Dover

Thursday:

On the way to Dover, we stopped off in Rye, one of the Cinque Ports. One of the  buildings dates back to 1475, with many others a few hundred years old. The old church (one of them) contains one of the oldest church turret clocks still functioning – made in 1561-62. There is a very steep, narrow set of passages to get up the tower with the final ascent by 2 steep wooden ladders. We got to the top, passing the clock mechanism, the bell ringers’ working area and the bells themselves. There are 8 bells, weighing a total of 5 tons. Impressive view from the deck at the top of the tower. It’s great to see Di & Barry again and they welcomed us to Dover with a beautiful home cooked roast for dinner.

 

Friday:

This morning we walked the White Cliffs of Dover, some of the path was very close to the edge of a very long drop. There is no way that people at home would be allowed so close to the edge without fences. It’s good to see that the attitude here is practical & that is that you need to take responsibility for yourself. There are many signs in many places noting that areas can be dangerous and the public has to be aware and take responsibility. We walked 2 miles each way along the cliff top to reach a lighthouse and had a guided tour of the lighthouse. Both National  Trust properties. There was a real time map on a screen there that showed the locations of all of the vessels in the channel, colour coded to indicate what they were carrying, eg chemicals, general containers etc.

 

 

Once we got back to the car we raced off to the Battle of Britain museum about 10 miles away. Unfortunately we didn’t have enough time to do it justice because we had to return the car. The museum really reinforced the enormous loss, both people and machinery – a fascinating and slightly depressing collection of stuff. There were about 20 planes, Spitfires, Hurricanes and other odd ones. There were many engines that have been dug up or lifted from the sea, mostly Rolls Royce Merlins that were twisted or warped, with sides smashed out and pistons hanging out. There were lots of bent propellers as well as tons of pieces of planes. It’s the oldest Battle of Britain museum in the UK and was opened in 1971.

Back with Di & Barry now, trying to rationalise out brochures and to fit everything back into our bags ready to go to the cross channel ferry tomorrow by about 7:45am. It’s a big boat, not like the small cat to Ireland, and the sea looks smooth.

No idea how we will go with wifi in France, not sure if our apartment in Honfleur has internet access. You’ll know when we find it.