Travelling the Coastline of UK - Week 4 - 23 September - Deal, Sandwich, Canterbury and Whitstable

TUESDAY, 23 SEPTEMBER 2014 Week 4

I need to remember where we've been, as I'm already forgetting, which is why I'm so glad I began this blog to document this momentous Year-long adventure! My sense of time or days of the week has virtually disappeared, too, but I will soldier on.

Deal- A lovely little seaside town, wandered around, but the end of the summer season means that it's getting quiet now. It is a former fishing, mining and garrison town whose history is closely linked to the anchorage in the Downs. As you can see, there is a fort, which we took a look around. I always find forts quite creepy, but there is a lot of maritime history here. We also had a walk around a really quaint little village close by called Sandwich, just because it was called Sandwich! I do recommend a visit, as it is quintessentially English and as we were in the County known as 'The English Garden' this village is a lovely example of why Kent has been lovingly been awarded this name.

Somewhere I have always wanted to visit is Canterbury, so we decided to spend three days in Canterbury, taking the scenic route along the Kent coastal road through Margate (yes, it's still in need of some rejuvenation.) Herne Bay then took the detour to Canterbury, which was an amazing historical city for which I had big hopes, and it didn't disappoint me.
First, we visited the Cathedral and learnt about Thomas Beckett's murder, his Martyrdom, and the reason so many pilgrims headed to Canterbury in Medieval times. Although I studied History at school, this was something we never covered. 

I heard of Thomas Beckett, Chaucer, and The Canterbury Tales, but I didn't know the details. Now I do. Parts of the Cathedral were like Hogwarts in Harry Potter, so I got all excited. We went for a punt along the river while being told stories of Canterbury's history, which was very pleasant. Despite it being late September, when we're meant to be in Autumn, the weather has been extremely kind so far.

We then went to an interactive museum called The Canterbury Tales and learned why Geoffrey Chaucer was making a pilgrimage to Canterbury from London, why there were many other pilgrims on the expedition with him, and why they all decided to tell stories in the first place. 

I found this fascinating part of our Great British history. I was so impressed that I bought my very own copy of The Canterbury Tales, and I'm currently reading it.

We eventually moved on to Whitstable; as I was all touristic out from Canterbury, we went for lovely walks along the coast. We looked around the quaint little fishing town and had a nosy at the properly working harbour, taking in a very smelly fish market! I mainly stayed around the campsite, but I'm a tired bunny. On to Isle of Sheppey xx

Don't forget to go to my YouTube Channel for more Travel VLOGS 

And my book Links here for The Beyond Series of Epic Urban Fantasy 

or if you prefer crime and suspense, why not try The Mancunian Tales

A Year in a Motorhome - South East Coast - Week 3 - 16 September - Brighton, Eastbourne and Hastings

 Brighton - We began the tour of Brighton down the main seafront promenade and came across a food and drink fair, so we bought lots of yummy goodies. The Lanes are the old world of independent shops, all tightly packed together to give a quaint and relaxed shopping experience. My only gripe is that there were far too many jewellery shops and not enough cutesy nic-nac gift shops. But we did come across this little gem. The Choccy Woccy Doo Dah cake shop from the TV series. It is amazing! They make creations, and they have a 'cake garden' and a witches' kitchen. Everything in it is made of cake, and as I love all things spooky, it was just divine!

We watched a steel band; listening to live music in the open air always makes me happy. We finished off by experiencing the pier at night, and I felt like a kid again back in Blackpool during the illuminations! It was great, and Del won me a Monster Inc. teddy. Oh, I almost forgot: We watched a TV crew film, the Foxy Bingo Advertisement on the Piers Ghost Train ride. It looked all exciting, but the extras were all sitting around,
looking very bored! We also took a look around an ex-royal residence, The Pavilion.

Eastbourne - 

It was pretty dull, and not much on the promenade either, just hotels and B&Bs; I wasn't impressed in the slightest, so unfortunately, I have no photos and not much to say about the place. We stayed at Pevensey Bay and walked from the burnt-down pier in Eastbourne to the Sovereign Harbour, which was one of these recently built, trendy homes and bars around a mariner of boats. It was lovely, but our feet ached so much that we went to watch Guardians of The Galaxy, a hilarious movie (if you like the Marvel franchise). It was lovely, but our feet ached so much that. 

Hastings- Wow, wow, wow. Totally different reaction than the 'mergh' when I saw Eastbourne. Hastings is lovely and everything I love about a town. The Old Town has cute little winding streets, almost impossible for cars to get up, and lots of old shops and cottages to explore. Even the shopping experience is unique, with only small independent traders allowed to open shops here, which is shopping heaven for me. Little nic nac shops and olde worlde sweet shops, there's even a restored museum kitchen-ware shop, which you can look around, even the living quarters had been restored back to the turn of the twentieth century. Lovely.

We had a fantastic meal in a seafood restaurant looking out over the harbour area, where all the unique fishermen's tall black wooden 'net shops' still stand. We went up the cliffside cable car lift and looked out at the fantastic views. Even the campsite we stayed at 'Shearbarn Holiday Park' was beautiful in every aspect. It was high up on the cliff top overlooking the bay, with a small pool and leisure facilities, so it was not too busy.

Hythe - Hythe is a market town and civil parish on the edge of Romney Marsh, in the district of Folkestone and Hythe in Kent, England. The word Hythe or Hithe is an Old English word meaning haven or landing place and is known as The 'Jewel of the South East'; hmm, I guess I'm now comparing everywhere to Hastings; I don't think so. It's quaint and quiet with a miniature railway, but far too many tea rooms!

See you next week on our little adventure!

Don't forget to go to my YouTube Channel for more Travel VLOGS 

And my book Links here for The Beyond Series of Epic Urban Fantasy 

or if you prefer crime and suspense, why not try The Mancunian Tales

Penney's on Tour - Week 2 - 9 September - Portsmouth, Bognor Regis, Littlehampton and South Downs

 TUESDAY, 9 SEPTEMBER 2014 Week 2

We had to make a quick pit stop in Newark to get a few things fixed on Amethyst. We arrived at Portsmouth at twenty-five, but we have photos to prove our start point on the 1st of September and, of course, the all-important start mileage clock. For any of you who have bought tickets to guess the mileage we travel or who are planning to buy, then this is VERY important.

We then travelled pretty close to Bognor Regis for two nights, where we walked along the shingle beachfront and then sat on the beach eating fish and chips, with not an amusement arcade in sight. Bognor is a lovely small seaside town (smaller than Skeggy) and it was such a beautiful day and not very busy due to it being the first day back at school. Yay!

We moved on to Littlehampton, which was very picturesque. The weather was still glorious, so a mooch along the promenade was called for. We found the longest bench made from what looked like an old toy railway track (apparently, this is the highlight of Littlehampton), two large rusting anchors, and a lovely little marina area that they called the Riviera. It would have been even lovelier if there had been just a couple more trendy shops and bars to sit out at and watch the world go by.

We then moved on to Washington as we couldn't get into a campsite in Worthing. I'm not sure why, as school had started again, but we managed to get the last pitch. We stopped off at Arundel Castle. Wow! This place was amazing. As I do have a bee in my bonnet about castles and stately homes, then I've been to a few in my time, and this has to be the best. It's a working castle, i.e. the Duke of Norfolk still resides there, and it was seriously imposing and impressive, walking up the hill to the place, the gardens and the house inside, especially the Library and the chapel. Oh my, if I lived in a house like that, I would be a permanent fixture in the library, which is very Gothic, atmospheric, and haunted. Excellent, everything I could need to write a book about!

We also walked along the South Downs and up to Canterbury Ring, a wooden circle of trees that have been linked to UFO kidnapping, devil worship, and pentagrams found made of flint! It's a circle of trees on a hill! Even though I'm not that gullible, people like to think in the fantastical and mystical; someone even reported people levitating there. Hey ho. But the scenery and views when we reached the top were breath-taking, and it's moments like this that I love doing the UK tour. The walk uphill was a killer. A friend of mine used to call me a Mountain Goat when I was younger because whenever we were walking, especially when walking in the Lake District, I could climb anywhere unfazed, with no aches or pains to speak of. Well, this spritely young goat feels like Old Billy Goat Gruff these days. Crikey! Ache! Phew, it was hard work but worth it.

Don't forget to go to my YouTube Channel for more Travel VLOGS 

And my book Links here for The Beyond Series of Epic Urban Fantasy 

or if you prefer crime and suspense, why not try The Mancunian Tales

#travelblogger #coastlineofBritain #travellingmotorhome 

A Year in a Motorhome - Week 1 - 01 September - Chatsworth House, Warwick, and Skegness

 TUESDAY, 2 SEPTEMBER 2014 Week 1

We had a week to kill before making our way to Portsmouth, the starting point of our yearlong travelling adventure. So we went to see Chatsworth House, as I haven't been there since I was a child. I still remember the big entrance hall, and it would be nice to see some sights inland, as the majority of the travelling this year will be around the coastline.

The weather could have been kinder, but overall, it was a lovely day. The house was amazing, and I love stately homes that are generous with the number of rooms you can walk around and nosey at. Considering the Duke of Devonshire and his family actually live there, I was very impressed. I know I wouldn't like people nosing around my house!

We went onto Warwick and parked the motorhome in the middle of the racecourse. Yes, there is a caravan park in the middle of the racecourse! This would have been even more amazing had there been a meet at the time we stayed. 

Instead, we decided to overdose on history and go to Warwick Castle, too. Now granted, it is supposed to be the best castle to look around in the country (apparently); however, I have seen better, but I like them crumbling and falling apart, where you can imagine them brimming with everyday life in medieval times, which is where I came up with the idea in Didikai Witch,  that the coven of witches hid away in four castles around the country. A secret, romantic world, I guess. 

Anyway, back to Warwick Castle. The royal rooms you can look around are impressive, and the history is interesting. As you move through the rooms, you are also transported through different moments in the castle's history, from medieval banquet halls to Tudor and Stuart times to the turn of the twentieth century, when Queen Victoria's eldest son used to stay with Earl Warwick a lot. It was his haven from the royal court.

The castle was bought by Tussauds, so there were lots of waxwork models depicting how the residents dressed and lived when it was still a working castle. We watched Knights sword fighting, a falconry display and even saw a condor. We watched an accurate jousting match, and you could have a go at archery if you so wished. It was a great day out, especially for children and families out just days. But I really don't think it was worth charging £24 entrance fee. And that was 10 years ago! Especially if you are a family where other tours around the castle and attractions such as the archery cost extra! it could turn into a costly day out.

At the end of our fill-in week, we spent three days in Skegness. It was nice as far as British seaside towns go. A big fun fair and Butlins holiday camp meant one end of Skeggy was very busy indeed, so we walked the other way to the town itself. It was a small seaside town, and we quickly walked around in half a day, but it was pleasant enough and a nice break before we started the real challenge of our year-long coastline tour!

Don't forget to go to my YouTube Channel for more Travel VLOGS 

And my book Links here for The Beyond Series of Epic Urban Fantasy 

or, if you prefer crime and suspense, why not try The Mancunian Tales