The End of the North Downs

A glimpse of Dover

We travelled to the end of the North Downs where stands the magnificent Dover Castle and we walked along the White Cliffs with the dog.  It was an interesting day because we met some extra dogs and three fat blokes with back packs trying to lose weight.  Their problem was not laziness or lack of fitness - they were confessed cyclists - but probably from the shape of their bellies they were great beer drinkers.  Knock off the beer lads and the wieght will drop.

South Foreland Lighthouse

However the experience for us was good and we enjoyed the walk along the cliffs to the South Foreland Lighthouse which is now a tourist attraction and on to St Margaraet's Bay at Sea although we didn't walk down to the gardens there.  Time and energy did not permit.

The White Cliffs area is administered by the National Trust and for £3 parking charge you can stay all day (as the song would have it) and also have a cup of tea and a bun.  One punter, a loud woman, one of those sort of people who have no idea how noxious to others they are, did nothing but complain.  Evidently the cakes were not labelled, the price was too high and when a paper napkin blew away in the wind she loudly pronounced; 'oh well it must be bidegradable' (moron) and she was the only spoiler of the day.  Question: why is it some people are insensible to the beauty around them?

Looking down onto the shore

Dover Castle is impressive dominating the skyline for miles around and filled with awesome history.  There was a Roman Lighthouse there that probably was a part of much greater Roman works down below in the harbor and close by a Medieval Church.  It is conjectured that a Saxon Hill fort started everybody off  and as a result theer has been military defences there for approximately 1700 years or more if we include the Saxons.  The most recent use was as a seat of government in the event of an Atomic Attack which makes me think of the word oxymoron thinking in terms of considering that if there was an Atomic Attack the government would probably have nothing to govern so what was the point.  More useful was the tunnels and lookouts and high defences against air attack in the 1939 - 45 war  (or 41 - 45 war if you are an American).

Dover Castle

But take a walk along the cliffs and discover the rare beauty of coastal landscapes and the amazing variety of plants and flowers that battle against salt winds and cold, harsh winter storms.  We enjoyed the cool, windswept landscape, flet part of it and loved the soaring seabirds racing with the wind and hovering almost motionless a few metres from the edge of the cliff or skimming the edge screeching noisily but flying so gracefully showing off their natural aerobatic skills. 

A most invigorating day.