We drove north to Sandwich, a really old place with super narrow streets, had to close my eyes more than once. On the way we went past Ham. There was nowhere to park when we got there, so we were unable to get a ham Sandwich!
Back past Deal to Walmer Castle, home of The Duke of Wellington, but it really wasn't a castle, just a dark wood panelled house. He died in the house and it remains basically unchanged from then.
Back to The Eight Bells for another pub meal, steak and salmon.
This morning it was 9 degrees and thick fog. Not good for taking photos. First stop was the World War 2 remembrance park outside Folkstone. So many died in the bombing raids, we rocked up at 9.15, but like everything it didn't open until 10. They are building another centre probably for the centenary.
A bit further along we arrived at Folkstone. All these coastal towns played a huge part in the defence of Britain during the war. Before that they were heavily fortified to prevent the French from invading. A lot of the towns have an old section and much more modern development to the outsides. We stopped at the Folkstone wharf, you have to pay £4 to fish. The old buildings are being knocked down and I bet there will be apartments built.
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| A statue in the middle of the disused railway line |
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| Rather large pelicans here, must be well fed |
Next stop Hythe home of St Leonard's Church and England's most celebrated ossuary, what's that, there are 2000 skulls the remains of Saxon or Danes killed in battle and dating to 1678. Why are they in the crypt? Well the graveyards got full, so they dug up the bodies and kept the skulls. Good story Thomas? We waited for the 11 am tour, but nobody came, then some kind person told us May was tomorrow and the tours only start in May. It is another beautiful church with extremely narrow lanes but I guess they hadn't invented the wheel in those days.
The church also played a part in the war, as it is on high ground.
Coffee from Swainbury's as parking was a premium, and we discovered the Maritime canals, built in 22 months at a cost of £200K Now they are used as green space and walking paths around the town.
The we decided to take a train ride on the minature steam train. John was in steam train heaven.
Back along the coast road, I was fascinated by the huge steep embankments, and today the same was flat. There are huge car parks along the road, and holiday parks everywhere. We could only assume that the area was very popular in summer.
Then onwards to Rye, was hopeful of being able to stop in the town to take some photos, but again parking was at a premium, so we went to the wharf. It was very windy, and there were more holiday parks there.
But we did find an interesting restaurant, making the most of an important man. Then to Battle, the home of the Battle of Hastings. It is a long way up the hills and must have taken a long time way back in 1066. Hard to imagine how they managed to bring thousand of soldiers, and all their belongings, armour etc, and then get so far inland, before they met Harold and got into a battle with him.! We will learn more about that tomorrow.
Today we have seen a great cross-section of the country areas of the south coast, and the sheep farms. Lambing has been done, and most of the sheep have twins, bit more economical I guess. Beautiful old houses that all get used as nursing homes or private hospices, narrow laneways, and today we noticed that so many older people seem to live in the towns we have passed, bit like being in the local RSL, sometimes we seemed to be the youngest around!
Our accommodation at Lilac Tree is lovely, the gardens beautiful, Pauline is a great host, and our room is very nice indeed.
Our to find lunch/dinner now, what will it be, as there are not too many choices in the town. We passed signs indicating scallops for sale at the local fish suppliers, now that would be a great meal!
On the sign that shows the £2 cost of a permit for fishing on the Folkeston Wharf, OAP means Old Age Pensioner.
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