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Sunday 12th February 2023
Spoilt for choice with places to see and visit but we opted to go to Dover Castle. To get there was an interesting drive to say the least. Very narrow country lanes to navigate and hope you don’t meet anything big coming the other way!
The castle is sited up high on the cliffs overlooking Dover and the docks. Quite a climb [in the car] to get to the castle and it was already pretty busy. There wasn’t a huge amount of car parking spaces left and we were directed to park in front of an old house. Dover Castle is an English Heritage site and we had made sure we remembered our membership cards, saving the £55 entry fee for a family.
First stop was the Officers Mess for brunch – sausage rolls! they we headed down to the tunnels to start exploring the castle. We joined the queue for the Military Hospital – these tunnels acted as a hospital then an assessment ward during WW2. The equipment and furniture inside was all original (coated with a protective coating to stop everything rotting and going mouldy).
The tunnels had dehumidifiers running everything – without these the guide told us we would all be sweating buckets just stood here. There was no ventilation at all.
We were being taken around the hospital following the admission of a Mosquito pilot who had been shot down in the Channel. We were only seeing a fraction of the tunnels (4 miles in total) and were taken through the kitchens, mess hall, dormitories, wards, operating theatre all kitted out as per 1943.
One thing the guide did tell us to imagine – 80% of the population smoked in those days so when people went to relax and enjoy downtime in the mess room, remember this is where everyone would be smoking so would be difficult to wind down.
All really interesting … just a climb up the double-helix spiral staircase to climb to get back out. The exit was close to the statue of Admiral Ramsey overlooking the Channel. He was responsible for planning the Dunkirk Evacuations which was done at Dover.
Close by was the WW1 Fire Command Post. The ground floor was controlled by the army and the upper deck by the navy. Some very cool binocular-like equipment on display – the guides in the room said they could ready the time on the town hall clock in Calais the other week … and were watching cyclists cycle along the sea front! Calais was about 21 miles across at this point – the shortest distance between England and France.
The queues for the Dunkirk tunnels were still pretty long at this point so we headed to main part of the castle to explore the Medieval tunnels and the castle itself. The castle itself is huge with various parts rebuilt over time to hold the guns of WW1 and WW2.
The Medieval tunnels took you underneath the main central part of the castle and lots more climbing narrow staircases and steep slopes. From here, we headed into the inner most part of the castle. In Arthurs Hall, you had the history of Henry II, his wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine and their sons and future kings, Richard the Lionheart and John.
Next it was into the Great Tower to explore. Several rooms were set up from Henry II’s time and a little known fact, the tower was a prison and held French prisoners. All around the room there was evidence of grafiti carved into the stone walls. Always good when you come across a rather enthusiastic guide who tells you more about the history than you would learn from the info boards and guidebooks.
Yet more spiral staircases to move between the levels and up to the top of the tower (great views though). From here, we could see the Saxon Church, St Mary in Castro and also the surviving Roman Lighthouse. The weather was pretty overcast so we were lucky to see beyond the harbour walls; no chance of seeing France today.
Heading back towards the car we detoured to see the remains of the lighthouse and inside the church. The inside of the church was unusual in the fact the walls were tiled. It is a military church with several of the kneelers representing the regiments that had been connected with the church in the past.
A good day out – we’d seen a lot in one day but there was still plenty left to see. Probably not going to make it back this visit but something for the future (but will endeavour to avoid the spiral staircases!)
Heading away from Dover we dived into Tesco to pick something up for tea in case we couldn’t find a pub for tea this evening. Back to Sibton Park and down more narrow country lanes. We’d read very mixed reviews about the Coach and Horses pub in the village as it had changed hands and a new chef but we thought we’d give it a go. A quick phone call to book a table and we headed into the village. It was very much a locals pub but were given a warm welcome. It was a choice of Roast, Roast or Roast! Callum went for Pork, I chose Lamb and Jon the beef. Lamb was running low so I ended up having a mix of lamb and beef. Must admit this was one of the nicest pub roasts we’d had in a long time. They were very generous with the portions – lots of meat and roast potatoes. Veg all freshly cooked, plenty of gravy and Yorkshire Puddings.
Back to Sibton Hall and we went to explore a little more. Jon and Callum were keen to find the Snooker Room. Into the main house and reception, we headed back through to the library – a good range of DVDs to choose from and some books. Also plenty of info on places to visit as well. Next door to the Library was the Long Room. An impressive room where they host Bondholder suppers and tables around the outside – some with jigsaws on the go.
The snooker room was just off the Long Room and they couldn’t wait to have a go. I left them to it and came back to the cottage.
