Somehow, today turned into a monster, it wasn’t meant to be so!
We started our day with breakfast at 8am and were out the door exploring Canterbury at 8:30.
Our plan was to start at the Westgate Gardens, but somehow we, started by having a look at the Marlowe Theatre. It is a 1200 seat theatre, said to be one of the best regional theatres in the UK. From what we could see of its program, it has a show on at least every other night. And a vast array of very different shows at that. Everything from comedy, to musicals, to orchestra backed artists. Definitely something for everyone.
From there we walked to the Westgate Gardens. They are a beautiful green park next to a waterway, a piece of tranquillity to be enjoyed by all. It is flanked on the city end by a medieval tower, apparently fortified towers were a thing back in the day, these days a lot have been turned into homes, businesses (I saw one set up as an escape room business) and museums. Its so great that the Brits look after their history and heritage.
From the gardens we walked to Canterbury Cathedral, but we found that many areas were not open until after midday, so we decided to wait a bit, and went to St Martin’s Church instead.
St Martin’s Church is said to be the oldest continually functioning English language church in the world. The church was first built some time before 410AD (possibly in the 300’s AD) by the romans, and was added onto through the years by the Saxons (c. 600AD), the Norman’s (from 1066 to 1393, and modern Britons from 1800 to present. It is remarkable to see, from “the Leper’s Glimpse” (a discreet opening in a rear wall where lepers were permitted to observe the services in the church), to the false tomb of a Queen, and the old cemetery surrounding it. Most of the oldest headstones were no longer legible, or their inscriptions had been totally weathered off. We each lit a candle for all our family and friends.
From there we walked back to Canterbury Cathedral, Deb saw a sign pointing to St Gregory’s Church, but we didn’t go to have a look, after all, she has me! ?
When we were paying our entrance fee for the Cathedral, the woman on the front gate suggested we might like to get the brochure inside about the Australian connection to the Cathedral. We did so, and it revealed a string of people, from James G Beaney ( a member of the colonial Legislative Council in Australia in the late 1800’s), to the tomb of William Grant Broughton (the first Anglican Bishop of Australia), a memorial to Sir George Gipps (the Governor of NSW from 1838 to 1846, he first proposed a national system of education in Australia. Gippsland in Victoria is named after him), the tomb of William Parry (an Australian born Artic explorer, educated at Rugby, Balliol College and Oxford, who became Archdeacon of Canterbury in 1869, and Bishop of Dover in 1870), as well as numerous craftsmen and artists who crested significant works for the Cathedral (Andor Meszaros, Stuart Deblin, Cecil Thomas).
The Cathedral itself is undergoing significant restorations and a large portion of the exterior is covered with scaffolding, and vast areas of the ceiling area covered with nets(I assumed to catch bits that are dropping off). While it took away from the grandeur/majesty of the building, it is necessary works if the building is to survive into the future.
We started our look around by following the Australian connection brochure, that took us through the naive with its 14th century Perpendicular Gothic architecture, and after a detour through the Great Cloister, with its magnificent carved ceilings, and Chapter House, into the crypt. As we entered the crypt we could hear that a service was being held in the Our Lady Undercroft (the large central area of the crypt). We walked around the sides of the crypt looking at the smaller chapels. St Gabriel’s Chapel had some of the oldest Christian wall paintings in the UK inside it, dating back to the 12th century.
We then went up to the Quire with its Gothic architecture and dark brown with satin benches and then onto the Trinity Chapel. This chapel is probably most famous for being the site of the Tomb/Shrine of St Thomas Beckett from 1220 until 1538. So many people came to pray at his Shrine that the Red floor stones on which they knelt now have rounded depressions in them from so many knees. Henry VIII had a thing about Thomas Beckett, and around 1538 he had Beckett charged with Treason. Henry VIII funded the prosecution and defence himself. The case went ahead being heard with Beckett in absentia, Beckett was found guilty!! And as Henry VIII had hoped, his name was forever blackened.
It was a very interesting visit in so many ways.
After we left the Cathedral, we got a late lunch at “the best fish and chip shop in Canterbury”! It was OK, the chips weren’t crispy enough for Deb. While we ate, a mother and son came and sat next to us. It wasn’t long and we were being given a rundown of where to go and what to see and do in this part of Kent. An interesting encounter, in a good way. ?
After lunch, we said bye to our new “friends ” and walked back to our BnB to get the car.
Our afternoon was to get a bit of a glimpse of the towns on the Kentish coast. We started by driving to Whitstable, on the north coast. Our first stop was at Tankerton Beach. Deb had read about a spit of sand that was exposed at low tide called “The Street” Apparently at low tide you can walk out on it and have water either side of you. We didn’t see it (the tide was in a bit too much, and as we just discovered, were at the wrong end of the beach). Whitstable is the local Oyster capital. They have an Oyster Festival in late summer. Because of the difficulty in parking we didn’t get to try any.
Next it was onto Margate. In the recent past Margate has had a revival from a worrying downturn due to the opening of The Turner Contemporary Gallery just next to the breakwater/harbour on the waterfront. It is a large building and it has a number of rolling exhibitions on all year. It is free to enter. It’s purpose is to “contextualise, celebrate, and build on the artist JMW Turner’s association with Margate Kent”. It has a few moderate size galleries and is easy to get around. An interesting visit. In the water directly in front of the gallery is a cast iron statue of a person by Antony Gormley called “Another Time XXI”. The sculpture is standing in the water facing out to sea, and is constantly being exposed to the sea and weather. It is a bit disconcerting at first sight.
From there we moved onto Broadstairs. Here we got our first glimpse of France across the Channel and of the famous stretch of White Cliffs. We walked down to the waters edge and we both put our hands into the water of The Channel, the closest we will ever get to swimming it! We also got the chance to touch the White Cliffs, they are surprisingly hard for chalk.
Onwards we went, and drove to Ramsgate. There are famous WWII tunnels here, but they were closed by the time we got there. Ramsgate has a large marina full of some very nice looking vessels, all snuggled in behind a very old looking breakwater. The views across the Channel were much better from there.
It was getting on, so we decided to head back to Canterbury and our pub for dinner.
We had a great day exploring, all that driving plus 23,500+ steps
