This month's caravanners
Brenda and Doug King
Outfit used
2008 Bailey Senator Series 6 Vermont
2007 Volkswagen Passat Estate 2.0 litre Sport TDI 4Motion
The history of Kent is the history of England. From the Roman invasion
to the Norman Conquest, and right
up to the Second World War, Kent
has been at the centre of momentous events. This heritage beckoned, so my wife Brenda
and I set out to explore the historic heartland
in the north of the county.
Although we've passed through Kent
many times through the years, it has been
to reach the Dover ferry terminal. On the way, we've passed Chatham, Rochester and other places that left deep impressions in the national consciousness. But we never had
the time even to stop and stare. Our trip this time would set that right.
I directed our Passat southeast, with the Bailey Senator Vermont following dutifully behind. I didn't use the car's sat-nav to
get us to our address for the next few
days, the Camping and Carvanning Club's Canterbury site, because I wasn't familiar enough with the unit. The directions in the club's sites guide were sufficient; they led
us around the outskirts of the historic city
to the park on Bekesbourne Lane, about 100 yards off the A257, which leads to Sandwich.
Of course, sometimes satellite navigation sets really justify their existence, for example when we were returning from an outing to Chatham and Rochester the following day.
The Passat's unit routed us past Canterbury
on the A2 and then took us along about three miles of lanes, some of which are fairly narrow, to the site. I was awfully glad that I hadn't
been towing the Bailey at the time.
A little later, however, I spotted an outfit approaching from the 'wrong' direction for
a tourer. I was impressed, but when I offered the driver my congratulations for having the courage to tow down the lanes, he replied:
"It wasn't courage, it was my sat-nav! That's
the last time I use it to find a site while towing."
Because we've visited Canterbury before,
we reluctantly gave it a miss this time. Still, the site is an ideal base for sightseeing there. It's only about a mile from the centre of the city, which is almost totally pedestrianised. You can walk from the site, but it's easier to drive down the hill and park in a car park at the bottom and walk from there.
Plans for our expeditions included a sweep through the region's naval history, a review of major military campaigns, and a step back in time to the life and works of the region's leading literary light, Charles Dickens.
On reaching Chatham, we followed a series of brown signs to the Historic Dockyard. Covering some 80 acres, it served the Royal Navy for more than 400 years. Perhaps the best-known warship to have been built here was Admiral Nelson's flagship, HMS Victory.
We started our tour in the Wooden Walls building, where the age of sail is brought enticingly to life. An audio-visual reconstruction follows William Crockwell on his first day as an apprentice shipwright in 1758 and, along the way, shows how the ships were built. Among the displays were examples of the simple tools he and his colleagues would have used. As 'Mr Fix-it', seeing these made me appreciate just how skilled these craftsmen actually were.
Our next stop was the dry-dock area to board HMS Gannet, a sloop built in 1878 and powered by sail and steam. The audio-visual tour here depicts life on the ship in 1887 when this was on anti-slavery patrol in the Red Sea. The two other dry docks contain
HM Submarine Ocelot and HMS Cavalier, the Royal Navy's last operational World War II-era destroyer. Like the Gannet, both Ocelot and Cavalier
are open to visitors other
than those in wheelchairs. However, those who aren't able to go on board can watch virtual tours screened dockside.
Extract
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