JC and I had a long weekend away in Kent earlier this month. We (I?) chose Kent as I'd only ever passed through on drives to/from channel ferries and the tunnel and had heard it was worth a look.
Thursday 16 March 2023
The weather was fine today so we stepped out onto Chislet Marshes for a bit of a muddy, but very flat, walk. It was lovely!
We walked through St Nicholas in Wade and stopped for lunch. The church was nice (and had a flush bracket, survey geeks note) as was the stained glass in the antiques shop.
After lunch we headed towards Sare and clocked the windmill and a rather funky road marker.
We extended our walk down to the Stodmarsh Nature Reserve (over the River Stour) to catch the last light of the day.
We dined in Canterbury and had our first taster of the cathedral cloisters.
Friday 17 March 2023
Today was our Canterbury day. We started by popping past St Augustin's Abbey (which was closed) then onto the oldest continuously running church in the English speaking world, St Martin's, of which the initial part was built by the Romans.
This was used by Bertha, who was married to Ethelbert of Kent, who became King of England in some fashion.
After lunch JC, disappeared off to the cathedral where he was excitedly allowed to take his tripod in. Meanwhile, I explored Canterbury, following a historic trail which took me first up onto the remaining parts of the city walls. Then into Dane John gardens where I climbed up to the monument, which seemed like the highest point around.
Not only could you see across Canterbury - not its best look in the drizzle - but it had a nice benchmark.
Interesting buildings kept popping up. Wincheap Gate was built soon after 1548 and was close to the city gallows. In the 17th century two stone inscriptions were helpfully added saying 'welcome' and 'farewell'. The 'farewell' has been saved and installed on a local wall below.
Canterbury Castle was next, however due to its parlous state entry was blocked.
Another church (St Mildred's). Another benchmark. Happy days.
I loved the style of buildings in Canterbury, many of which were made of flint. This one had a strange corner seemingly built to accommodate the drain pipe?
My trail took me into the city centre, past the Canterbury Tales and some beautiful old buildings.
This, apparently, is one of the most photographed views of Canterbury, the Stour with the old weavers house.
Down towards the Westgate when, at last, the sun appeared.
The local theatre was worth a quick visit.
And I also espied the old Jewish synagogue with its Egyptian styling.
This super wonky house is a a famous landmark and has the inscription above the door of "a very old house bulging out over the road...leaning forward, trying to see who was passing by on the narrow pavement below...." by Charles Dickens 1849.
I ended up at the Cathedral. We were able to walk through the archway the previous night, but entry is barred during the day as the cathedral is ticket entry. I didn't realise this and was stopped as I tried to go through. "You need to buy a ticket," the man said. "Oh, no worries," I replied, "I was only thinking I could pop in as my partner has been in there for 3 hours with his camera." "Oh, go on then," the guy said and let me pass. I was more than happy to wait until the cathedral closed but he obviously thought I'd been hanging around enough!
It is a pretty stunning cathedral to be told. I'm not surprised JC was in here for so long and, it being a Friday in March, it wasn't too full of those pesky people who get in the way of his photos.
On our way back to the car after supper a white van drew up alongside us. "Where are we?" asked the occupants. "Canterbury," we replied. "Oh, not London then?" Golly you have to be a bit lost if you're not sure if you're in Canterbury or London!
Saturday 18 March 2023
It was see the sea day today! We went to Margate, parked up, and realised we were smack next to the Margate Caves. This ex chalk mine was found under a property (eek) in the 19th Century and turned into a Victorian tourist attraction. I think this is when most of the paintings were added.
Next up was the Shell Grotto. This was even more quirky than the caves, and a bit spooky to be honest. The shells - around 4.6 million of them - have browned over the years, not helped by the fact that they were lit with gas lamps in the Victorian age. Very strangely no-one knows why they were built - super creative and certainly an odd curiosity.
We sat outside in the sun for lunch then went to the harbour.
As we turned towards the Turner Contemporary Museum we spotted the Anthony Gormley statue so, naturally, had to pop off to see. Fortunately it was low tide so were we able to get right up, close and personal.
We still had a few hours of daylight let so drove via Reculver on our way back. This is a medieval church built on the remains of a Roman Fort (and has a rather nice benchmark).
We wandered down to the beach and had a peaceful hour or so watching the sun set and the tide come in.
Sunday 19 March 2023
Home today, but we enjoyed one last activity, this time the National Trust property of Ightham Mote. This 700 year old moated property was an interesting explore. My only gripe was that there was hardly an information on the property as you went around it. Usually they have notices saying what each room is but I wonder if this is a National Trust move to get you to buy guide books?
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