31 Oct 2015. <GB-ENG> Rochester, & Marden, Kent —

Hallowe'en! We left Farthing Common — this time for the last time, we expect — and drove to Rochester. Here we hoped to get to Rochester Castle, a 12th century castle with one of the best preserved keeps either side of the Channel.

On the way, we stopped off at a large ASDA store to shop. We got to Rochester and found a park (pay and display) just below the castle. Problem was, the payment machine in the vicinity were all out of order. We spoke to the parking attendant, who was policing a permits-only area just up the street, and she told us that because f the faulty machines, she was not issuing notices at all in the Pay-and-Display -- so she invited us to park there as long as we wished! What a nice introduction to Rochester!

We walked up to the castle, which is very impressive. The old castle precinct still has some of the original curtain walls — it's now a well-used piece of parkland — and the keep dominates the whole site. We went in and started looking over the place. There were at least four floors inside, but none of them have survived. We were able to go up the stairs and into the galleries that went round each floor. But when we got up to the battlements at the top, the view is spectacular — views over the River Medway, and over Rochester Cathedral, which looked a very inviting place to visit, so we decided to go there after leaving the castle.

When we finally came out of the castle keep, we walked across to the cathedral, which is Norman in its architecture. Both the Cathedral and the Castle were constructed under the direction of Gundulf, Bishop of Rochester. Gundulf was responsible for a number of Norman castles and churches, including the Tower of London! (It's also quite possible that his name influenced Tolkien when he was deciding on the name of his central wizard, Gandalf.)

 

Rehearsing for a performance tat night

We enjoyed wandering the cathedral which, although old and steeped in history, is also vitally alive. They had a special exhibition of one of the later copies of Magna Carta — this was the 1300 text, not the original 1215 version, which we saw when we were up in York. Warren was more interested in a commentary written in Old English.

We had a lovely afternoon tea in the Cathedral Tea Room, and then walked about the streets of Rochester before we went back past the castle to the van and made our way out of Rochester.

The pubs looked inviting!

We were aiming for a campsite, Tanner Farm, near Marden in Kent, about 20 miles south of Rochester, but when we got there, we found that reception closed at 3pm — it was now about 5pm. We had been driving through fog and dark, and weren't prepared to go on any further. Luckily they had a car park outside, beside a hops field. So we stopped there for the night.

Distance driven — today, 64 miles ( 103 km ); to date, 30,379 miles ( 48,891 km )

30 Oct 2015. <GB-ENG> Canterbury, & Farthing Common, East Kent —

Another destination for today — Canterbury, with two 'must-see' sites. The first was St Augustine's Abbey, one of the oldest monastic sites in Britain, and the second was Canterbury Cathedral, the site of the murder of Thomas Beckett, and ever since then a destination for pilgrimage in Britain, the destination, for example, of the pilgrims in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, one of the classics of English literature.

St Augustine's Abbey is a sad site. The original church built by Augustine in 598 was destroyed by the Normans to be recreated as a Norman Benedictine abbey, but in 1538 — remember 1538? — the magnificent church was demolished by the henchmen of Henry VIII as part of the Dissolution of the Monasteries. Henry did at least use part of the property as a royal palace, and Anne of Cleves spent some time here on her way to become his fourth wife.

But after this, the place slowly fell into decline, until A.J. Beresford Hope bought the site in 1844. He restored many of the medieval buildings, and a missionary school was set up in the renewed buildings. He was also responsible in setting up the St Augustine's Foundation to enable excavation and preservation of the ruins — after all, this was one of the most important sites in the history of the Christian Church in Britain.

This site, St Martin's Church and Canterbury Cathedral, were designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1989.
 

From the ruins of St Augustine's Abbey, we then made our way to the far-from-ruined Canterbury Cathedral. It is not for nothing that the highest Archbishop in the Church of England is the Archbishop of Canterbury, who claims a direct line of authority back to St Augustine himself, the first Archbishop of Canterbury.

In the crypt of the Cathedral — no photography, unfortunately — is the site of the original tomb of Thomas Becket. And upstairs, in the middle of Trinity Chapel (where you would usually find the apse) burns a candle — the sign near it says 'The candle burns where the SHRINE of St. THOMAS of CANTERBURY stood from 1220 to 1538 when it was destroyed by order of King Henry VIII'. Remember Dover Castle? This was used as a staging point for foreign dignitaries on their pilgrimages to Canterbury. And it was in Dover Castle that Thomas Becket had his own chapel. English Heritage have set up the Great Tower of Dover Castle as it would have been in the time of Henry II as he welcomed eminent pilgrims on their way to Canterbury.

Some of the newer windows show
an almost Disney style in the faces

We walked back to where we had parked the van on the roadside not far up from St Ausgustine's Abbey. Where to go for the night? It was already dark, and we didn't want to be searching for a stop in such conditions. And then we realised that our old haunt Farthing Common was only 14 miles away! Guess where we spent the night! (No prizes!)

Distance driven — today, 34 miles ( 55 km ); to date, 30,315 miles ( 48,788 km )

29 Oct 2015. <GB-ENG> Walmer, & Dover, East Kent —

As intimated yesterday, today we went to Walmer Castle, which has certain similarities with Deal, but some major differences. Whereas Deal has hexagonal symmetry, Walmer is far simpler, having a central tower with only four bastions surrounding it. But it was no less formidable. With Deal and Sandown Castles, Walmer was constructed in the period 1538-1540. These three castles protected the Downs, a sheltered stretch of anchorage on the eastern coastline of Kent. Sandown fell into total disrepair at the end of the nineteenth century, and was demolished for safety reasons. But Deal and Walmer are still well with us!

In 1708 Walmer Castle became the official residence of the Lords Warden of the Cinque Ports, and so has been transformed to become residential rather than defensive, and has been a favourite retreat for politicians and prime ministers. The roster of Lords Warden reads like the ultimate Who's Who ... here's a selection:

8. Rt Hon William Pitt (1792-1806)

10. Duke of Wellington (1829-1853)

14. Rt Hon W H Smith (1891-1895)

18. HRH Prince of Wales (later King George V) (1905-1907)

23. Sir Winston Churchill (1941-1965)
24. Sir Robert Menzies(1965-1978)
25. HM Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother (1978-2004)

The Duke of Wellington actually died here, and his bedroom has been kept exactly as it was on that fateful day. There is a museum dedicated to him, which contains many Arthur Wellesley (Duke of Wellington) memorabilia, including an original pair of 'Wellington Boots', boots that he developed from the previous style with large 'cuffs' at the knees — Wellington had his bootmaker remove these cuffs, cutting the boots off below the knee, which was much more comfortable with the new, more tailored, trousers of the day. It was only later that a rubber manufacturer started making a looser rubber version which became known as 'Wellington boots', or 'Wellies'.  But no photography was allowed inside, so you'll have to make do with the gardens.

As at Deal, flint has been incorporated into the mortar

The gardens are delightful. Many of the residents had a hand in designing or expanding the large gardens, especially William Pitt the Younger (Lord Warden, 1792-1806) and Earl Granville (Lord Warden 1865-1890), both of whom were enthusiastic garden designers. But it was for the Queen Mother that the final feminine touch was added to the gardens. There is a small, secluded formal garden near the castle that is her legacy to the site. The gardens are extensive, and you can walk through vast lawns surrounded by woodland and woodland walks.

The large plantings near the castle include some weird and wonderful topiary. We asked the gardener what he was on when he trimmed the trees, but he denied any drug connection — but did suggest that he had a long-term blackout while the job was under way!

 

Another delightful site, with an interesting history. After spending the day here, we decided to return to Hawthorn Farm Caravan Park, only a couple of miles away. And so we did.

Thelwell lives!

Distance driven — today, 10 miles ( 16 km ); to date, 30,281 miles ( 48,733 km )