United Kingdom 2023

 Today is our last touring day in England.  Tomorrow we will train back to London and work our way home.  Today's destination is Dover and Dover Castle. Dover has been a focal point for invasion and immigration since recorded history.  The history of England is forever tied to Dover.  Due to its close proxmity (30 miles) to the Continent (France), it has been the focal point of sucessive invasions through the centuries.  The Romans used Dover as the base for their navy.  They used two other ports along the coast, Lympne and Richborough.  All three ports were connected at Canterbury. The Romans left in the year 403. After the Romans came, the Saxons came, the Vikings came, the Danes came, the Normans came.  In 1066 Dover was sacked and burned by the Normans. (no mean feat, it was mostly wood). This area needed to be protected. In the later 12th century King Henry built a massive stone fort, the Dover Castle.  The French attacked the fort ...

 Today our travels took us to the small village of Rye.  Not so much a history search, but Amanda and Linda wanted to visit a cute town and go shopping.  While they were shopping, Harry and I took a journey through Rye history. In its early history, Rye was a seaside town. It was a fully functioning harbor and was the first port of call when any intruders sailed from Europe. By the 16th century the sea had receded. Rye was separated by a marsh and the sea was two miles away.  I am thinking that climate change caused this.  But while Rye was a seaport, it was subjected to invasions, smuggling, floods, and more invasions. Rye was the closet seaport to France. The Romans used the Rye location when bringing  their supplies to England.  France and Spain attacked Rye on a regular basis.  In 1377 the French attacked the town, set it on fire, and stole the bells from Saint Mary's Church.  The men of Rye wanted revenge and their bells back, so they we...

 Today was a drive into history.  As I mentioned yesterday, train travel to Hever Castle and Chartwell was not feasible.  A three hour trip each way did not allow time to visit either location, so we rented an Audi and had a nice drive through the English countryside to our destination.  The drive was about one hour and fifteen minutes each way. Harry handled the car like a European. Remember, he is driving on the "wrong' side of the road, on the 'wrong' side of the car, shifting gears with the 'wrong' hand. We chose to go to Chartwell first. The origins of the estate reach back to the 14th century, in 1382, the property  then called Well-street was owned by William-at Well.  The ownership of the property changed hands several times.    In 1836, a brick country manor was built on the property. In 1848 the estate was purchased by John Colquhoun.  Mr. Colquhoun's grandson sold the estate to Winston Churchill in 1922.  After several constru...

 We had a busy day in Canterbury today.  We decided to go to Hever Castle tomorrow to visit Ann Boleyn's home and Chartwell, Winston Churchill's home.  Harry and I checked the train station for tickets to Hever.  When we inquired about the tickets, the ticket agent said, "Why do you want to go to Hever, it is in the middle of nowhere".  It turns out we would have to go back to London, then change trains for Hever.  A three hour trip, one way.  It was only 65 miles from Canterbury.  We decided to rent a car.  Tomorrow's adventure, Today we took a walking tour of Canterbury for about two hours, then we paused for lunch at a local Italian restaurant, "ASK Italian".  Another great restaurant on the Stour River, also on the outdoor patio.  I have not mentioned the weather over here, because I know how hot it is at home.  The weather has been delightful, highs in the low to mid seventies,lows at night mid fifties, with no rain. We to...

Our time in London has ended, today we are headed to Canterbury. The early history of Canterbury, like most areas of Britian dated back to the early prehistoric times. The Romans arrived here in the 1st Century A.D. The Romans left this area in the year 430 and it was basically abandoned for over 100 years. Through the centuries this area has suffered conflict and strife. The Danish came, the Vikings came, the Normans came. In 1348 the Black Death came to Canterbury. The population went from 10,000 to 3,000.  The oldest and most famous Christian structures, the Canterbury Cathedral, is located here. It is the cathedral of the Archbishop of Canterbury, the leader of the Church of England. It was founded in 597 and the cathedral was completely rebuilt in 1077. Today this city is a popular tourist destination, and it is visited by over 100,000 tourists from year to year.  We had an uneventful train ride to Canterbury and checked into a very nice cottage. The cottage dates ba...