Sep 10, 2011

The day started overcast and humid and ended up a lovely balmy day with sunshine and a bit of wind but a comfortable temperature then a solid downpour once we were home..…before we brought in the washing..…Murphy never rests!

We managed to track down a bed in Faversham for the night we return from France with the bikes (06/10) which was a bit of an exercise as there is a wedding that night and the hotel and guest houses were booked out so a friend of a guesthouse owner will let out her spare room to us and we had to go to pay a deposit. So, all sorted now, got the hair dressing appointment as well for the afternoon we return with English speaking people so hopefully with my note from my own hairdresser it will be a less scary outcome than it may have been in France…...we’ll see.

Since we were already in Faversham we decided to check out some of the town and discovered some ancient, beautiful, stately and quirky buildings……sometimes a combination of all that. Overall it was quite a beautiful old town and we found the market in full swing so had a yummy lunch before we headed off. It was a lovely friendly and relaxed atmosphere and we even ran into Phil and Jean’s daughter and her young man. Who would have thought! When we got back home here we discovered Phil and Jean had also enjoyed a cup of tea in the cafe next to where we had lunch without seeing their daughter or us!



Faversham - Looking towards the market place

After lunch we stowed the leather vests and neck warmers and headed for Dover Castle. It was a beautiful ride between leafy glades, green fields, orchards, market gardens and newly turned soil complete with opportunistic birds feeding on the buffet the farmer had provided. It just felt good to be alive and being part of it. The temperature cooled a little and the wind picked up as we got closer to the coast but the sun stayed out and it was lovely.

We really enjoyed the Dover Castle experience. This has been a place of fortification and defence for centuries all of which is well documented. We climbed Henry II’s tower to view Dover from the roof and noticed how much calmer the ocean was compared to a few days ago when we saw it. Ships and ferries were streaming in and out of the harbour instead of lining up and wondering about how or if they would enter.

The fortifications at the castle were preserved and presented well but what interested us most was the tours of the Secret Wartime Tunnels where some were used as a Wartime Hospital during WWII. It was a dreadful shock to see the same sort of surgical instruments, enamel kidney dishes and other paraphernalia which was in the Nursing School when I started my training in 1968……really, they should have had ‘old stuff’ instead of modern items like that! The other tour we took in the secret wartime tunnels was of those used as the base that ‘Operation Dynamo’ was managed from. The phone rooms had the exact same switchboards as were used in the local exchange at the Post Office where I had my first paying job after school in 1967. Again, the credibility issue with historical artefacts! But..…back to Operation Dynamo which was abut retrieving just over 338,000 troops and allied forces from the beaches of Dunkirk before the Battle of Britain in WWII. This was a massive undertaking which started out planning to rescue 45,000. What a tribute to the guts and determination of the Brits. I found the tour quite moving and I’m extremely grateful I have never had to experience such scary times.



One of the views from the roof of Henry II’s tower across old Military Barracks to the Roman lighthouse (on the right) and the Church of St Mary-in-Castro

Bits and Bobs:
We are enjoying observing heaps of quirky and clever names for shops and businesses throughout England. The favourite bar (a franchise I think as I saw a couple in London) was ‘All Bar One’, but the best was ‘Herman Ze German’ which was a café and the signature dish advertised on the window was ‘Hot Curries'…… cracked me up!