4 Day Road Trip in Kent – from Greenwich to Dover – part two
Early the next morning we headed back to Welling to continue our 4 day road trip in Kent – from Greenwich to Dover. We’d left the A207, the old Roman road, the previous day. Once a stop for coaches travelling from London to Dover, Watling Street actually pre-dates the Romans arrival in Britain. Strange to think this busy urban route, now part of the famous A2, still connects the capital with Dover. It has been a travel hub for nearly two thousand years. The road doesn’t stop in London but continues north, all the way to Hadrian’s Wall in Northumberland (probably my favourite county in Britain).
Little distinction between Kent and South-East London
To visitors there’d be little distinction between here and South-East London. One spills over into the other with no great divide but probably few tourists make it this far when they visit the capital or the Garden of England any way. In the early part of the twentieth century, as London continued to spread, a division between the workplace and home developed. The suburb was born. Before the second world war, row upon row of look-alike houses sprang up, all very smart with modern conveniences and decent sized gardens and all within easy commutable distance to the big city.
Where the nineteenth century railway had brought holidaying Londoners to the Kent resorts of Margate and Broadstairs, in the twentieth century, it gave them the opportunity to live there, outside the fume-filled streets of the capital.
The Red House
Driving through Welling, we arrived in Bexleyheath parked and walked to the Red House. Designed by the one and only William Morris, the Red House is a National Trust Arts and Crafts house. Built in 1859 for William Morris and his family, the house has a homely feel. Much of the furniture and decor was designed by Morris. There is also a lovely orchard garden. An oasis in the urban town surrounding it.
We continued on the road through the medieval market town of Dartford, gateway to rural kent.
Suburban Dartford
Most people come to suburban Dartford today, not to visit Henry VIII’s Royal Manor Gatehouse nor to see the place where Wat Tyler rebelled in 1381. They come to go shopping. A mile away is Bluewater, shopper’s paradise, the ultimate shopping experience and the largest shopping centre in Europe. Built in a lunar-like chalk quarry pit, the complex looks more akin to a giant spaceship that landed close to the M25. We stopped for the experience; to buy sandwiches and to use the loos.
Just past Dartford, we left Watling Street and turned south onto the B260. The landscape changed immediately to little lanes, some of the narrowest we had encountered in Britain. Rosie could just manage to squeeze along them whilst an overhanging arch of trees formed almost impassable green tunnels. It was amazing to think that the M20 motorway was metres away from this hidden countryside.
Fawkham, Kent
Near to Fawkham, where we had a look around its lovely whitewashed church, was Brands Hatch. The reason why we had taken a detour from our Roman Road journey.
I’d bought my driver a voucher for a tour of the famous circuit. An obsessed motor racing fan, to say he was excited would be an enormous understatement! He went off and I had a snooze in the back. I love motorhomes.
We stopped for the night at a lovely site in Wrotham (pronounced Rootem).
Day 3 and we headed north east, parallel with the M20 for a while then north through lovely woodland and lakes near Snodland. Crossing the River Medway, we were back in north Kent suburbia, joining the A2 just outside Rochester. At Gillingham, we turned north again and headed towards the Medway for a look at Kent’s famous river before it wound its way out to sea.
Riverside Country Park, Gillingham, Kent
Luckily we found the Riverside Country Park, a tranquil oasis away from the frantically busy roads of north Kent. The waterways visible from here have carried vital supplies to the capital for centuries. Tiny pebble beaches, forest walks, children’s playgrounds and gentle marshland, a haven for bird life.
After a peaceful couple of hours, we rejoined the A2 and continued our journey towards Canterbury.
Hop Farm Caravan Site
The A257 took us to a little site on a hop farm four miles outside Canterbury. The farm was small so we were able to park right next to the growing hops. Camped next to us was an elderly man in a caravan on his own. As he struggled to get water and to position his TV aerial, I felt a pang of sadness. This was probably the holiday he and his wife enjoyed before he was left alone. I thought of how sad it must be to go on holiday on your own, spend the day doing your own thing and have no-one to share your thoughts with in the evening. All he could do was sit and watch TV with his faithful canine companion by his side. I shared these thoughts with my husband. He said it sounded wonderful.
Canterbury, Kent
Canterbury is just outside the big sweep of the hilly North Downs that cuts across Kent from Rochester to Dover. After walking the four-mile path, passing rape-seeded fields, fields of dense green wheat, fragrant cowslips and the odd idyllic cottage, we came to the city. Unfortunately, the path didn’t finish its splendid rural way at the doors of the Cathedral but went through a new housing estate past a secondary school and into foreign-student filled streets. After paying the over-priced ‘donation’, we walked into the Cathedral.
Canterbury Cathedral
Whether you practice a religion or don’t ‘believe’, there is something humbling about a cathedral. It is probably the sheer size of the building or the calm atmosphere or some ingrained knowledge from childhood about sacred places. Whatever the reason, Canterbury Cathedral is one impressive building. We huddled together with a group of overseas tourists near to the spot where the Archbishop Thomas a Becket met his untimely end. Cameras clicked rapidly. When three women lined up for a snapshot under the gruesome spot, we left.
Capel-le-Ferne, Kent
Turning off the A2, we headed south on the A260, before driving east on the A20. At Capel-le-Ferne, we found The Battle of Britain memorial. Perched high on a cliff-top overlooking Folkestone and Dover, a lone airman sits looking to the skies, hopeful that his friends will return from the battle. Today, it was calm and quiet as clear blue skies and solitude mixed to create a moment of peace. It’s hard to imagine the war that raged in the air overhead sixty years earlier. Twenty squadrons took part in the final conflict of the battle on 15 September.
The Luftwaffe lost 60 aircraft, the RAF 26
The Luftwaffe lost 60 aircraft, the RAF 26. The Germans accepted defeat. Britain had won the struggle for superiority in the air, against all the odds, which showed the determination, strength and courage of the three thousand pilots, mostly young men, who took part. Five hundred and seven never returned home. They came from every corner of the World: Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Southern Rhodesia (as it was called then), Jamaica, Eire, USA, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Belgium, France and Palestine. All far from home and all fighting for freedom.
Journey to Dover
Many journeys to Dover are usually made in a panic. Whizzing around the ring road stuck behind a Polish articulated lorry, with only a few minutes to catch the booked ferry. Then, driving down the huge twisting ramp only to see the ferry pootle off happily in the direction of France. Meanwhile the Polish driver carefully parks his load and heads off for his last full English breakfast before catching the afternoon boat. Luckily, today, we had no intention of leaving the country nor of visiting the town. We were here to visit Dover’s second most talked about attraction, its Castle.
Dover Castle, Kent
Dover’s importance really came about during Roman times. Known then as Dvbris, it was home to the Roman fleet given the task of guarding the Channel. During the Saxon period it became one of the original Cinque Ports of the south coast. Today it is the world’s busiest international passenger port. William the Conqueror built the Norman Keep of the existing castle, which was then added to by Henry II in 1180s. Over the years, the Castle was extended making it fascinating for its variety of architecture and the history hidden within the huge uneven walls. Napoleonic tunnels, dug to house 2000 soldiers in the late eighteenth century, were excavated and put to use during the Second World War.
Dover Tunnels
We hovered around the entrance to the tunnels in the little bookshop with other visitors. The enthusiastic man on the till tried to get us to join English Hertiage. We wanted to, but with time passing so quickly, we didn’t want to spend every minute inside ancient relics but to be outside in fresh air; good for our health and bank balance. Sadly, we declined. English Heritage looks after a huge array of properties around the country. Mostly castles and national monuments rather than privately-owned properties. We couldn’t miss the tunnels so we bought our tickets and joined the group for a guided tour.
The dark corridors that make up a labyrinth of seven tunnels criss-crossing on various levels have altered very little since the traumatic days of World War II. Made safe so hoardes of tourists can explore, we were taken down slopes into deeper chambers. Each brick perfectly placed above sloping floors with air holes designed so as not to suffocate the hundreds of men that lived down here.
During the 1939-45 conflict, 700 personnel were based undergound in these tunnels
During the 1939-45 conflict, 700 personnel were based undergound in these tunnels. No-one knew they were here: the British people, the people of Dover and more importantly, Hitler. The noise and smells have been added to create a realistic atmosphere of those war days. We followed the sounds of stretcher-bearers carrying a fighter pilot into the underground hospital. Lights flickering from an impending air-raid. The bloody beds of the hospital smelt of disinfectant, a bullet lay in a dish by its side.
On 26 May 1940, Operation Dynamo started. Its task: to evacuate the beaches of Dunkirk in France. The tunnels became the centre of the plan. Two weeks later, 338,000 troops had been saved. We visited the rooms where the operation was planned, still equipped with radios and headphones. Back in the open air, we looked across the Channel to Calais and could not begin to imagine the events of that terrifying time. For nearly 1000 years, Dover Castle had faced the threat of invasion. Today we had been invaded again, though this time it was just a group of boisterous French school children, not threatening but best avoided.
Our 4 day trip over, we headed back to our trusty motorhome for a rest before another journey.
4 Days Road Trip in Kent – from Greenwich to Dover – part one
