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Sun, Sea & Safari: Notes From The English Seaside
A short walk from our home – in fact, a very short walk, less a mile – is a dead end ditch-lined track known as Braggs Lane, which winds its way through farm fields to the edge of the woods between Herne Bay and Canterbury. The dead end is at what is known as Bleangate, one of the main entrances for hikers and ramblers to enter Blean Woods. Blean Woods, a large area of ancient woodland dating back centuries, is a designated area of special scientific interest due to its unique ecology and flora and fauna. Crossing through the centre of the woodland is a droveway which has been traced…
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Harbouring Dreams
As we lose ourselves in reminiscing about previous trips and places visited, 2021 is just starting to take shape and our hopes of resuming our travels are increasing considerably. Our thoughts until recently were that if we make no travel plans until we have each received our dual vaccinations, then we may just be in a position to travel from around the end of July. Developments this week have given further encouragement. I received my first vaccination on Tuesday, Michaela’s is due on Monday, and both of us have appointments for the second dose before the end of May, meaning that allowing the 3-week clearance period after the vaccine would…
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The Turner Contemporary: Are We Philistine?
A 20-minute drive from our home on the Kent coast lies the famed English seaside resort of Margate, once one of the country’s premier coastal destinations and with a reputation somewhat akin to Blackpool and Great Yarmouth. Its heyday as a holiday hotspot has long since passed, and for a couple of decades around the end of the last century, Margate became very run down and a pale shadow of its former self. More recently there have been attempts to restore Margate’s pride, some of which have achieved their objective: Dreamland is back up and running as a theme park (well, it was, pre-COVID), the old town near the harbour…
