, John Constable. Many of the works on show were produced during Constable’s visits to the house in 1834 and have never before been exhibited as a group.

Petworth House

We're very excited about the upcoming exhibition given that we visited the Turner exhibition at Petworth House last year where many of the paintings were exhibited in the main house and, as with the Constable exhibition, you get a sneak peak at the houses' historic library (not normally open to the public). It's fantastic to get the opportunity to see this room - reminds me of Miss Haversham's room in Wuthering Heights.

Ionic Rotunder in Petworth House Gardens

Constable is principally famous for his oil painting, though later in life he also produced some wonderful work with watercolor. Highlights of the exhibition include rarely seen views of the house, park and nearby picturesque villages such as Tillington, Fittleworth and Bignor. Constable was also drawn to popular attractions of around West Sussex including Chichester Cathedral, Cowdray House and Arundel Castle.

Alongside the exhibition in Petworth’s modern exhibition room, visitors will see two showrooms in the house - famously described by Constable as ‘that house of art’. I also highly recommend a walk in the gardens when you visit the house (the photos in this blog were taken when I visited the House for the Christmas Fair in December).

Petworth House Gardens

Petworth advises advance booking following the sell out Turner exhibition last year. Call the house on 0844 249 1895 or book online.

Enjoy a wonderful day in Petworth admiring the exhibition and come back to Chequers to cosy up in front of the fire for a glass of wine and Sussex fodder produced by our chef, who like Constable is constantly inspired by what Sussex has on offer to delight our senses... wild venison stew anyone?


Visiting the Constable Exhibition at Petworth House?

Extend your stay at Chequers Hotel to take full advantage of exploring this area of outstanding natural beauty with our special exhibition offer.

Call 01798 872486 to book - ref: Constable Exhibition

A warm welcome awaits...

Lissette x

Easter fun in West Sussex

Easter Egg Hunts near Chequers Hotel Pulborough

With Easter just around the corner we have been busy researching what is going on around and about Chequers over the long weekend to keep our guests busy. So after some reading, visiting and testing here are a few suggestions to help you plan your long Easter weekend in West Sussex and the childrens Easter holiday period at Chequers.

We have discovered that Pulborough Brooks RSPB (just up the road from Chequers) is great if you are looking for things to do for the children as they have an Easter "Extravaganza" programme with themed days and a fabulous Easter egg hunt! This is again a great spot for gorgeous walks and stunning scenery with birds, deer, wildlife and more - it really is a gem!

Pulborough Brooks RSPB

Pulborough Brooks RSPB

Another similar spot is the Wetlands Centre at Arundel - a great morning/afternoon out - team it up with a visit to historic Arundel Castle - great for both adults and children especially with the Normans and Crusaders event being held over the Easter weekend.

Arundel Wetlands Centre

Arundel Wetlands Centre

Arundel Castle

Another place getting involved in the great West Sussex Easter Egg hunt fun is Parham House. Again Parham House is getting involved in the Easter spirit and has an Easter egg trail!

Parham House at Dawn

Fishbourne and Bignor Roman ruins are also just up the road and these are very popular with children who love the ancient history and the fascinating mosaics.

For those looking for travelling entertainment Wey and Arun Canal has Easter Bunny Trips and they tell us that all the childrens favourite Easter characters will be there to entertain them! Trips depart at 11.00am, 12.00, 2.00, 3.00 and 4.00pm. £8 per person. The South Downs steam railway has also just reopened for the season - on the outskirts of Pulborough.

To enjoy the local coastal towns take the children to the sandy beach at Littlehampton or even Brighton which is not very far away either - lots of shops, The Royal Pavilion, The Lanes, Brighton Pier and much more for the whole family to enjoy.

Horsham and Chihester nearby are also great for shopping. The Fabulous Chichester Festival Theatre has numerous activities on over the childrens holiday period to keep the little ones busy! Petworth - mentioned in one of our previous blogs is also a lovely large local village and Petworth House re - opened on 16th March so now is the perfect time to Visit Petworth.

Chequers is also right in the doorstop of the South Downs Way so you can also choose to take a leisurely walk on the Downs (now the South Downs National park). 

South Downs Way

Chequers Hotel Pulborough, West Sussex Walks

For enquiries about enjoying a stay at Chequers over the Easter break call Chequers Hotel for special Easter rates. 01798 872486

A visit to the local village of Petworth

As part of our ongoing mission to be the most knowledgeable hosts you could wish for, we recently paid a visit to the wonderful local village of Petworth. Whilst we have been there before to see the Turner Exhibition at Petworth House, we decided to make our way back there this weekend as our daughter was over from Geneva and wanted to explore this lovely local village. Petworth is a delightful picturesque market town, a short distance from Chequers Hotel and has a reputation for being a leading antiques centre with 30 antique shops within a half mile radius.

A recommended first stop would be the famous Petworth House - a must visit attraction (Opening for the summer season on 16th March). Petworh House is a palatial 17th Century mansion with gardens designed by Capability Brown. The rooms are dedicated to displaying art by Turner, Van Dyck. Reynolds and Blake - with stunning adjoining deer filled gardens. Also worth a visit is Petworth Cottage Museum, laid out as it was in 1910 when a seamstress for Petworth House lived there!

Petworth

The centre point of the town is the market square where we started our exploration. We spent the afternoon investigating the village's many specialty shops (including 'Eternal" vintage clothes shop and Follit home accessories shop) and stopped for a coffee at the fabulous village deli: The Hungry Guest. 

Whilst staying at Chequers it is definitely worth spending a day here exploring Petworth House and then ambling around the village or even better... coming to visit for one of the numerous local but famous events the village is involved in: (National Antiques week 20th - 28th April, Petworth Fete in the Park, Saturday 6th July, the Petworth Festival, 15th July - 3rd August and the Petworth Food and Wine Festival, 21st and 22nd September).  Looking forward to updating you with more detail bout these events nearer the time.

John and Lissette x

Chequers Hotel Pulborough Official Blog is born!

Now that we have been settled in to Chequers for 11 months we feel it is time to kick off our official blog and keep everyone up to date with what is going on at the Hotel, in the local area and inspirations that we have collected along the way that we look to reflect at Chequers. It has been a hectic year... settling in, starting the decorating, bringing in furniture from our interior design business "Talking Points Interiors" and exploring some of the many local attractions on the doorstep (including Arundel Castle, Pulborough Brooks RSBC, Parham House, Petworth House and Gardens, Bignor Park, Goodwood Race course and Fishbourne Roman Palace). This gives us plenty of local knowledge to share with our guests. We have also been busy changing the menu to one that uses locally produced and foraged food and changing the wine menu to include wines from the fantastic local specialist fine wine merchants "Hemmings"

For now we leave you with a photo from our walk at Pulborough Brooks RSPB last weekend...

John and Lissette x

Pulborough Brooks RSPB