In which Sid and Doris ride from Canterbury via Sheperdswell, Dover, Folkestone and Tenterden to see railways and castles, the world’s oldest (-est) sea going vessel, the justly famous Denge Sound Mirrrors (pre-radar) and Beaver Road in Ashford. They do pack a lot in.
Leaving Canterbury Sid and Doris salute the Queen and Duke who are looking after the cathedral. These things take a long time so perhaps King Charles’ (how odd that sounds) statue is already in the works.
A short prayer might also have been in order. It is only 31kms to Dover but Regional Cycle Route 16 packs in 760 metres of ascent. We leave the route to find Sheperdswell, tea, buns and the East Kent Railway.
Coal was discovered in Kent in the 1890s when trial boring for a Channel Tunnel. Chatham had steam driven machinery and later the ships would need coal too, so there was traffic eventually. The coal fields were closed in the late 1980s by which time the railways were diesel or electric, ships used heavy oil and at Dungeness there was a nuclear power station.
On the right, not a scene from an early Gardeners’ Question Time but navvies working on the EKR probably in the late 1850s.
The Diesel Multiple Unit is now EKRs prize exhibit, which has the benefit of not needing a boiler safety certificate. The drawback is that it is not a Thomas the tank engine look-a-like and will not attract the crowds.
In non-concours condition is this Spartan 2+2 kit car with some not much of the looks of an MG TD? The 1972 number plate will be from the donor, probably a 1.6 Pinto engined Ford Cortina.
It does not need to be taxed or MoT’ed. It is for sale, and has been for some time. Not that.
We have enough trouble getting the new old two-seater on the road. On which topic Sid hopes to have Alvis news in October 2023. DPP 59 is already registered with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority but as no engine. Maybe an old Pinto?
Despite the lumpy route to Dover this is not a view we had because the castle is on the hill above the town. But see, it is vairy big.
From the castle you can see Dover harbour and France. It was from here that in May and June 1940 Admiral Ramsey ran Operation Dynamo rescuing 338,000 French and British troops from Dunkirk’s wooden mole and beaches.The Operation was called Dynamo because Ramsey’s HQ was in an old generator room. So now you know.
Being much more mechanised than the German army at the time the BEF left behind 64,000 vehicles as well as over 500,000 tons of ammunition and other supplies. By contrast, cashing in our Peace Dividend, in 2022 the British army had fewer than 4,000 pieces of combat equipment, about 14,000 trucks and Land Rovers and enough ammunition to last two weeks. On the plus side we are still not reliant on horses, so that’s good.
Sid and Doris scream downhill (sigh) to find the town museum, so often a tour highlight. It is a good town museum, with staff who help stash the bikes out of sight of the local cider drinkers.
The top exhibit is Dover’s Bronze age boat, carbon dated to about 3,550 years ago. As at Rye the sea has been going away for centuries and the boat was found during town centre road works in 1992. On finding one 6 metre section they dug up some more road to discover a further 3.5m and even then they did not have both ends. The bottom planks were held together with wedges while the side planks were stitched with yew twigs.
Archaeologists estimate it would have taken about 2,000 hours to build, ten people three and a half weeks maybe. So, a fair investment but enabling trade with France and along the coast. A half length reconstruction was built in 2013 which handled very well, rode high and could have been paddled to France in about four hours. The full sized edition could carry three tons of cargo. It is perhaps ironic that having been trading for 3,550 years the people of Kent voted for Brexit.
Sid and Doris set off up the long climb (sigh) to the cliff top road to Folkestone, from where once the train-
on-ferry left for France. The summit brings the duo to a Battle of Britain Memorial (the air war after Dunkirk) at a large ex-naval gun emplacement.
There are the usual Spitfire and Hurricane 1:1 models but more amusing is this Ju87 Stuka which has come to a bad end. And not surprising it fell out of the sky because it is made of stainless steel.
This is clearly a big tourist weekend as S and D are booked into pleasant enough hotel at rates we last paid for the Milan Speranza au Lac at Stresa on Lake Maggiore.
However, there is very hip micro brewery for map mungling and an excellent tapas bar rather belying
the seaside retirement home reputation.
In Folkestone the oldies have Hell’s Granny style.
Now, at the top of the page Sid offered the story of the slightly epic journey all the way to Ashford. That will have to be in Part 2.2.
We haven’t come far but there is a lot to see.