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Published: June 25th 2009
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Heading South
I hadn't decided whether I was going to spend the night in Canterbury or in Dover when I left the hostel for Victoria Station. What I had decided was that I was taking the bus instead of the train as not only did I get to see some of the winding roads through the countryside, I also picked the ticket up for about half the price of a train fare.
Arriving in
Canterbury after a couple of hours on the National Express, my main reason for the stop was to see the
Canterbury Cathedral which is the base for the Church of England. Towering out of the city centre, the cathedral was originally founded by St Augustine in the 6th Century but was rebuilt in the 11th. Over the next 400 years is was added to and sections were demolished until the 1500's, since which only restorative works have been carried out. Just outside town (but included in the Canterbury UNESCO Site) is
St Augustine's Abbey. Although there is only foundations left, it was the site of the renewing of Christianity in Southern England.
Deciding to head on to
Dover, was both a good and bad
idea rolled into one. Because of the lack of decision, I once again hadn't booked anywhere, so arriving in Dover and locating the Tourist Office, there was only one bed left in the entire town for the night. Seemingly, there were a few cruises leaving the next morning so things were pretty tight. With no other option, I settle down in a nice little B&B just out of town for a couple of nights (I'd saved a night by not staying at Canterbury) with some hearty pub fare in me and a beautiful view of the Dover Castle in the distance.
Woken by the promise of a cooked English breakfast to start the day, I headed up to the Castle for a look-see. Occupied for over 2000 years,
Dover Castle began life as a Roman Pharos (lighthouse) around 44BC, before the Romans even conquered England. The Keep and original fortifications followed over 950 years later and was reinforced almost constantly until after WWII as weaponry became more advanced. There are medieval tunnels under the inner wall built to bolster defences after the battle of 1216-17and Napoleonic tunnels built into the cliff side which were extensively expanded during WWII when
the British armed forces used it as a headquarters for both the rescuing of over 300,000 troops from northern France and to co-ordinate the D-Day landings.
After spending a couple of hours at the castle, I thought a walk along the cliffs was in order. As the closest point to France (at only 44km) you can see the coastline easily and they say on a clear night you can see the street lights of Calais. My walk took me up from the East Docks to give me an unbridled view of the
White Cliffs Of Dover. They stretch from far to the east to just past Dover but because of the proximity of the city to the mainland, Dover became the most famous section.
“We may run, walk, stumble, drive, or fly, but let us never lost sight of the reason for the journey, or miss a chance to see a rainbow on the way.” - Anonomous
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