Visiting Dover and Hadrian's Wall

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On Easter Monday we travelled to Folkestone with Elizabeth and co and Faith.
We had a lovely time down south and the weather was quite hot. We visited Canterbury on our way down. Fascinating town and I enjoyed it more than Cambridge. We went for a short boat ride on the part of the river Stour which goes through the centre of the town. The guide actually rowed the boat so it was very peaceful. We visited the cathedral plus a couple of buildings associated with pilgrims. Then drove across to the village of Sandwich and should have stopped off but didn’t - the next village happened to be called Ham!!!!!! Elizabeth had used her Tesco tokens to get a deal for us all plus Faith at an hotel in Folkestone. The comments on the Internet were not that crash hot and she dubbed it The Smelly Hotel before we even got there. However we were pleasantly surprised. It was a very big hotel, built 30 years ago and with no refurbishment since. Clean, bed, breakfast and dinner for ten pounds a person (by the time we converted the Tesco vouchers into real money). Also had evening bingo sessions and a cabaret in the ballroom for the elderly people, some with zimmers, who were there on coach tours. Get the picture? It was interesting to see the tour itineraries on display in the foyer - eg, day trips to France and Belgium leaving the hotel by 7.15. We had a room overlooking the harbour with nothing in the way, Faiths had half the view and the others were at the back overlooking the car-park. Very seaside England. Tuesday we all went to Dover Castle - there were heaps of French school-kids and while in the Medieval tunnels in the afternoon Faith got a text message in French from a phone company - quite bizarre. We did the Secret Wartime tunnels with the others then headed off for a walk along the White Cliffs through a National Trust property which we got into for free with our Historic Places card. Looked out over the ferry terminal for part of it - the cross channel ferry Brendan worked on for a while would have left from just below us. Back to Samphire Hoe, a reserve built at the base of the cliffs with the spoil taken from the Channel tunnel. Went for a walk along there too then drove towards Folkestone to visit the Battle of Britain Memorial. Very simple but effective monument cared for by volunteers. Dinner was to be a meal at a pub carefully chosen from the Good Pub Guide but after Elizabeth got to the place she found out the one night it was closed is Tuesday - so they found another way out in the wops on the edge of the Downs. We used Ian’s new toy, a Satnav, which got us there very quickly but along some very narrow and interesting tracks. The pub was owned by a French guy, the menu was in French and VERY expensive so we opted for the baguettes etc. Enjoyable time had by all. Wednesday we headed off early to visit Hythe (Elizabeth had worked in a pub there many years ago), Rye which was a lovely little fishing village with cobbled streets and an Inn dating from 13th century. We drove alongside a seawall for some miles then stopped at Dymchurch for a look. What a surprise - gone were the stones and instead we had a very long sandy beach complete with amusement arcade and Ferris wheels. Daresay it would be very busy in the summer. At Hastings we stopped on the seafront to see the typical tall black net drying sheds to the south end of the beach - built tall and skinny so as to take up less of the scarce flat land near the sea. There were also lots of fishing boats and fish shops. Inland we stopped at Battle (1066 and all that) to eat lunch then headed off for South London to collect Lea and her two friends. With help of Ian’s toy we arrived there with 5 minutes to spare although it then took us more than an hour to get back to the motorway. We got home here at about 6.30.
Lea, her boyfriend Jean Baptist and a friend Romain stayed here until Friday night when we put them on the train for London. It was lovely to see her again and even though the boys supposedly had little English they still managed to communicate just fine. After chopping firewood for us in the morning Ian took them to Foxton Locks (in the rain) then on to Wellford Wharf for a drink in the pub. I cooked roast beef and yorkies with apple pie to follow. Friday morning we visited Geddington then walked across the path at Drayton Manor. All very “English Countryside”. We would see Lea again in May when we went to visit her and her parents (but that’s another Blog).
Our next excursion was to Gretna Green. What a place - very touristy but with an interesting history. Drove back across into the Pennines and eventually found our Youth hostel, home for the next two nights. It was in such a small place, no exit road and 3 houses, that it didn’t register on the Satnav but what a position. Used to be a lead miners cottage and with a small addition can now hold 26 people. We were the only 2 people there so it was lovely - our own room with ensuite and beautiful views across the valley. We woke up to the sound of birds and bleating lambs. Tuesday we visited Housesteads Fort and Hadrians Wall - enjoyed a clamber up a rocky outcrop to continue walking along the wall. A short sharp downpour sent us scurrying back to the car but we felt we had done our bit by then. Had a look at the outside of the youth hostel at Once Brewed and decided we had definitely made the better choice by staying at Ninebanks. On the way back to the Hostel we visited a lead mine at Killhope - after 120 school kids had gone through in the morning there were very few people there so a guy kept appearing and giving us a personal guided tour which made it much more interesting. Certainly glad I wasn’t an eleven year old working there as it was in a very dank and dreary place - although life for any of the miners was not pleasant.
Wednesday we had a two hour drive to get to Holy Island on the coast so we could get back to the mainland before the high tide at 11.30am as we didn’t want to stay there all day. We were able to view the castle for free as we belong to the NZ Historic Places Trust and can go to National Trust places using our card. Means we visit more places as we know it won’t cost us anything and certainly makes a difference when it could cost more than £20 for us both to get in somewhere. Very interesting place and as the sun was shining it was a memorable visit. The unique storage sheds are made from old fishing boats turned upside down and painted black. Had lunch back on the mainland watching the tide came in across the causeway. Drove across country to visit another National Trust place in Innerleithen only to find it was closed on Wednesday and Thursday. Never mind as we found another local tourist place with a very interesting history told on video - every July the story of St Cuthbert and Ronan’s Wells is re-enacted by the whole village.
We found our way to our next Youth Hostel, this time in a sizeable town called Melrose. This time there were 70 odd beds in an old private home. Only 7 people there the first night and as I looked around the dining room commented to Ian “there is not a lot of youth here”. However the next night a busload of Polish school kids arrived and they literally took over - quite a contrast. Thursday we spent in Edinburgh, parking on the outskirts of town and using the park and ride to get to and from town. Another castle, very expensive but so completely different - more like a garrison town behind walls on a hill. We watched the one o’clock gun being fired - a tradition dating back centuries as a time-keeping signal for the navigators to correct their Chronometers before they set sail. Walked along the Royal Mile and visited Greyfriars church and the memorial to Greyfrairs Bobby - I remembered the story from my days at Takapuna Library. Once again we got a personal tour from a kilted gentleman who didn’t seem to have much else to do and were very impressed by the architecture. We sat for a while and listened to a band of guys in their version of Scots highland clothes - they looked very wild and untamed.
On Friday we had a 5 ½ hour drive back to attend the funeral of Tony the guy who lived here in the Coach House. He was only 65 but with his health problems it was probably a blessing.
PS from Wendy - Yes, this part of the blog has been written 3 months late but at least it is now done. I will try to get the next one going ASAP.

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Photos

Canterbury Street
Nice old buildings typical of this town

Hotel room view
This room at the Smelly Hotel has a fantastic view - and it didn't smell at all!

The Mermaid, Rye - 1573
Reputed to be one of the oldest pubs in Britain - opened for a visit by Queen Elizabeth (the First!!)

Narrow net drying sheds - Hastings
Didn't take up so much room on the scarce fore-shore.

Marriage Anvil - Gretna Green
Well - one of several "original" anvils! You can book in and actually be married there in one of several period themed rooms. Very romantic.

Water wheel - Killhope lead mine
This wheel which powered the "new" sorting factory certainly made the process a lot less back-breaking.

Storage sheds, Lindisfarne
Grand use of old and otherwise useless boats. And Yes, they are actual boats, not just sheds made to look like boats.

Greyfriars Bobby, Edinburgh
So devoted to his master that for 14 years he stayed on his grave - only leaving it each day at 1 o'clock for his dinner.

Canterbury Cathedral
Quite magnificent.

Dover docks from the cliffs
Looking down to where Brendan's ship would have left from.

Battle of Britain Memorial
A very simple image - and very powerful.

Sandy beach - not a pebble in sight
Dymchurch beach.

The original marriage Room at Gretna Green
Another Original. For about 20 years Scotland's marriage laws were more liberal than Englands - and Gretna Green was the nearest Scottish town where couples could cross to to get married if they were in a hurry (or maybe being chased by the bride's angry father!!)

Steep stone steps
A lot of Hadrians Wall is built on top of a cliff - easier to keep the marauding Scots out that way!! Made for a bit of a climb to get there though.

Hadrians Wall - the real article
A lot of the wall has been rebuilt so please do not walk on it!

Sculpture - Killhope
Depiction of some of the tools used in the mine.

Lindisfarne Castle view
Looking back from Lindisfarne castle toward the Priory ruins.

Lindisfarne churchyard view
Looking from the churchyard to the priory and castle.

Edinburgh Castle
Big, old, interesting, great view, but expensive.

Wild men entertain
These lads were entertaining the crowd in one of the squares - don't think I would like to argue with then after they had taken a wee dram or two!

Comments

[Lynn]

Thank you!
We have been studying Lindisfarne and a Google brought up your sight. It is really cool to see the real thing even though it is in ruin. It always makes history come to life to see pics or go to a place and walk on the land. We appreciate you sharing with us!!!