May Bank Holiday - Day trip to Rochester, Kent

The First May Bank Holiday was from Sat 2nd May to Mon 4th May (the other is 22 - 24 May). I like to make the most of these holidays by planning day trips, sometimes weekends away in the UK. It's a pretty hit and miss affair at times since the weather here in the UK can be kinda unpredictable. But as the forecasters were assuring us of good weather for Sat & Sun at least, I thought why not go for it and plan somewhere nice. I always ask around and research best places to go and since we don't have any kids with us we're spoilt for choice really :-) But it's always a good idea to get first hand experience of places you want to visit from friends and family who've been there before. In this instance for our first day trip I suggested the historic town of Rochester in Kent - The Garden of England. Since my family always depend on me to come up with places -and I've always come up a winner in the past:-) they agreed. I did the research, made our picnic lunch to take with us and set off the next day at around 10.30am.

on the road to Rochester

arriving in Rochester

The weather was beautiful just as forecasted - the sun was shining brightly and it was lovely and warm - summer clothing type weather:-) There were 7 of us in our Toyota Lucida - myself, my hubby, my daughter and her hubby, my daughter's friend and my 2 nephews. The journey to Rochester was very pleasant and we passed through beautiful English countryside - golden fields of rape seed that looked like fields of gold - so Gorgeous. There were so many farmhouses and fields with horses, sheep and cows all out to pasture. There was greenery everywhere and such scenic views. England is full of beauty for those who want to see:-) The journey itself took only 45mins - we didn't need to stop anywhere on the way. Rochester is about 35 miles from where we live in Essex.

Rochester Bridge over The River Medway

I won't bore you all with a history lesson - There's a link at the bottom of this entry that will direct you to a Rochester homepage where you can learn all about this place and believe me it makes for interesting reading. Suffice to say it's a historical town steeped in history and has connections with, amongst many other things and people, Charles Dickens.

Festivities outside Rochester Castle

Rochester Castle admission info

The castle keep (Great rectangular Tower)

We decided to tour around the castle first and as this was a May Day Bank Holiday there were lots festivities taking place around the castle and cathedral. There was a mini funfair with a beautiful carrousel and the usual fairground stands and foodstalls. The place was thronged with people enjoying the glorious sunshine and entertaiment. The castle was built between 1087 & 1089 with the Keep being added later in about 1127. Now it's a crumbling shell of it's once splendid glory - still beautiful nonetheless. We climbed the 209 uneven steps to the top of the castle for some spectacular views of Rochester Cathedral, The River Medway and surrounding areas - the views were quite stunning as you can see for yourself.

view of Rochester Cathedral from top of the Castle

View of Rochester Bridge over the River Medway from top of the Castle

view of Rochester from top of the Castle

Keep & curtain wall from the Southeast

Keep & castle wall from the east

After touring the castle we walked the short distance to Rochester Cathedral. This was free admission for individuals and a slight charge for group tours (again you can get details from the link at the end of this entry). If the Castle was impressive then the Cathedral was truly magnificent!

May Day festivities around the cathedral

River Dancing outside the cathedral

The earliest part of this Cathedral dates back to 1083 when work first began on a new Norman cathedral. I felt so much peace and serenity in this building - it is truly beautiful. The Romanesque and Medieval architecture are something to be admired and studied and the monolithic organ, put up by Gilbert Scott in the1870's, is simply breathtaking.

Gilbert Scott Organ

looking across the Nave Altar to the Pulpitum steps

The Nave

Rochester Cathedral

The Quire

Beautiful stained glass window

I'd love to go back to Rochester - as we never roamed around the cobbled streets and in and out of the quaint shops they have there. Just remember to wear comfortable shoes as you'll no doubt do a lot of walking - we certainly did:-) I would definitely recommend Rochester as a place well worth visiting for the overseas tourist as well as UK resident. It has a wealth of historical landmarks and such beautiful scenic views to offer - you really can't go wrong! I hope you enjoyed your visit through my eyes:-)

Like what you've heard and want to visit Rochester for yourself? - There you go!

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