What have they done to my beach, Ma?

They have plans for new sea defences. Today, I saw how far they've got in four weeks.  The pipe you see in the top photo is bringing in "shingle" from a barge and/or a boat further out at sea.  The barge seems permanent, the boat comes and goes.

The "shingle" doesn't match the original.  It is at least 50% sand.  I suppose they know what they're doing.

If it ever stops raining I'll take more pictures.

The same stretch of beach, eight months ago.

A church and graveyard

This pretty little church is perched on top of the cliffs in Kingsdown so you can see it from quite a way around.  It has always interested me because of the open bell tower.  In Europe I believe they are more common but I don't know.  In France it would be called a clocher-mur.
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The church is surrounded by the graveyard.

When I spotted this grave with its anchor I felt sure it must belong to a seaman, this being an old fishing village, but no.  It's engraved for "Dear mother".

And this church too, like Adullamite's, has it's faces on either side of the entrance, a bishop and what I took to be a queen.  They are so lacking in any character it's almost impossible to say.

The church was built in 1853 so Victoria would have been on the throne which makes me wonder if it was the custom to have the reigning monarch and maybe the Archbishop of Canterbury on either side of a church entrance.  Not that I've really noticed it anywhere before.

The remains of Oboe

The remains of a top secret WWII radar and radio station in a nearby woods.   There are several of these concrete blocks in the woods and other bits and pieces which you walk past on the way through but if you ask most people they say vaguely that it must be something to do with the war.

Finally I found someone who knew, though not in detail.  During the Second World War the whole area had been sealed off and a radar bas complete with barracks was built.  I believe the barracks were underground and that the stairways are still there.

The Oboe system guided bombers to their targets by beacons.  There would be two stations, one the "cat" and the other the "mouse".  If you want to read the technical details, do so HERE, but what interested me was the reason for calling the system Oboe.  Apparently when the bombers were flying off course they heard a series of dots and dashes, but when they were on course they heard a continuous sound rather like an oboe.

A house nearby was pointed out to me as having been the possible base for a spy during these years.  People had seen lights in the bedroom windows which looked out over the Channel.  There could be no other reason than spying for having a light on in a bedroom window, of course.  I didn't take a photo of the house because I feel sure the spies have by now moved on.

Moving along (the cliff)

Further around the coast and just beyond Dover, you come to Langdon Cliffs owned by the National Trust.  I have always resolutely turned my back on this because it seemed somehow very wrong to have to pay to walk along the coast.  I take it all back now.

I did have to pay to park the car but had I been on foot there would have been no charge.  Of course there is nowhere remotely close by for parking at the Dover end of the cliffs.  Maybe there is further along but that I don't know.  A nominal fee of £3 isn't exorbitant in any case so I was perfectly happy, the facilities provided are good (lovely cakes!), and the cliffs are well maintained.

The car park, part of it anyway, over looks the cross channel Eastern docks at Dover.  There is something mesmerising about watching the ferries arrive, manoeuvre into position, disgorge passengers and freight, re-load and depart, only to have the berths re-occupied within a very short time.

But I was here to see the cliffs so off I trotted.  Not too fast because the paths, which were on at least three levels, were really quite rough and really quite close to the edge....

There were warning signs up about the recent landslip but that seemed rather like shutting the door after the horse had bolted.  The result of the slide was easily visible from quite a distance.

Neither that nor the signs stopped people from looking closely.

I didn't notice anyone until I was going through these photos at home, and I've had to zoom as much as possible.  If you click on the picture you should be able to make out a few foolhardy souls who had gone for a closer inspection of the landslip and appeared to be standing right on the edge.

The area is a Site of Special Scientific Interest because of the varieties of flora and fauna to be found on the chalk grassland.  To maintain the grassland, the National Trust has brought in a number of Exmoor ponies to graze the land and keep over-vigorous grasses under control.  The ponies looked at me with some suspicion but didn't run away.

I imagine they would soon move if anyone approached too closely but I don't know how tame they are.  There are notices asking people not to feed the ponies.

The views are superb:

over the cliff tops

towards Dover Castle

and to the rocks below.

On a clear day, of course not this day, you should be able to see France.

The protected area continues over the cliffs to South Foreland Lighthouse and St Margaret's Bay, a route I'm saving for another day.

Lost in the mists

Recently, although the days have been beautifully sunny, early mornings have been misty and the mists have lingered over the sea.  When I went to visit the Battle of Britain Memorial site near Folkestone, it was sunny and warm so it wasn't until I had a look over the cliffs to see the view that I realised how much the mist remained even at midday.

That is the view towards Dover with the train line running at the base of the cliffs.

A year ago I travelled along that line and managed to take a picture from as the train, the high speed one, passed along.  it can't have been travelling too fast at that point and, given how near the sea is, I'm quite glad it wasn't.

The view towards Folkestone.  In the days when there was a cross channel ferry running from Folkestone to Boulogne and Calais, the London train used to finish at the harbour arm you can see there in the distance.  The luxurious Venice Simplon Orient Express stopped there for about twenty years, before changing route to Folkestone West.

Not all the cliffs are white.  I have little to no knowledge of geology, but the red earth looks to me like the presence of an iron ore.

The North Downs Way passes right along this cliff top, and in places they seem to be encouraging you to walk over the edge.  The chalk cliffs are very prone to collapse and just last week there was a considerable fall just on the far side of Dover.  I'm rather glad there isn't a guard rail all the same.  It would ruin the feeling of the wide open space.

Possibly not the place to go if it really is misty.

Heritage, or an eyesore?

From the East Kent Mercury

These towers, the Richborough cooling towers, have been part of the landscape in east Kent for about 50 years but now they are to be demolished.

They were built in the 1950s and started burning coal for the Kent collieries in 1962.  Nine years later they were converted to burn oil, then later still to the experimental fuel, Orimulsion, derived from bitumen.  Eventually, in 1996, the power station was decommissioned.

There have been arguments that they are part of our industrial heritage, a memorial to those who built it (13 died in the process), and one of the few things left from the east Kent mining heritage.

Probably the main argument for demolition has been that the site can be redeveloped and put to good use.  Most people think they are an eyesore and because the land is so flat they can be seen for miles around.

I've always been quite surprised that nobody has ever shown any concern that they can be seen so clearly from the Roman fort of Richborough, the first Roman settlement in Britain. The surprise is that they were allowed to build them there in the first place but we were no doubt less concerned about heritage then. 

On the other hand, English Heritage, the owners of Richborough Castle, made no objection to the demolition plans.

The towers will no longer be a blot on the landscape in a few weeks time.

Dickens' "English Watering Place"

Charles Dickens was very well travelled.  He lived in and visited an impressive array of places but for a number of years he took his summer holidays in Broadstairs, a small town on the south-east coast of England.  He even wrote a short story about it, called "Our English Watering Place".  It was here too that he wrote "David Copperfield" while staying in Fort House.

Broadstairs.  Broad stairs.  A small seaside town, very popular in Victorian times, which started as a very small fishing village known by the Anglo-Saxon name of Bradstow, a broad place, possibly referring to the wide bay.  The stairs came later when steps from the shore led up to the village, as it was then, at the top of the cliff.

The bay, one of seven in the Broadstairs area, was renamed Viking Bay in 1949 to commemorate the Viking invasion of 449 AD.  You can see how the sand has been banked up to protect against expected high tides and rough seas during the winter. 

The house overlooking the bay is the one in which Dickens spent most of his Broadstairs holidays.  In those days it was called Fort House, and was much smaller. It was only later that it was renamed Bleak House by someone who had thought the house was the basis for the book of the same name.  Then for a time it was a museum but in 2005 it was sold as a private house.

If you look carefully or click on the picture for a closer view, you can see wind turbines on the horizon.  These are part of the largest operational offshore wind farm in the world, completed last autumn.

There is an arch, York Arch, on the road from the town approaching the pier.  A plaque beside it states:

York Gate - about the time of Henry VIII a small wooden pier appears to have been built here, for the safety of the fishing craft, probably by the Culmer family who fortified the gate or way leading down to the seashore by an arched portal, defended by a portcullis and strong gates to prevent inhabitants from being plundered by the sudden incursions of privateers.  These gates have for many years been gone and as the stonework was fast decaying, it was repaired and beautifued by Lord Hennikerwhen Sir John Henniker.  Above the arch is the following inscription:

York Gate July 17 1811
Built by George Culmer AD 1540
Repaired by Sir John Henniker Bart 1795

In fact the inscription reads "York Gate July 1797".

Also on the same road is the Palace Cinema, the tiniest cinema I've ever seen.  Their website, though, insists that they aren't the smallest in Britain so it sounds as if it may be a sore point. All the same, I feel sure the House Full notice is often used.  To the left is the gateway into the Pavilion once the site of a shipyard owned by the George Culmer who built York Gate.  Shipbuilding was important in Broadstairs until the 19th century.

And because shipbuilding was important, so too was having a lifeboat, especially because of the notorious Goodwin Sands nearby.  The plaques on the wall of the lifeboat station list all the rescues made.  The two figureheads are from ships that presumably weren't rescued. 

A view of the bay from the farther end shows more beach huts and a sole family braving the winter chill.  You would need to enlarge the picture to see them, at the end nearest the lift from the beach to the road above the cliff.  That lift functions only in the summer time.

On that road above the bay you can find Dickens House.  It is the house where the inspiration for Betsey Trotwood in David Copperfield lived.  It's now a museum preserving the character of the house and displaying Victoriana and Dickens memorabilia.

A little further along the same road is the Charles Dickens pub, while nearer the centre of town is the Barnaby Rudge.  Every other building or path has a name associated with Dickens.

Every year there is a Dickens Festival here in June, and another in Rochester.  Dickens is big business in the south east of England.  Now, I'm told, there is even a Dickens World, a theme park of sorts.  I visited Broadstairs in November because I found the crowd in July too much, and that was without any festival.  I do wonder how far they can go before attracting people in is counter-productive.

Out of season, though, it's a lovely place.

A walk around Canterbury

The first view of the Norman stone carved gateway into the cathedral.  Normally there are queues of people waiting to go in but this day there were far fewer people than I saw 18 months ago, and who were standing in the pouring rain.  However I hadn't come to see the cathedral, but for a walk around the small and ancient city, where every other building seems to be at least Grade II Listed, historic protected buildings.

The original parts of this one, Conquest House, date from the Norman conquest in 1066, but it has been altered over the years and now appears to be 17th century.  Inside it retains Norman features.  It is said to be where the killers of Thomas a Beckett met to plan the murder.

At every turn there are views of the cathedral.

"... a very old house bulging out over the road ... leaning forward trying to see who was passing on the narrow pavement below ..." Charles Dickens 1849.

The inscription above the doorway I suspect has been added since this building became a bookshop.  It was once the King's School Tuck shop and is still known as that, probably one of the best known in Canterbury.  It dates from the 17th century.

I understand the door has been made to exaggerate the leaning of the building.  It has the most unusual effect when you go through because you lose reference to the vertical.  Quite dizzy-making!  I was brave though, and even went upstairs.

Another glimpse of the cathedral from a side street.

The sign on the building reads: "Sun Hotel formerly known as the Little Inn made famous by Chas. Dickens in his travels through Kent", and adds that the hotel dates from 1503 though the building may be much earlier.  It was the birthplace of John Lyly, a contemporary of Shakespeare.  The top floor has been restored recently.

Walking down to the river you come across the Weavers' House built in 1500. French and Flemish weavers came to England to escape religious persecution and were given special rights and privileges. The leaning house I mentioned earlier is another weaver's house.

The bridge over the River Stour.

Following the river you come to Greyfriars chapel that actually straddles the Stour. It was built after the arrival of Franciscan monks in 1224.  It's in a wonderfully peaceful spot in spite of being no distance at all from the city centre.

That's more or less where I ended my visit, though I do have many more photos.  'll try to upload them to Flickr over the next few days, rather than bulk this out even further, and update the post with a link. 

Canterbury is another UNESCO World Heritage Site but very fortunately, one that has much more to offer than the site itself.  History is oozing out of every brick and stone.  Having looked up the background of many of the buildings, of course I now want to go back and revisit.  Then there's the cathedral itself ....

24 hours

I've been confined indoors for a while but it hasn't stopped me looking out of the window and seeing how changeable the scene is.

The 24 hours started with a thunderstorm followed by a rainbow.

Dawn brought clearer weather. Well, not quite dawn but about 6.00 am.

But there was a haze around and on the horizon it settled into a yellowish smog.  Is that from France?  From the shipping?  I can only assume it's as bad looking in the other direction.

Later the sun came out and I was watching this father and son playing with the kite.  Well the father was playing with the kite while the son watched.  It wasn't until later that I realised I'd managed to catch a view of the massive Thanet Offshore Windfarm on the horizon.  There are 100 turbines in place, and you can only hope they will help reduce that smog.  It may be just possible to see some of the turbines if you click on the photo for a larger size. 

Towards the end of the day this group arrived with a picnic, sat together yet apart, and left shortly afterwards.  You could write stories about why.