Day 29 – Cliffs End

After breakfast Mel and Jim asked what I would like to do and suggested some local places to go. The first time I visited them Mel took me to Canterbury and we walked around the Cathedral and the local area where they were doing an archaeological dig in an area that was going to be a shopping centre. That was in August 1991. So we decided to go to Canterbury and have another walk around.

Jim drove us up the highway to Canterbury and we parked outside the city walls and walked in going down the underpass to go under the main road going through the wall opening and then walking into the shopping centre that was built over the archaeological dig area that I saw last time. We walked amongst the new shops that are well set out with large open walkways between them. Further down we entered the older shopping precinct and stopped at a coffee shop for some morning tea.

Walking further along St Peters Street which is an open plaza we looked at a few shops and Mel bought some items before we walked down to the Western Gate tower and into the parkland next to it called Westgate Grove. The grove provides plenty of parkland and a riverside walk with many colourful flowers and bird life including ducks that float along the River Stour which borders the grove. You can even go for a river punt ride with a person guiding the punt for you.

Following the walk we went back into the shopping area to have some lunch at The West Cornish Pasty Co. Shop. I had a Cornish Steak and Onion Pasty and a small sausage roll and they both were very good. After lunch we continued walking back up the shopping area and back through the city gates and back to the car. Jim then drove to the coast and went to Samphire Hoe. This is an area of reclaimed land which is where they deposited the earth drilled out when the built the Cross Channel Tunnel to France. IT is to the south of the city of Dover and one of the only areas where you can stand at the bottom of the Cliffs of Dover and look up at the huge cliffs. To get to the area you have to drive through a tunnel that is drilled through the cliff. The area has been set up as an environmental research at information area as well as providing an area to walk along under the cliffs.

Leaving there we along the motorway to go to turn around at the next exit and saw a sign for the Battle of Britain Memorial site. We then followed the signs and visited the memorial. It is a well set out memorial looking over the cliffs and out to the English Channel. At the memorial there are a couple of aircraft, a Hawker Hurricane Mk1 and a Supermarine Spitfire Mk 1 replica. Also an area is set with an inscription of all the flyer's that lost their lives during the Battle of Britain. While we were there it started to rain but it only lasted five minutes.

Leaving the memorial we drove through Dover and north along the coast to the town of Deal. In 1539 the then King Henry the 8th ordered that a castle be built in Deal during the war with France. Following the castle being built a small fishing village was formed there that turned the current town. We walked along the foreshore of the pebble stone beach and into the narrow streets of the village before returning down the main shopping street and into a plaza area. The school had just finished for the day and there were school children everywhere in the shops. We then went back to the car and went back to Cliffs End for the afternoon.

That evening we went for dinner in Broadstairs which I had visited on my previous visit to England in 2008. We went to a very good Italian Restaurant called Presso. We had a real nice meal overlooking the beach and watched ships go past the windows as we ate.

After the meal we headed home for the night and sat talking about Mel & Jim’s trip to Australia that they are planning for January & February. We finally called it a night and I went off to bed.