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Canterbury/East Kent
Canterbury is a couple of hours away from our home area (Ipswich, Suffolk), and the journey is nearly all reasonably fast dual carriageway - A12 to the M25, Dartfort QEII bridge, then A2/M2 eastbound. For a one night stay we used Travelodge, who have web offers on rooms at around £26, as opposed to their usual rate of £45. We found a non-smoking room at the Canterbury Dunkirk Lodge for a Sunday night at the promotional rate (you frequently have to be willing and able to change your plans to pursue the £26 price). The journey gave us a chance to look at some small towns we have rarely glimpsed - they’re too far off-route when heading towards Dover, and that’s our main reason for passing through Kent. We were not particularly enthused by Whitstable, but Herne Bay seemed like a relaxed seaside resort with not much else going for it, and we also took a look a one of my old sailing haunts, Ramsgate. Monday morning took us into Canterbury for two visits, both crammed into a 3hr parking period (£1.80 up to 3hrs, £5 3hrs+ in long stay parks outside the City walls). First, we found the Roman Museum in Butchery Lane - a small shop-like entrance, but with a very large cellar area beneath surrounding shops, where there’s an excellent display of Roman artifacts and superb room sets which really give a flavour of life in those times. Few do it better - and the displays and interpretation are very accessible for both adults and children. Next we went to the Cathedral - a much less enjoyable visit for me, because I like churches as such - and Canterbury Cathedral is a tourist attraction, not a church. Having said that, it isn’t particularly expensive - £7 for two concession tickets. I quite enjoyed our stroll around, and there are plenty of clergy and other staff around - which is what you’d expect given the vast numbers of visitors milling about, including several bus-loads of French schoolchildren. After a coffee, we drove for about 30 minutes to reach Rochester, on the River Medway, part of a conurbation which also includes Chatham and Gillingham. Rochester also has a castle and a Cathedral, and the Cathedral here is a much more human-scaled place than Canterbury - and it makes a far more relaxing visit, without the pressure of people and tourism. The people in the church had the time to have a chat, there weren’t any organised tours, and the building had a peaceful and serene atmosphere. We strolled around in a leisurely fashion, and also invested a £1 in a photography permit - you’ll see the video shortly online here shortly. We enjoyed a stroll along the high street, looked at the outside of the castle from within it’s curtain wall, which makes a charming public open green space, and looked out over the motor cruisers alongside their pontoons on the river below - you can see why the Normans built here, to control traffic and trade. Including accommodation, reasonably priced meals (evening meal for 2, breakfast for 2), travel expenses (petrol for about 250 miles, bridge tolls), we estimate the total cost of this outing at about £80/£85. Chris Gosling March, 2005 |
