Broadstairs

A few weeks ago we visited Broadstairs in Kent. It's a coastal town near Ramsgate and Margate on the South East coast of England. I'd been wanting to go for some time but had never managed to go before. I'd heard that it was a quaint seaside town and very pretty..... and guess what?.... It was!!

The day we left for Broadstairs the weather was a little dull and hazy but it brightened up into a gloriously sunny day later on. We passed field upon field of beautiful golden flowers of rape seed - a land carpeted in this is truly magnificent! Further along our journey on the M25 I couldn't resist snapping a pic of this car - look what it says on the back :-D

These are views of The Queen Elizabeth Bridge which we had to cross over to get into Kent. It crosses the River Thames. It's a toll bridge.



Broadstairs in all it's glory - it's a wonderful seaside town with friendly people and beautiful views. It has several sandy beaches which are very clean. This view shows Viking Beach and the harbour and in the furthest distance upon a steep cliff is Bleak House where Charles Dickens is reported to have stayed and done his writing. This house used to be open to the public until a couple of years ago but it's since been privately sold and is undergoing major refurbishments and sadly no longer open to the public.

Broadstairs has a strong Dickens connection since this town was close to his heart and he had a fondness for what he called "Our Watering Place" and he spent many summers here with his family.

This is a view of the English Channel and the seafront where throngs of people were gathered outside eating, drinking and enjoying the gorgeous weather and magnificent views.

This is the Dickens Museum, once the home of Miss Mary Pearson Strong, on whom Charles Dickens based much of the character of Miss Betsey Trotwood in his novel David Copperfield. This building has been adapted as a museum to commemorate the Novelist's association with the town of Broadstairs.

This plaque proudly announces the Dickens connection with the house. In the front parlour was this beautiful fan-shaped, leaded glass fire guard.

This is the Charles Dickens, a restaurant and pub on the seafront. It's reported to "command excellent views of the English Channel from upstairs in the old Assembly Rooms, once frequented by Charles Dickens himself."

Typical British seaside shops one where you can buy rock and all sorts of seaside paraphernalia and the other where you can buy good old fashioned fish n'chips soaked in salt and vinegar - mmm... yummy :-)

I would've liked to have browsed around in this little gift shop - it looked so quaint, unfortunately it was closed by the time we got to it. This other building are private apartments I think. I thought the whole building had a very New Orleans feel to it but still retained it's "Britishness".

This is a view of Bleak House as seen from the seafront. To reach it you have to climb a steep, winding hill, that passes private houses that are so charming and quaint. This used to be the seaside residence of Charles Dickens.

According to records, it's in this house, in a small study looking out across the sea, that Dickens wrote the greater part of his most famous novel - David Copperfield.

Apparently, in Dickens's day this house used to be called Fort House. Dickens was inspired by this house and conceived his idea for Bleak House here and wrote it back at his London residence in Tavistock Square.

This house stands atop a cliff looking down at amazing views of the harbour and out to sea. The cliffs which it stands on, are made up of chalk, just like the White Cliffs of Dover. On this sunny day, it was a pleasant walk upwards to the house and the view out to sea was incredible with the sun sparkling out onto the blue sea and the blue of the sky merging into it - it was truly beautiful.

Yet another reference to the great man himself!

for more information on Broadstairs click here ,
here , here and here