Kent



The Leas, Folkestone

Dover Ferry Terminal

White Cliffs of Dover

Canterbury Cathedral



After a good night’s rest, we woke up to sunshine and a view over the English Channel.  We had enjoyed a great dinner the night before at the B&B/Guesthouse/Pub (don’t quite know what to call it) and then had one of the best breakfasts of the trip.

Had to pack the car again but as it was parked on the seafront we took an opportunity to sit and enjoy the warmth and the view of ferries, cargo ships and the coast of France. It really was quite humid. Dragged ourselves away from the solitude and made the 2 mile trip up the road to Folkestone for our travelling companion Jill to see her old boarding school (from the 60’s). It is now converted into flats and Jill had a trip down memory lane. We had a look around The Leas in Folkestone – sort of a promenade near the seafront with some old buildings that have been rejuvenated into up market flats with a fabulous view of the channel.

Our next quest was the White Cliffs of Dover and on the way we chanced upon the Battle of Britain Memorial. It is a very interesting memorial with spitfire and hurricane replicas and the names of all those who flew during that period inscribed on a wall of remembrance. Set out again and found our way to the White Cliffs site where we walked along a track to get a view of the cliffs. Eileen’s fear of heights kicked in once again as there is not a lot of railing or fencing at places like this in the UK, but she did get to see the cliffs before scurrying back to safer ground.

Moved on then to Ramsgate and Margate but weren’t really impressed by them, especially Margate where the tide was out and the seafront was very muddy and odorous. By then it was 12.30, we had left Sandgate 3 hours before and had managed to travel only 14 miles.

Next stop was Canterbury where we took advantage of the Park and Ride to get into the city centre. We strolled through the shopping area to the Canterbury Cathedral. Unfortunately the Trinity Chapel was closed for Evensong but we were able to look around the rest of the historic Cathedral where Thomas Beckett was murdered. It has a wall where all the Archbishops of Canterbury’s names are inscribed, Thomas Beckett (served in Henry the 2^nd’s time until murdered by his knights), Thomas Cranmer (served in Henry the 8^th,, Edward the 6^th and Elizabeth the 1^{st’s time)} before he was executed by Queen Mary) to more modern day ones such as Robert Runcie (who married Charles and Diana). There are also numerous memorials to local soldiers from many wars.

From there we went to a place called Strood near Rochester to visit Jill’s grandparents’ old home. We then  called it a day after driving in the gloomy and rainy conditions where we managed to get confused on a couple of double roundabouts, even ending up going in the wrong direction on one motorway (back towards Dover). By the time we got to our overnight destination of Maidstone we were looking forward to a drink.