Count Vorow Zborowski moved into Higham Court
an extremely wealthy young-man, his inheritence was
eleven million pounds, he lived to the full the life of a
young millionaire.
Unfortunately he was not academically inclined —
educational establishments and Count Louis were never
compatible, he attended Kings School, Canterbury,
lasted one term at Eton and tried life at University -- all
without success. He was naturally intelligent, had a flair
for language, artistic ability and an in-born fascination
for the mechanical.
He had an aircraft at Bekesbourne Aerodrome but
according to his mechanic The Count did not find flying
exciting enough and never really liked it. Likewise a
motor—boat moored at Faversham Creek, fitted with a
seven litre Mercedes engine, did not hold his interest for
long. Both this and the aircraft tended to be used by
friends and employees. Motorcycles were ridden at
great speed through the estate and local countryside,
where many a local villager had to leapout of the path
of the young Count. ' r
Louis was endowed with a happy and genial
disposition and was fast developing an eccentric
personality. He was ever mindful of his employees and
looked after them well. He was remembered with great
affection by William G. Pierce, the son of William J.
Pierce a veterinary surgeon in Canterbury. He recalled
the Count as a wonderful and generous man, kind to his
employees. The young William's first bicycle was a gift
from the Count. William senior taught Count Zborowski
how to use a sporting gun and found him to be an apt
pupil. William junior, further recalls a visit to Higham on
a "shoot", when he saw the Count shooting at clay
pipes placed in garden statues. T A
Zborowski enjoyed anything innovative — one of the
first wireless installations in the country was at Higham;
another fascination was explosives. He built a small
house on the estate, filled it with petrol and blew it up!
Edward Mansell, the head gardener at Higham also had
an explosive story to tell — small explosive devices
would be hidden in rose trees, when guests admired
them, they received more than just a pleasant perfume!
Count Zborowski and Capt. J1 E. P. Howie la fellow
racing driver) planned the layout, which encircled
Higham estate of a 15 inch gauge railway. The track
came from Jackson's Scrapyard in Canterbury and with
the locomotive, cost the Count £8,000. The locomotive
was “Green Goddess" designed by Sir Nigel Bresley.

  
Count Louis Zborowski used the railway
to convey shooting parties and guests around the est
ate and also to plan homemade films,where the heri-
one (one of his lady house guests) would be tied to a
railway track by a villain (one of his male house guests)
and would be rescued by a hero (guess who). The full
extent of their plans for the railway were not completed
when the Count was killed so Capt. Howie and Lee
Guinness carried on and completed their plans moving
the track and rolling-stock, including “Green Goddess"
and another locomotive ‘Northern Chief” to the
southern Kent coast and founded the world's smallest
public railway system known as The Romney, Hythe
and Dymchurch Light Railway. The two locomotives
“Green Goddess" and “Northern Chief” are still part of
the railway system today.
Cars and speed were the breath of life to Count
Zborowski. His friend from his Kings School days, Clive
Gallop, an automobile engineer and racing driver liater
to become one of “The Bentley Boys”) came onto the
scene again and was to remain one of the Count's
closest friends.
At one time Zborowski owned 27 cars, including a
Mercedes engined Model T Truck, Rolls coupes, an
Austin Cabriolet, Hispano's and an Electric Brougham,
to name but a few. A magnificent workshop was
developed at Higham under the direction of William
Martin, whose brother Len was the Count's chief
engineer. The workshop was considered to be one of,_
the most comprehensive in the country. Extensiv
chassis work would obviously be required, to this eno
he acquired an interest in the local firm of Bligh Bros.
Coachworks. r
Henry Er Sidney Bligh had achieved their reputation
making superb horse-drawn carriages - but with the
advent of the ’horseless’ carriage, slowly went downhill.
So Zborowski’s acquisition came at a time when Bligh's
were at a very low ebb.  
Zborowski’s involvement with cars was interrupted
by the outbreak of the first world war in 1914. He
offered his services to the Army but was not accepted
-— it was thought, at the time because of his Polish
ancestry. However, he intended to make a definite
contribution. Much of the Estate grazing land was put.
under the plough for cropping and Bligh Coachworks
was re-equipped to handle the manufacture of artillery
wheels for military vehicles. But, without a doubt his
most enjoyable contribution to his self imposed ‘war-
effort'*was when he fitted asearchlight onto one of his
high-powered cars and patrolled the Dover road -t
keeping an eye open for the enemy! ,
The war came to an end in 1918, the Count resumed
his life at Higham much as it had been pre-war, with
parties and a gay social whirl, which was quite normal
for someone of the Count's income and social standing.
His weekend house parties were famous and invitations
eagerly sought. Guests would sometimes indulge in
races from Canterbury to Sandwich in Louis's five
sports cars. These gatherings invarably included
beautiful young ladies from ‘theatreland’. lt was from
this strata of society that the Count found himself a
wife. Violet Ethel Leicester, one of ‘The Gaiety Girls’,
became Countess Zborowski in 1919. For the first time
that year and annually thereafter they had a grand
Christmas Ball at Higham for alilthe servants and estate-
workers with their families. The very best was provided,
including some of the top London bands.   ‘ t
' The Count's generosity showed in a practical way as
well. Thelocal fire service were having problems --they
were finding their horse-drawn fire quenching appliance
too slow in reaching outlying villages in time to be of
use. This came to the attention of Count Zborowski, he A
offered them a vehicle - based on a Rolland Pilain
racing chassis, with a custom built body by Bligh Bros.
To mark such a magnificient gesture they made him
honorary Captain of the Fire Service. P