Dover Castle

The last day of my road trip was spent at Dover castle. I once again got the annoyingly early and had to wait somewhere. The ticket desk suggested I go to the tours first as they get busy. They are of parts of the tunnels used in WWII but after Saturday, it was really boring. All you did was move between a few rooms and watch videos. They have miles and tunnels and you get to see very little.

View from outside the tunnels.

After lunch, I went to the castle part which was much better. The castle was built my Henry II so one of my heroines, Eleanor of Aquitaine, his wife, would have stayed there.

Entrance

Draw bridge.

Heading up the keep.

Eleanor of Aquitaine was an amazing woman, who ended up basically ruling England and France at a time when women were just property.

Banquet room.

Top table

Guest bedroom

Chapel for Thomas Becket

Throne room

King bed.

There were some great guides hanging around, happy to chat and answer questions.

View from the top of the castle

View over Dover from the top of the castle

I had to head back fairly early as I was back at work on Monday and wanted to relax. :( But at least the drive back was good (despite my SatNav having a few issues making my get off the motorway and straight back on again, for no obvious reason). But I did come back with a tan from my weekend away. :)

White Cliffs of Dover

Saturday I went to walk the cliffs. I got there really early so the trail was blissfully empty for the first half of my walk. And the weather was perfectly sunny. And windy. I stayed away from the edge just in case. Others were more daring. 

White cliffs of Dover

On the way to the lighthouse, there is Fan Bay Deep Shelter, a set of WWII tunnels in the cliffs, used to house soldiers and gunners in defence of the South-East coast. The tunnels have been open to the public for the last year after being rediscovered in 2012, and I was taken around by one of those who did the excavation. You had to wear a hard hat with a head lamp as there is no lighting down there. 

Going down.

What it would have looked like

And would have been this wet too.

Collapse

Duck

Our guide pointed out fossils and graffiti and covering in the walls on the way around.

Fossil

Half way through the tour, we emerged out onto the side of the cliff between 2 sound mirrors, basically concrete dishes which picked up noise. Towards the end of the war, they could pick up and pin point motor traffic on the coast of France.

Sound mirror.

Noughts and crosses.

Pretty mould.

Dead man's finger - highly poisonous.

They also had some of the shells lying around. Below is one of the armour piercing ones. I wish had got something in the photo to give scale. The thing was huge. No wonder it could pierce armour and bunkers!

Armour piercing.

Sparkly 

Light at the end of the tunnel

Of course having gone down, we had to get back up. All 143 steps. Steep steps. (My calves and thighs have been aching for days.)

After the tunnels I finished the walk to the lighthouse and lunch!

South Foreland lighthouse.

The tea rooms were really cute, all 50s and 60s. But I was too hungry and busy eating to take any photos. You can also take a tour up the lighthouse.

Circular furniture.

Looking down the chimney.

The light

The phone

View from the top.

View towards St. Margarets.

After the hike back to the car (had to strap up my knees for that part), I went to Bibbenden Vineyard, which was near the one I went to the day before. Again really nice, and they let me try all of their wines and ciders. ALL of them. A lot. And all very tasting. So after stocking up (my wine rack looks lovely), I took their walk around the vineyards.

Vineyards.

Ortega grapes

Tiny Pinor Nior grapes.

Downfield grapes.

They also had some really nice apple juice, one made from red apples where the flesh of the apple is actually red. Weird but very tasting! Hoping to go back there again in the future. 

Dungeness

After a super lazy weekend last weekend, I spent this weekend traveling. On Friday I went to Dungeness, part way between Dover and Brighton. I parked at New Romney and got the mini steam train from there to Dungeness. It's a cute little train, almost like a toy, but can move pretty fast.

Mini steam train.

Apparently health and safety isn't a priority. They didn't care if you left the doors open, which as the weather was pretty hot, was a good thing.

Who needs a door?

Dungeness is a strange place, very Mad Max. It is set between 2 old power stations in a very desert like area, full of singles.

Mad Max land.

There are a couple of lighthouses near the beach and train station. Unfortunately it is closed Mondays and Fridays. Of course.

Old lighthouse.

Path through the waste land

To the beach

There were a couple of schools groups but for the most part, if you were willing to walk a bit, I had the place to myself. So lunch on the beach. (And a nap.)

Beach!

Lighthouses and power station

Dungeness is almost like a grave yard. There are a bunch of old shipping containers and old boats lying along the beach. It's pretty creepy but makes for some good photos.

I spent a few hours wondering around taking photos. There were quite a few other single women doing to the same, which was a surprise. I am usually the only one. The train back was a different one which an interesting name.

"Doctor Syn" train. 

On the way back I got one of the open carriages (no bother about even windows). Though I regretted it when the sun went in and was glad to get to my warm car.

On the way to my hotel I stopped at Chapel Down vineyards but forgot to take any photos. They are supposed to give you 3 free samples but the guy was bored so I got to try all of the them! :) And then had to sit in the car for a while. They were very tasting (though I wasn't impressed with the one that Will and Kate apparently chose for their wedding) and picked up a few for home. I did pick up a box of what I thought was cider, until I got it home and realised it was beer. Well, at least my brother-in-law will be happy when he gets them.

View from my hotel outdoor seating

My hotel, a little place in Capel-le-Ferne, had a set of benches just over the road with a fabulous view, so I set with a glass of cider for a while until lit got too cold. Not many more chances to sit in the sun this year.