Before We Left Kent.

Leaving the Canterbury site, we were heading to Waltham Cross but on the way, we'd promised ourselves a trip to Whitstable with the intent of buying some fish from the market on the quay.

It was a wet morning and to start with, we went down the wrong lane but every cloud and all that. We drove through about a mile of Chestnut Coppicing. We'd never seen this before and the autumn colour was beautiful. I'm not sure but I think this is where they crop the wood for Chestnut Paling fencing, which is a lovely, sturdy form of traditional fencing. Never really thought about how the wood was produced but coppicing is the obvious answer.

Whitstable was a total disappointment. The fish on the Quay was limited in choice, the Cod looked browny/grey and the prices were higher than in a Supermarket. So we didn't buy anything. Mike found a friend though.

Canterbury

The Site, just outside Canterbury had a bus stop just outside the gate, so an easy ride into town. I had wanted to look at The Cathedral, famous as the scene of Thomas a Becket's horrific murder.

It's a lovely town to walk around, lots of historic buildings and really interesting shops, not all  chain stores. But the Cathedral was a disappointment, as you can't get in without paying and at £9.50 each, well £8.50 for Mike, with his OAP concession. Even so, that was a lot of money to spend for a couple of Pensioners. So we didn't get to see inside.

We did see our first celebrity of out trip though, the actress Samantha Womak (formerly Janus) she almost walked into us as she dashed from the theatre, where she is in Panto, to a Cafe, for her lunch. It was one of those silly moments where the brain instantly recognised her, therefore making me think I knew her, so the mouth is trying to issue a greeting, while the brain is then reigning the mouth in saying 'Whoah!' you don't actually know her. Which left me gawping like a mawkin and my jaw jiggling about. Oh well, at least I didn't complete the picture of the village idiot by dribbling!

It was a a rather drizzly sort of day and to get into the dry,we went into the Museum in the library, excellent place and also free.

We are planning to return to the site so hopefully will have a better look round next time.

Day Two in Alderstead Heath

Day two took us on a walk in the opposite direction, towards a large Water Tower be had seen the day before.

We walked across a field, where we met a dead Rook. There had been a lot of shooting earlier in the day. We then joined a small lane and within a couple of minutes found ourselves in the strangest 'village'. It looked like Officer's Quarters in an old Army Camp but as we walked on the place was huge and strangely quiet. Cars were parked but no people and no cats, which is unusual in a residential area.

We finally found someone and asked him what this place was. He told us that this was a Mental Hospital but had been closed and turned into a housing estate about 12 years ago. It was a strange place.

Redhill, Well Almost

Alderstead Heath is a few miles outside Redhill but an easy bus ride, from just outside the gate. This was actually quite odd as the site was up a private drive but the bus actually comes up the drive and there is the stop.

Redhill didn't exactly grab us as a place to visit but we managed to go in, do our grocery shopping and catch the return bus, all within an hour. So this was a good place to park up, not have to un-hook and relax before moving onto Canterbury.

We took some quite adventurous walks on the two days we were there and although it was lacking in any local facilities, we really liked our time here.

We walked across the fields and found this lovely little church. Then tried to do a round trip and realised we had no idea where were and had to retrace our steps. It isn't very good in the middle of the wood! And it was getting bloody dark!!!

We happened upon a sign, which was very moving.

I had a Canadian 2nd Cousin (Once removed) who died in the UK in similar circumstances.

PRIESTLEY, PAUL HENRY WESTON

Rank:

Flight Lieutenant

Service No:

110261

Date of Death:

29/09/1944

Age:

23

Regiment/Service:

Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve

Grave Reference

Sec. M. Grave 3.

Cemetery

CATERHAM AND WARLINGHAM (CATERHAM) BURIAL GROUND

Additional Information:

Son of Albert Weston Priestley and Minnie Margaret Priestley, of Malvern, Worcestershire. B.A. (Cantab.): Trinity Hall.

CHAPMAN, COLIN FRANK MORTLOCK

Rank:

Wing Commander

Service No:

33380

Date of Death:

29/09/1944

Age:

25

Regiment/Service:

Royal Air Force

Awards:

O B E

Grave Reference

Sec. M. Grave 2.

Cemetery

CATERHAM AND WARLINGHAM (CATERHAM) BURIAL GROUND

Additional Information:

Son of Frank and Lillian Mary Chapman; husband of Barbara Sylvia Chapman, of Cobham.

KAY, ALEC STEPHEN

Rank:

Flight Sergeant

Trade:

Nav./W.Op.

Service No:

1268842

Date of Death:

29/09/1944

Regiment/Service:

Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve

Grave Reference

Row U. Grave 16.

Cemetery

KIRK ELLA CHURCH CEMETERY

Additional Information:

COX, ROWLAND BRANSTON

Rank:

Wing Commander

Service No:

37159

Date of Death:

29/09/1944

Age:

31

Regiment/Service:

Royal Air Force (RAFO)

Grave Reference

Cemetery

NEWPORT (ST. MARY) CHURCHYARD, ESSEX

Additional Information:

Son of Norman Simpson Cox and Margaret Heaton Cox; husband of Rose Anne Cox, of Newport.

COOPER, WALTER DAVID DICK

Rank:

Flying Officer

Trade:

Nav.

Service No:

J/39012

Date of Death:

29/09/1944

Age:

29

Regiment/Service:

Royal Canadian Air Force

Grave Reference

55. E. 2.

Cemetery

BROOKWOOD MILITARY CEMETERY

Additional Information:

Son of Walter and Agnes A. Cooper, of Burlington, Ontario, Canada.

Moving On

Next place we wanted to go to was Kent, Canterbury to be exact. Trouble there is it's over a hundred miles from where we were staying outside Chichester and we try to do now more than 50 miles away.

Try as we might, there was nowhere open this time of year in Sussex that had adequate facilities. So, we ended up booking into a Caravan Club Site in Redhill. Only these sites are never where they say the are, they are often a few miles outside the town the name themselves after. We know this and it wasn't a problem as we were only staying a couple of nights'

However before we reached Redhill, I wanted to stop off at Midhurst, in Sussex. A very quaint old town, which featured prominently in Green Darkness by Anya Seyton, probably one of my favourite novels. 

The ancient inn, The Spread Eagle is somewhere I would love to go and stay but never felt I had the money to spare. The Cowdray ruins with the long causeway across the boggy pastures leading to the gates are both mysterious and romantic. 

Chichester

The Chichester Camping and Caravan Site was nicely situated, next door to a pub, in the village of Southbourne. Disappointingly it was closing for a couple of months, which meant we could only have 2 nights there. We will go back, as with the bus stop outside and available routes, we'll be able to do more exploring. Parking a MotorHome in many towns is fraught with difficulties!

While we were there we did manage to get to a few places, including Bosham, which has a harbour-side road that floods with every High Tide and a rather pretentiously named pub.

Pretentious? Moi?

A nesting digger!

We then moved on for a brief visit to Bognor for a walk on the beach, not a lot to see there on a grey day and quite understand why George V may have said 'Bugger Bognor'.

Arundel was a lovely little place to walk around, with a really stunning castle.

We look forward to going back to the area again.

The Mystery of the Shrinking Shoe.

When we were at the Malvern Autumn Show, I saw a stall selling Backdoor Shoes. They are a lightweight, clog style shoe and I thought a pair would be ideal for Mike.

When you are living in a MotorHome, by the very nature of the beast, you are out in fields and tend to get muddy feet, that you really don't want to be walking in over the carpet. I have a pair of fit flops, which have thick soles and are ideal for walking around, even in cold weather, for toilet and shower trips and can be kicked off at the door. Mike only had proper shoes, which are a pain to put on and remove, everytime you need to walk across the Site.

So he was persuaded to buy a pair and they worked very well. That is until we got to Sandy Balls.

One morning he complained that he couldn't get the one shoe on. I didn't take too much notice at first but then he removed the in-sole and still couldn't walk in it.

After his sprained ankle at the start of our journey, I was a bit concerned his foot had swollen up again. So he was called in for a foot inspection but his foot looked quite normal. So then I had a look at his shoe. I was feeling a bit exasperated, as he can be a bit of a drama queen at times.

I looked and looked and looked again. Although both shoes were displaying the same size on the bottom, one was now a good half inch shorter than the other!

This was most puzzling.

Then I realised what had happened. Although we have a gas warm air heating system in the MotorHome, we'd realised it will save us a lot of money if we plug in a small electric fan heater and use the electric Hook-up, which is included in our daily site fee.

What must have happened is that Mike had kicked one of his shoes off in front of the heater and the heat shrank it.

That was a waste of £20! 

Bugger Bournemouth

To pinch what George V was mythically reputed to have said about Bognor, when he was in the final stages of the illness that was about to kill him, Bugger Bournemouth! We won't be going there again.

It's out of season and many of the coastal area relax parking restrictions from October to April and also allow dogs onto the beaches.

We were heading to Bournemouth but on the way stopped at Avon Beach, where we were able to park right by the beach and let Rowley have a run. He loves beaches, as long as they are mostly sandy. Pebbles, he doesn't like.

I'm so glad we stopped when we did because when we reached Bournemouth, despite the fact there was masses of on street parking, all along the coastal road, everywhere there are signs saying CARS ONLY. We did find a car park at Boscombe Pier, where they had removed the height restriction barrier and we thought that was great, no signs about cars only and we duly Paid & Displayed. Only when we walked back to the pier, we saw a sign with small print, we couldn't possibly have read when we drove by, saying no vehicles over 5 metres, we are 6.5. So before we got a parking ticket, we went back and drove off, vowing never to darken their doors again. But not before I took a photo of the lovely silver and gold sky and Rowley had a really good run!

Sandy Balls

This amusingly named site is literally on the edge of The New Forest and although they like to say it's in Fordingbridge, it's actually on the edge of the hamlet of Godshill.

I didn't know what to expect, as the low season price was so cheap and included use of all facilities, which included indoor swimming pool, jacuzzi and sauna. I really couldn't fault it for what we were paying, which was £10 a night but in mid to high season, crazy prices!! I wouldn't go when it's £40 a night and Bank Holidays £65!!!

However, low season, it's an excellent place to park up and avoid some of the winter weather, so, we booked ourselves in for a fortnight in January before we left, which gave us a 10% discount too.

On this stay we'd picked the best time of year for colourful foliage but a surprising amount of the New Forest isn't, it's actually heathland, the trees having been used by man, over the mists of time. I think I read a large number of the Oaks were turned into ships to fight the Spanish Armada.

We'd heard of New Forest ponies but what we didn't realise is, the residents, who have grazing rights also allow their cattle to roam and even herds of Donkeys. What is the collective noun for a number of Donkeys, I have no idea?

We weren't a little startled to be confronted by one of these free roaming, adult, cattle on our very first walk in the area, she was being followed by her calf and as we had Rowley with us, were a bit concerned in case she got protective. We warily passed each other in the narrow lane, without mishap. There was a fair amount of eyeing each other up though.

It's a lovely area for walking and spotting wildlife.