Broadstairs - a Dickens of a place

Broadstairs - a little rough

I know that winter, January 22 to be precise, is not the best time to go to the seaside where the entertainment is more likely to be ice creams, buckets and spades in the sand and strolls along the promenade to enjoy the sea air.  We had a stiff, cold breeze that numbed the digits, snatched at ears, delivered frost bite to bald heads and created a desire to seek warmth.

What's that?

We walked from the car park to
the sea front and along the lower promenade beside the sand and admired the buildings, the beach huts and enjoyed the splendour of a wild sea that ignored the wishes of a populace needing a drop or tow of sunshine.  More like teetering on the desire to snow.

It was invigorating.

Lifeboat House

We walked up top the cliff top and looked at Bleak House (as one must) enjoying the whale shape lifeboat service building and watching for waves to splash the sea wall.  A young Seagull obliged by posing on the wall of the steps leading down and we saw plovers disappearing quickly on the hard driven along by the wind.  A stop at the Lord Nelson pub for a Guiness and a coffee was a necessary thing and after a wander through the streets and alleys simply enjoying the flint walls, the neat houses and feeling of being in a coastal town.  Quite pleasant.  We were dogless so a stroll was on the cards minus the need to remove doggy doos (as some irresponsible pooch owner had refused to do) and wander into the Dickens Museum.

Bleak HouseAdd caption

I like museums and will take or leave the commentary of the volunteers.  The old boy who played the part of museum host was fine but a little irritating spewing out information that really wasn't needed.  I felt like J in Three Men in a Boat trying vainly to enjoy his afternoon by the church wall.  We didn't get skulls or graves but we got endless drivelling trivia in and around the most useful information the old boy could tell us.  The idiot kept interrupting my thoughts about the writer's life and works and I lost the thread.  I had images of him in the ruins of his ancestral home with Harris singing comic songs on the rubble - that was a comfort.

However, irritating old boys aside, the place is worth a visit and the old boy knew his stuff.

And for those who want to reach the beach without walking the steps there is a lift.  I ask why?  Maybe wheelchairs to the promenade?

There are plenty of places to eat in Broadstairs but we chose a non-descript Fish and chip shop which had some well done wall paintings of fishy scenes.  Eating cod and chips in a warm place was a pleasure but the real pleasure was to have a wander around and casually walk the place and plan another visit in the better weather, maybe by choo-choo to avoid having to find parking for the car.  We can stay all day (I do not think there is a zoo)  and maybe walk along the cliff pathways.  One thing noted that makes Broadstairs a great place is that it is wheelchair friendly for those who want to use their electric mobility and take a long (virtual) walk.

We intend to pay another visit.