My plans for Kent were twofold. For a few years I'd wanted to visit Dungeoness, particularly after a friend told me that it is the only place in Britain that is officially a desert (on account of its low rain fall rather than the temperature). I also imagined that it might hold some interesting landscapes. The other location that I had heard of was Bodiam Castle and it was said to be the quintessential symmetrical castle with round corner towers and all the features so beloved of schoolboy adventures of knights in shining armour. Had I thought before that I would see Bodiam then I might have seen less castles on the rest of the trip but it was a classic so perhaps it was appropriate that it should be the last.
Arriving at Bodiam at about midday it really was everything
it was said to be. Not only is it the classic symmetrical design, it's also
largely intact. Check out the photos on Instagram and go see it if you are
interested. The only thing wrong with Bodiam
Castle, is that it's not in Kent.
Somehow I thought it was in Kent
but it turns out to be just inside Sussex but what the hell.
To make up for the lack of my time spent in Kent I decided
that I should head for Dungeoness so at about 4pm I set off. People had asked why
I'd want to go there but those people clearly have no soul. (Either that or they
haven't heard the song by Athlete.) It really is unlike anywhere else. The flat
landscape, combined with the sea and shingle, give it a character that is
almost haunting. You'd think it run down what with the shabby state of things
but you soon realise that's a condition of the environment rather than an issue
of prosperity.
I made my way to the Britannia Inn, as far down the bumpy
road across the shingle as you can go and had a fairly mediocre fish and chips
(compared to those I'd had in Dorset and Berkshire) and headed back to my tent
on a surprisingly sheltered camp site (2852 total miles). It's amazing what a few earth banks can
do.
I really wasn't sure what I would find to do in Surrey and, sure enough, I didn't find anything. Had I not started from Dungeoness I might have made it to Kew Gardens but I decided it wasn't worth the effort so I found my way to something described as Surrey's best kept tourist secret at a canal boat yard and tea shop. It wasn't really worth it and I can see why they keep it a secret. However, finding a camp site serendipity struck again.
I really wasn't sure what I would find to do in Surrey and, sure enough, I didn't find anything. Had I not started from Dungeoness I might have made it to Kew Gardens but I decided it wasn't worth the effort so I found my way to something described as Surrey's best kept tourist secret at a canal boat yard and tea shop. It wasn't really worth it and I can see why they keep it a secret. However, finding a camp site serendipity struck again.
I ended up camping at the Springbok Estate Merchant's
Seaman's Mission
or some such (2956 miles). They have a camping field and allow guests to use the bar in
return for a quid to pay for temporary membership. I spent a splendid evening
talking to salty old sea dogs, listening to shaggy dog stories and generally
getting pissed amongst blokes with white beards not dissimilar to Captain
Birdseye
What can you say about Middlesex? It's now North and West London, I camped near the Thames in West London (3015 miles), it was sunny and the whole place looked the same as I drove through it. Nothing to report.
Essex was a surprise. I had no plans of what to do, I certainly didn't want to look at any more ruins so I didn't bother with the English Heritage book. Instead I decided to head for Essex and follow the first brown sign I came across. Unfortunately the first brown sign was for a golf club so I ignored it, although it occurred to me that I could have gone for a game or a lesson or whatever if they were promoting themselves to passing tourists. The second sign was also a golf club and the third was an old church or something so I ignored those too. However, the next one couldn't be ignored.
What can you say about Middlesex? It's now North and West London, I camped near the Thames in West London (3015 miles), it was sunny and the whole place looked the same as I drove through it. Nothing to report.
Essex was a surprise. I had no plans of what to do, I certainly didn't want to look at any more ruins so I didn't bother with the English Heritage book. Instead I decided to head for Essex and follow the first brown sign I came across. Unfortunately the first brown sign was for a golf club so I ignored it, although it occurred to me that I could have gone for a game or a lesson or whatever if they were promoting themselves to passing tourists. The second sign was also a golf club and the third was an old church or something so I ignored those too. However, the next one couldn't be ignored.
Approaching a roundabout I saw a big white sign with the
three possible directions each declaring a list of destinations. The third
option indicated three or four destinations one of them against a brown
background and it read "Secret Nuclear
Bunker". Clearly someone in Essex
has a delicious sense of irony so I followed the signs.
Kelvedon Hatch is the location of a three story nuclear
bunker that was the location of a regional government headquarters in the event
of the cold war becoming hot. It was a total surprise to find it as I grew up
hearing about these places but never dreamed I'd get to see the inside of one.
I'll not go into the details other than to say that if you lived through the
cold war or are interested in this part of our history then you should really
go see for yourself. The place is, to say the least, a bit shabby, being
peppered with shop window dummies dressed in military uniforms to try to give
it a bit of extra something. Many of the artefacts are real, as left by the
government when it was decommissioned and many more artefacts have probably
been added to give it flavour but that doesn't really matter. The point about
the place is the architecture. Walking down the 100 metre entrance tunnel, seeing
the tonne and a half blast doors, seeing the room full of tele-printers,
hearing the tannoy announcements, it's all done rather well. You have to understand that this place is now back in the
hands of the farmer from whom the land was originally requisitioned and as such
they probably have very little in the way of funds so the fact that it is open
to the public is something of a miracle. Apparently there are other bunkers
open as museums but this one is privately owned and they are clearly operating
on a shoestring. If you do go make sure you get the audio tour as it gives a
lot of explanation and you'd miss a great deal without it (3083 miles)
Being my home county I wasn't sure if I'd bother with Hertfordshire at all. I certainly wasn't going to camp in Hertfordshire when I had a perfectly comfortable bed to sleep in. In the end I did the same trick as in Essex and headed for the first likely looking brown sign. In the end this turned out to be the de Haviland Museum just outside St Albans. They have fine collection of de Haviland aircraft ranging from WWI a Tiger Moth, through the fully restored Mosquito and a Sea Vixen fighter jet. They've got bits of comets and part restored aircraft all over the place as well as a Chipmunk, the 1950s trainer that was the first aircraft I ever flew in.
Total miles door to door Hertfordshire to Hertfordshire via Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, Cambridgeshire, Suffolk, Norfolk, Rutland, Lincolnshire, Yorkshire, County Durham, Northumberland, Cumberland, Westmorland, Lancashire, Cheshire, Staffordshire, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Warwickshire, Worcestershire, Shropshire, Herefordshire, Gloucestershire, Somerset, Devon, Cornwall, Dorset, Wiltshire, Berkshire, Hampshire, Sussex, Kent, Surrey, Middlesex, Essex, 3128 miles.
Being my home county I wasn't sure if I'd bother with Hertfordshire at all. I certainly wasn't going to camp in Hertfordshire when I had a perfectly comfortable bed to sleep in. In the end I did the same trick as in Essex and headed for the first likely looking brown sign. In the end this turned out to be the de Haviland Museum just outside St Albans. They have fine collection of de Haviland aircraft ranging from WWI a Tiger Moth, through the fully restored Mosquito and a Sea Vixen fighter jet. They've got bits of comets and part restored aircraft all over the place as well as a Chipmunk, the 1950s trainer that was the first aircraft I ever flew in.
Total miles door to door Hertfordshire to Hertfordshire via Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, Cambridgeshire, Suffolk, Norfolk, Rutland, Lincolnshire, Yorkshire, County Durham, Northumberland, Cumberland, Westmorland, Lancashire, Cheshire, Staffordshire, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Warwickshire, Worcestershire, Shropshire, Herefordshire, Gloucestershire, Somerset, Devon, Cornwall, Dorset, Wiltshire, Berkshire, Hampshire, Sussex, Kent, Surrey, Middlesex, Essex, 3128 miles.
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