← All articles · 2026-07-26

Leeds Castle

The day Dileep went down on one knee on the moat bridge at Leeds Castle in Kent, and a plane spelled out the question overhead. August 2010: she said yes.

Every other post on this site is a trip. This one is the day the trips got a co-signatory. On an August 2010 day out at Leeds Castle in Kent, one of us arrived with a ring in his pocket and a phone number for a pilot, and the other one had absolutely no idea.

Inga crouching at the edge of the moat at Leeds Castle, offering her hand to a black swan with a red beak while a duck paddles past — The welcoming committee: Leeds Castle keeps black swans, and this one came straight over to inspect Inga.

Leeds Castle seen across its moat under a grey sky, with Inga walking along the grassy bank in the foreground — The castle sits in the middle of its own lake. A last calm lap of the moat before the main event.

The question

On the old stone bridge by the gatehouse, Dileep stopped, turned, and went down on one knee. Someone was very conveniently standing by with a camera.

Dileep kneeling on one knee on the stone bridge at Leeds Castle, holding a ring up to a surprised Inga, castle towers in the background — One knee, one ring, one castle. Inga's face doing all the talking.

Then, right on cue, a small plane came over the treeline towing a banner.

Inga smiling on the path by the moat holding a small ring box, while a light aircraft tows a marriage proposal banner high above the trees — Ring box in hand, plane overhead. Both deliveries arrived on schedule.

Aerial banner against the clouds reading INGA I LOVE U WILL U MARRY ME with a red heart — INGA I LOVE U WILL U MARRY ME. Subtlety was never the plan.

A light aircraft towing the long marriage proposal banner across a cloudy sky above Leeds Castle — The pilot doing laps over the estate until the message landed.

Inga covering her mouth and laughing as she walks with Dileep along the moatside path under a willow at Leeds Castle — The moment after. There may have been some laughing and crying at the same time.

She said yes

Inga smiling and holding up her hand to show the engagement ring, with Leeds Castle and its walls across the lawn behind her — Exhibit A, with the castle as witness.

Inga and Dileep embracing on the gravel path in front of the main front of Leeds Castle, newly engaged — Newly engaged, in front of a castle that has seen eight centuries of this sort of thing.

The rest of the day

We did eventually remember there was a castle to look at. Leeds Castle calls itself the loveliest castle in the world, and that day we were in no mood to argue.

Dileep's brother in a blue university badminton club hoodie in front of the battlemented main front and lawns of Leeds Castle — Dileep's brother, camera operator and co-conspirator for the day, in his Medway badminton hoodie. Dressed for the occasion, clearly.

Panorama of the Leeds Castle gatehouse and keep rising straight out of the dark water of the moat under a stormy sky — The gatehouse growing straight out of the moat. Storm light included at no extra charge.

Inga turning to smile on the tree-lined path around the Leeds Castle grounds while Dileep's brother walks ahead with a backpack — One long, happy loop of the grounds to finish, with Dileep's brother back on camera duty. Nobody wanted to leave.

Everything on this site, every train, temple, night market and questionable liquorice shot, follows from this one afternoon in Kent. We lived nearby in those days: the cathedral city of Canterbury was our local big day out.