28 April 2014

Dover day 4 - Battle (of Hastings)


Today we went into Battle. This was not an event, but a town. This is where the battle of Hastings was fought (you know- in 1066), and the victor took England. He was a Frenchman by the name of William. As with most sites in England, the place looks quite different now. An abbey has been built on the site, then dissolved by Henry the eighth. Many of the buildings were knocked down (If I had a pound for every ruin in Britain - I'd never work again). The place has been bought an sold three or four times over the last 500 years, and finally taken over by English Heritage.

Before we braved the engagement with (Kings) Harold and William, we took tea ! Here...

This cafe dates from the 1500s. It used to house and feed well-off pilgrims.

The gatehouse is the entrance to the abbey, as it has been since it was built. That was in the forteenth century (nearly 200 years after the battle) and it remains pretty much the same as it was.

The place was pretty smart in its day. Here is one of the common rooms for the monks

That's not a monk. She's just visiting (She must be a pilgrim).

We took an audio tour (with one of those little audio players) around the actual battlefield it was only a couple of hectares, and several thousand soldiers died there. This one battle decided the fate of England. The abbey was built on the site partly to atone for the sin of hacking (former King) Harold's body to bits, and partly to remember the battle and the dead. Also, abbeys were a great money spinner in those days; the monks workd for nothing, and the pilgrims paid to come in and see the place (oh, and to pray for their souls). a real silver lining !

We went to the pub instead of praying (the church was knocked down years ago). The Bull Inn serves excellent food.

Here we see our pilgrim about to take some much needed refreshment.

I couldn't sample the beer because I was driving. I neede all my attention on the road. The English villages have narrow two lane roads going through the middle. Then they park their cars one one side, leaving one lane plus about 50cm for the traffic. The cars on the "parking lane" side stop and give way to the others. The others can be trucks or double decker buses. We quickly learned the technique of leapfrogging parked cars, and diving into vacant spots, just before the oncoming car/truck/bus arrives. Fun for a little while, but totally exhausting after a day. The other joy of this is that the vehicles coming the other way are usually about 15cm away, and the parked cars about the same distance from the passenger side. That is compounded by the fact that there is a village every three miles. I wanted Robyn to get a picture, but she had her eyes shut most of the time. Where is a motorway when you need one ?

Our return journey took us along the fabled holiday strip of sandy beaches. We stopped at Dymchurch, and climbed over the sea wall. This wall goes for miles and miles, and is 10 metres high in places. It stops the sea invading Romney Marshes, which are now productive farmland ( think sheep !).

At this point, the wall is topped by a promenade, about 8 metres wide. There is sand and sea on one side; and holiday parks on the other. You can stay in a tiny cabin, one of hundreds; or you can bring your own caravan and park right close to your neighbour. You have a nice view of an earth bank, topped by a concrete wall. To get to the beach, you cross a busy road and climb the concrete stairs, push through the biting cold Atlantic wind, and walk over about 200 metres of sand (at low tide) to the icy water. If you need to pee, use the ocean, or pay 50 pence per visit at the local facilities. Oh those British - they know how to holiday !

I drove out of there, thinking of Dover as a civilised, pleasant place to stay. As usual, we went to Mcdonalds to upload my Blog post and check Emails. Did I mention that there is no mobile coverage in our house ? Bloody annoying. To be fair, I don't have to use McDonalds free Wi-Fi. I could sit on the side of the road somewhere down in town and use my Mobile phone as a Wi-Fi hotspot. Mcdonalds however, is warm and dry (and sells coffee).

Tomorrow is our last full day in Dover, so we will go back to Canterbury. Hope this finds all of you, "my followers" well.

Until next time .....

Lex and Robyn.