PUBLIC PLACES
Hever Castle, the home of Anne Boleyn and now a major tourist attraction
Miller gave Paul a quick teach-in on topiary trimming.
When lockdown and Covid restrictions are behind us, Neil will no doubt resume conducting guided tours of the gardens. Meanwhile, continuing to be available to all visitors to Hever and online is Astor’s Garden Legacy, an interactive exhibition, which traces the development and restoration of the gardens from Tudor times to the present day.
Moving away from the Castle and its immediate surrounds, the Hever estate has forged a notable place on the golfing map. Waldorf Astor was a keen golfer and, in the 1920s, he had a private 9-hole course constructed for his own personal use. This survived until the Second World War, when it was abandoned. Very much a part of the Hever estate and,
like the Castle facilities under Broadlands’ ownership, is Hever Golf Club, founded in 1992. Extending over 250 acres are twenty- seven parkland holes, many in sight of the historic castle and with views across the Weald of Kent.
For members and guest players, the club offers a variety of layouts to test all abilities. The club’s 18-hole, 7000-yard Championship Course, comprising the Kings and Queens nines, was constructed for its opening. In its short existence, it has developed a reputation as one of the toughest yet enjoyable parkland courses in Kent. It has hosted the county’s Amateur
50 PC December/January 2021
Championship, Euro Pro Tour events, and the Kent PGA Championships. The course’s 17th, a 644-yard par 5, is one of the longest holes in Britain.
The Hever Championship Course was followed in 1998 by the opening of the Princes 9-hole course, regarded as the best 9-holer in the South East. This 2784-yard course, when combined with the Kings nine of the Championship course forms what is called the Boleyn Course, an alternative 18- hole tester.
Added to all of this is the recently opened Express course, which lies within the Princes course and provides an elementary, yet both fun and challenging, 9-hole layout for all
standards of golfer. Looking after this delightful complexity of courses is Head Greenkeeper Rob Peers, who took up the reins back in 2017 after a spell as deputy and a number of years spent as part of the Hever greenkeeping team. He had switched professions, much like Head Gardener Neil Miller, moving into greenkeeping after training to be a quantity surveyor. His early turf care studies brought him a City and Guilds NVQ in Amenity Horticulture and Sports Turf Maintenance, followed by a BIGGA Diploma. He has since acquired a Lantra Certificate in tree surgery and he is also an AV1 Assessor, enabling him to teach and train others. He’s very definitely
Celebrated feature of Hever’s Tudor Garden, the topiary chess pieces
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