Vineyard trip back

On Sunday, we headed slowly back to Hampton via some vineyards and a pub for lunch. First stop was Chapel Down Vineyards. We got there early so walked around the vines before doing our wine tasting.

Their herb garden could do with some weeding and tidying (it seems to have gone a little out of control since I was here last).

Crazy herb garden

The walk around the vineyards was nice and then we headed for a tasting (mom was our designated driver). They have some great wines and a lovely cider. We all got some and dad decided to buy a giant cork (much to mom's confusion and disgust). He was very proud and happy with his giant cork (a table or stool) but none of my photos seem to be on my phone. :(

Second stop was Biddenden, a short distance away for a second walk around some vines and another tasting.

I made mom and dad pose for some photos!

Dad ended up walking around bare foot for some reason.

At the vineyard, they even remembered me from my last visit. (which I think is a good thing). And of course we left with some more wine and some cheeses. 

I had booked a Sunday lunch at a pub near Tunbridge wells which turned out to be amazing! I forgot to take any photos though. We were too busy eating. We got back and spent the evening nibbling on cheese and crackers, drinking more wine (obviously) and watching movies.

This morning we had lunch and did a little shopping before they headed off home. 

However I have just had a phone call to say they had packed my kindle and 2 of my bottles of wine. The little thieves! (At least one of the things I brought was a book!)

Battle of Hastings

This weekend I was supposed to spend 3 nights in Camber Sands near Hastings. I had a Sun holiday down there. I went down there latest-ish Friday night (it was my boss's last day so we went out after and I ended up leaving later than planned) and when I got there, it was mayhem. It took 2 hour to check in and had been like this for hours apparently. When I finally got to my apartment (with some illegal parking and driving as there was not nearly enough parking), it was nasty. The bedroom lights didn't work. Neither did there shower. The oven was from the 50s. It was dirty. And the curtains were so thread-bare, I was awake at 5am with the sunrise.

I stayed one night. The next day, it actually looked even more grim. 

I left. I couldn't take the thought of spending my precious time off there. And given the size of the queue at reception waiting to complain, I was not the only one unhappy.

Still I managed to get the main things that I wanted to do done. 

So I headed to the site of the Battle of Hastings. 

Battle site entrance.

The site is actually in a lovely little town called Battle. (Wonder where they got that from.) I took the long walk around the field with the audio guide.

If you don't know, the Battle of Hastings is the site for the 1066 battle between the English Harold and Norman Duke William the Conquerer. (Edward the Confessor had promised them both the crown of England when he died.) William won. But historians are not sure why as for most of it Harold and the English were winning. And then just kind of lost it! 

Once Harold was killed, William overtook England (with a population of ~8 million) with his 10,000 soldiers.

To the field.

 The field is now basically exactly that, just a field. And home to a large flock of sheep.

The battle field.  

Around the walk are chainsaw sculptures of English and Norman soldiers. They are incredibly detailed, given they were sculpted with a chainsaw!

Looking up from the Norman position (England would have been at the top of the hill)

And the sheep are obviously used to the attention, even the little guys.

The abbey

It didn't rain while I was out, though I left the apartment a little later than planned due to a downpour so it was a little muddy.

Abbey ruins

The Pope had endorsed William. However when Harold was killed, his body was mutilated. And the Pope was not happy with that. So he ordered a church and abbey to be built on the site where the destruction happened. It became the home to Benedictine monks for a long time but is mostly a ruin now. Though some section remains as a school and the cloisters remain beneath. Most of the destruction of the Abbey was due to Henry VIII when he dissolved the abbeys. 

Abbey ruins.

Under the ruins.

After the Battle field, I got lunch at a serious cute little cafe in a 900-yr old building. It was built to house the builders for the abbey after the battle.

The Nook cafe.

The other two places I wanted to go were repeat trips to Chapel Down vineyard and Biddenden Vineyard and Winery. I went to both before when I visited Dover and loved them. This time, I took the walk around Chapel Down and found their Herb Garden. (You are allowed; I didn't just decide to trespass!) 

Of course I also did a tasting and got a bottle of wine and case of cider. I tried to buy the cider last time and picked up the wrong box. :( My brother-in-law ended up with a free case of IPA. 

It's only a short drive to Biddenden, which is in my top 3 UK vineyards. They happily let me taste (very small samples as driving) practically everything. And their apple and pear juices are amazing! I brought a lot. (Thought in my defence, I brought a lot of juice.) 

Cycling the Camel Trail

On Wednesday, Dad and I finally got around to doing something we have been planning for a while, cycling the Camel Valley Trail to the vineyards. And back.
It wasn't as far as we expected, though it took me a bit to get going. Dad cycles a lot but I haven't been on a bike in years. It was a bit rocky at the start (with a small amount of unplanned off road, though one incident was more due to an errant dog on the path then me), and a few stops but we got there.
I love the Camel Valley Vineyard; their wines are amazing!
So we settled down for a chat, a few glasses of wine and some time admiring the view.

Happy!

A little stormy

Another glass

Headed home.

We got a few bottles each on the way out. Luckily it was slightly down hill on the way back.
Back at Wadebridge we had a coffee while we waited for mom to pick us up. It was a lovely day, though my legs and bum hurt for quite some time later!

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.