The Ham Nomads

14 Sep 2015. <GB-ENG> Farthing Common, & Folkestone, East Kent —

Okay. Today we bite the bullet. First up, go to a VW centre and try to organise a service and the MoT.

Then to a Post Office — one that we can park near — to post off parcels.

Finally, across to Battle — the town just outside Hastings where the battlefield actually is, to sign up to English Heritage. Then back to hibernate for another night.

And that's the way it went. We found JCB Volkswagen, who couldn't have been nicer. We booked the van in for both jobs — service and MoT — starting at about 12.30pm. Emma, at the desk there, told us of the Post Office they use, which has its own car parking, so we went there next.

The Post Office is at Newtown (a part of Ashford), quite nearby, just opposite the Newtown Green, a delightful place to be. The manager of the Post Office couldn't have been more helpful, and we soon had ten parcels posted, most to Australia, a couple within the UK.

Then we started on our way to Battle. The scenery was delightful, so the drive was a holiday in itself. We got to Battle and the English Heritage site. They were a little put out that we weren't actually visiting that day — the weather was dubious, and it was getting late — but we arranged to have our membership cards sent to them so we can collect them (and finally visit) when we get back to these shores in October.

Scottish Blackface, the commonest sheep in the UK

From the car park at Battle Abbey

Finally we drove back to our now familiar haunt at Farthing Common. It was raining, but this only made the sunset more interesting!

Distance driven — today, 96 miles ( 154 km ); to date, 28,596 miles ( 46,021 km )