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Southeast England

August 2024
A 13-day adventure by Frl. Elli Read more
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  • TravelerSoutheast England
    Day 1

    Basel to Canterbury

    August 3, 2024 in England ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    After some problems with paperwork - the planes, not ours - we took off from Basel with around one and a half hours delay. This didn‘t bother us too much since we didn‘t have any connections to catch in Heathrow, only a car to pick up. I wonder how many times I will want to get into the car on the wrong side… this will take some getting used to. 😆 Anyway, the drive to Canterbury was nice and easy. Getting into the hotel car park on the other hand was not so easy. It‘s through the house’s old horse and coach gateway which is so narrow that most cars need to fold in their side mirrors. I‘ll just file this under „things that happen when you book rooms in a 500 year old building“.

    A short stroll along High Street and some lovely food did us in and we are ready to call it an early night.    Read more

  • TravelerSoutheast England
    Day 2

    Museum Time in Ramsgate

    August 4, 2024 in England ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

    The title says it all. 🙂 We made a day trip to Ramsgate with the specific intention of visiting three museums. On the way there, we found a fourth.

    First up: Spitfire and Hurricane Memorial Museum
    Located at what was once RAF Manston, it still has an airfield. There is also another museum on the precinct detailing the history of the RAF station itself. We didn‘t go in, since the Memorial Museum already had plenty to see. The two aircraft it gets its name from, of course. On top of those, lots of wreckage pieces including enemy bits. Also shown are personal belongings and uniforms of various RAF personnel. Then there are war spoils in the form of a mixed bag of German items - from uniform pieces to weapons to crockery. There‘s even a Swastika flag torn down from German Military Headquarters near Caen.
    All in all a lovely museum well cared for entirely by volunteers. They are very knowledgeable and happy to answer questions.

    Second: WonderWorks
    Every model vehicle enthusiast will love it here. This is a small museum in the old Hornby Hobbies factory building. It details how models are made, from the idea to the planning to manufacture. Of course there are also pieces to see from many decades. I liked the WW2 planes best - no surprise here.

    Next: This Museum is (not) Obsolete
    An old printers shop turned into a museum stuffed to the brim with all kinds of obsolete technology and projects built from such items. It can get quite cacophonic in here since visitors are encouraged to push buttons and play the instruments. So if you‘re sensitive to noise, bring earplugs (this spoils lots of the fun, though). I am still fascinated with the creativity behind it all.
    This museum is not easy to describe, but if you imagine a modern version of Doc Browns workshop with triple the amount of machinery you‘re not far off.

    Last but not least: Ramsgate Tunnels
    Why we went to Ramsgate in the first place. This is a tunnel system used for air raid sheltering during two world wars. At first, a victorian railway tunnel was used to shelter in. The later expansion of the shelter system consists of purpose-dug tunnels deep underground. The tunnels follow the routes of public highways, this was planned so that they could progress fast with the building works without having to deal with private landowners. And so, when the worst air raid arrived on the 24th of August 1940 most of the towns inhabitants could sit it out 70 feet / 21 meters underground. The worst, you ask? Here in Ramsgate they call it „500 bombs in 5 minutes“. This must have been literal hell.
    In short, an impressive place to visit. Guided by staff you spend about 90 minutes underground in various parts of he tunnels. Bring a jumper, it never gets over 11 degrees Celsius in there. Many thanks to Martin and Luke, our brilliant guides!    Read more

  • TravelerSoutheast England
    Day 3

    Canterbury City Sights

    August 5, 2024 in England ⋅ 🌙 17 °C

    Today we started with a late breakfast at The Refectory Kitchen which was very good. I had a toast with beans and peacamole (just like guac, only with peas instead of avocado). This came with a cauliflower fritter, grilled tomato and mushroom. Very filling and therefore perfect for the day ahead.

    The cathedral was our first stop. We didn‘t look at it all at once, there is so much to see. Thankfully the tickets are valid for longer than just the one visit, so we could go to a pub to rest our heads and feet and then go back in. This church is incredible, I have never seen so many small chapels in one single church. Plus, the crypt is gorgeous and houses some fascinating pieces, including the Black Princes funeral insignia.

    We spent the rest of the day wandering around the town, stopping here and there for a drink, until it was time for the boat tour we‘d booked earlier. This was both interesting (the guides explanations) and calming (floating along the stream). After this it was already time for dinner. We chose the Foundry Brewpub, home of Canterbury Brewers and Distillers. Fantastic beer and food. 😋    Read more

  • TravelerSoutheast England
    Day 4

    Dover Castle

    August 6, 2024 in England ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    This has been on my historical bucket list for ages. Since I saw a documentary about the restoration of the Kings quarters to 12th century standards, to be precise. It did not disappoint. This is one beautiful castle with so many layers of history! The oldest still visible part is a Roman lighthouse which has been used for a while as a bell tower for the Saxon church built right beside it. These two buildings stand on what used to be an Iron Age ring fort. On the next hill is the castle keep with its walls and adjacent buildings. Here, the history goes from the 11th - when William the Conqueror built defenses - to the 18th century when new barracks were constructed. Below the castle, the history goes right on into the 20th century with WW2 structures built into the hillside, including an underground hospital. Dover castle has also been the command post from where Operation Dynamo (the evacuation of British forces from Dunkirk) was led.

    Keeping the theme of WW2, we visited the Battle of Britain Memorial at Chapel-le-Ferne while on our way to Hastings. It‘s a beautiful site overlooking the Channel. We could even make out France in the distance, even though it wasn‘t a completely clear day.

    Arrived in Hastings, went for pizza and a stroll along the beachfront and then fell into bed.    Read more

  • TravelerSoutheast England
    Day 5

    Hastings and its Battle

    August 7, 2024 in England ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

    Another tick on my historical bucket list! 😃 I know, it is weird to be happy about visiting a battlefield where so many men died. But I look at the site just the way Monsieur le Conquérant has intended us to: A place of remembrance. I think the men would be happy to be thought about, even though we don‘t know most of their names. So I am happy to remember them. 🥀 Also, five years ago I was in Normandy, looking at the tapestry of Bayeux. So this visit kind of brings me full circle - especially because we‘re planning on going to Pevensey tomorrow, where Williams fleet came ashore. There is quite a lot left of Battle Abbeys structures, but unfortunately almost nothing from the original 11th century buildings. Sadly, that includes the abbey church, of which there are only some crypt walls and its outline picked out by gravel paths left. And a plaque where the high altar once stood, supposedly the very spot where King Harold died (you might have heard of him, he’s the one with the arrow in the eye). Most of the still standing structures are from a 13th century rebuild, which is still very interesting. Then, there are some things like a dairy and an icehouse from the times the abbey was a private residence. Yes, it too was a victim of Henry VIIIs Dissolution of the Monasteries in the 16th century. It remained in private hands until the 1970s when the National Trust took over. Since the 1920s there has been a school in the country house (formerly abbot‘s lodgings) which is still active to this day.

    After so much medieval stuff, we wanted to see something more modern. So we went back to Hastings and took the victorian West Hill Lift up to said hilltop. Up there are St Clements Caves which are home to the Smuggler‘s Adventure, a place where you can learn about the sneaky ways of getting contraband into the country. The caves were also used after the smugglers: as an air raid shelter in WW2.

    And then we walked aaaall the way back? Nope, we took the miniature train at the bottom of the hill. 😊    Read more

  • TravelerSoutheast England
    Day 6

    Pevensey Castle and the Seven Sisters

    August 8, 2024 in England ⋅ 🌬 20 °C

    Let‘s stay in the Conquerors path for a little longer with a visit to Pevensey Castle. This is where he landed with his fleet after crossing the Channel. Here, the Normans found what was left of a fort built by the Romans. Practical! They added some fortifications to it before they marched towards Hastings. These first wooden structures were later replaced with stone and became a fort (well, castle) once more. The last time it was used as a defence post was in WW2. At that time, alterations were made to the insides of the towers to make them habitable for the soldiers. Nothing much though, mostly just brick linings and windows. You can‘t see any of this from the outside, just like the gun emplacements. These were disguised to look like medieval stonework and added to the old walls with care so as not to disturb more of the historical buildings than absolutely needed.

    Time for some nature after all these manmade things: the beautiful chalk cliffs known as the Seven Sisters. We just sat on the pebble beach for a while, watched the sea and ate a little snack. That was calming, despite there being quite a lot of people. The sound of the waves drowned out almost everything else.

    After this, onwards to Brighton which welcomed us with the first proper rain since we arrived in England. So we postponed the pier visit to the next day and just went for dinner and some drinks.    Read more

  • TravelerSoutheast England
    Day 7

    Brighton

    August 9, 2024 in England ⋅ 🌬 22 °C

    Brighton was only a short stop since we arrived yesterday and left again today early in the afternoon. Nevertheless we had time go go for a ride on the Volk‘s Electric Railway which goes along the beach between Aquarium (near Palace Pier) and Black Rock stations. This is a cool little train that has been running since 1883 (with the exception of the WW2 years). It doesn‘t have overhead cables but gets its current from a third rail next to the tracks.

    Let‘s go to the pier now. Thankfully, there weren‘t masses of people yet. They started arriving when we were getting ready to leave. Lucky us! We didn‘t do much on the pier apart from admiring the views you get from there. And we had donuts. You have to look out for the gulls whenever you eat something at the seafront. Cheeky buggers! Of course I had to get a souvenir, and since I like practical or consumable ones, the choice was easy: Brighton Rock! 😋    Read more

  • TravelerSoutheast England
    Day 7

    Weald & Downland Living Museum

    August 9, 2024 in England ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C

    On our way from Brighton to Portsmouth, we stopped at the Weald & Downland open air museum. There are buildings here from the 10th to the 19th century. They have all been relocated here with the exception of two that are reconstructions based on archaeological finds. I liked the 15th century houses best, especially the one with ground floor shops. This would be glorious to live and work in at a living history event. I‘m sorry for the 15th century overload in this post‘s pictures! I did photograph other stuff too, but that‘s still in the camera (photos on here are from my phone).

    Some of the houses are still worked in, for example a watermill. The flour they produce there is sometimes made into bread in the bakehouse across the path. Or it is used in the Tudor kitchen. There are also some fields for growing crops. From sowing to harvesting everything is done „old style“, by hand or with the help of horse-drawn machinery.

    I love this kind of museum! 😃    Read more

  • TravelerSoutheast England
    Day 8

    Portsmouth Historic Dockyard

    August 10, 2024 in England ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    This is one HUGE museum complex. So many ships and exhibitions, some are even on the other side of the harbour. Those are best reached by waterbus, which is included in some tickets. We had three main interests: HMS Victory, the Mary Rose and HMS Warrior, so we did these first. After all that we were a bit tired of traipsing around inside ships so we decided to go for a ride on one. We had a harbour tour included in our tickets, this took us around the historical area as well as the active Royal Navy base, where we saw aircraft carriers and other warships. I know now why the carriers are sometimes called floating towns. They are immense and filled with so much personnel!

    About the historical ships:

    The Mary Rose, Henry VIII‘s flagship. Built in 1510/11, she sank in 1545 while in battle against the French. Unfortunately, she took almost all of her crew down with her. Attempts to lift the ship from the seabed were started very shortly after the sinking, to no avail. It was only in 1982 that the recovery mission was successful - after 10 years of underwater archaeology and preparations. Now we can see what is left of the Mary Rose and also a lot of artifacts that were aboard her. There is so much and so many types of items, which makes for a very interesting museum visit.

    HMS Victory, Nelson‘s flagship at the battle of Trafalgar in 1805. She has been commissioned 27 years earlier in 1778 and still is in service as part of the Historical Fleet, crewed by Navy personnel. This makes her the oldest commissioned warship in the world. She is currently undergoing extensive restoration which is why her middle mast is missing and a big part of her is covered with scaffolding and a massive tent.

    I‘ll let the Historic Dockyard website talk about the Warrior: “HMS Warrior was Britain’s first iron-hulled, armoured battleship. Launched in 1860, when Britain’s dominance in trade and industry was at its peak, HMS Warrior was the pride of Queen Victoria’s fleet.
    This new type of battleship signalled a significant evolution in the Royal Navy, being the first departure from traditional wooden ships. Despite being steam-powered HMS Warrior was also fitted with masts and enough sails to cover 13 tennis courts!“    Read more

  • TravelerSoutheast England
    Day 9

    Arundel

    August 11, 2024 in England ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    This is a visit we hadn‘t planned initially. We had seen the castle on our drive from Brighton to Portsmouth and later decided to go see it. That was a good decision. The town is lovely and judging by the numbers of shops filled with old things somewhat of an antiques shopping centre. The castle itself was founded in 1067 and now looks like something from a fairytale because of all the windows built into the once very defensive walls. In the center still stands the Norman keep on its motte. I loved seeing that and being able to climb into it (yes, even in 30 degree heat #historynerd). The remodelled rooms with the aforementioned windows hold all kinds of living and working rooms, bedrooms and some awesome bathrooms. We also visited the FitzAlan chapel where a fabulous corpse tombstone can be found.

    After all this, we went for a beer at Fauna Brewing Co. and a stroll through the village before driving back to Portsmouth.    Read more

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