Leeds Castle and Moat 
AT “ THE SIGN OF THE GATE” 
BEGINNING A SERIES OK OLD ENGLISH INNS INTERESTING TO TRAVELERS 
IN SEARCH OF THE QUAINT AND PICTURESQUE 
By Edward W. Gregory 
Y OU might find it by accident; but that 
happy turn of luck would never happen 
if you followed the beaten track of the tour¬ 
ist. To find the hospitable Park Gate Inn 
you must leave Maidstone, the capital of 
Kent, by the road which runs through fertile 
smiling valleys to Ashford. About five miles 
out, a turn in the road and a gentle dip re¬ 
veal the sunny white¬ 
ness of the walls of 
the old hostelry. 
“ Good house ; nice 
beds,’ ’ said Mr. 
Jingle; and although 
the immortal com¬ 
panion of Mr. Pick¬ 
wick and his jolly 
friends was not refer¬ 
ring to the inn of our 
subject, he might with 
equal justice have 
done so had he had 
the good fortune to 
experience the joys of 
a welcome at the “Sign 
of the Gate.” H ere 
is the cozy bar, where 
many a time in old 
coaching days the 
friends of the elder 
Weller must have 
drained the tankard. 
The low pitched par¬ 
lor on the left hand, 
with its beam across the ceiling, and pictures 
of quaint looking men in old fashioned cos¬ 
tumes, irresistibly leads the imagination to 
conjure up visions of warmth and good cheer 
on a winter’s night, when, with close-drawn 
curtains and well-filled punch bowl, belated 
travelers would jest and make merry. Turn 
into the oak-paneled passage, and walk up 
the short flight of 
stairs to the rooms 
above. You will not 
be disappointed, 1 as¬ 
sure you, in your 
search for the old four- 
post bedstead. There 
it is in all its glory, 
and the linen curtains 
and naperv are of the 
whitest and daintiest. 
Truly a good old 
English inn ; its tra¬ 
ditions as unimpaired 
as modern ways of 
living will permit 
them to be. 
You are not the 
first travelers here by 
a long way. For 
hundreds of years the 
clatter of hoofs has 
announced the arrival 
of all sorts and con¬ 
ditions of visitors. A 
rare fuss there must 
THE WALK TO THE INN GARDEN 
293 
