We took a National Express bus from London to Folkestone, our next stop, arriving weary and hungry at our AirBnb late but were welcomed warmly by our host Ian in his home. He led us into the French-themed room, full of welcoming treats and a large comfortable bed which we took advantage of after a very long day. The next morning, before meeting up with my cousin Dean, we walked down to the Leas, admiring the Edwardian architecture of the Hotel Grand and Metropole. It was another warm, sunny day and people and their dogs were enjoying the balmy weather. The Leas is a mile long clifftop promenade from the mid 1800s where you see magnificent buildings and gardens along the way, the water of the English Channel running up against the stony beach below.
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| 72 Shorncliffe, Folkestone, England |
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| Grand Hotel, Folkestone |
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Django's Cafe
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It has been a few years now since Dean and I first contacted each other through the magic of DNA matching and we had planned to meet in 2020 but after cancelling our trip then we vowed to meet up after the Pandemic. He arrived the next morning at our AirBnB with a cabbie friend who drove us the short distance to Dover where we were to pick up our rental car for the next 30 days. We all drove back to Folkestone in our little Nissan Juke to meet his wife Angie who helps him run his café bar, Django's, where he treated us to a wonderful lunch as we chatted for a few hours and caught up on family and our lives. After we left, promising to get together again before continuing our trip, we drove over to Kingston, a small village near Canterbury where we were to meet up with Marilyn and Pauline and their husbands. It had been five years since we had seen them and we were all looking forward to getting together again. We had a nice pub dinner (thanks Pauline!) at the Black Robin and relived the past few years since we had seen one another. Going back to Folkestone in the dark, driving on the left and shifting and trying to avoid 'overhanging houses' through the tiny village of Denton, rabbits and partridges, was rather a challenge. Roundabouts were my biggest headache as they came fast and furious and a few times we missed the exit but we finally made it home safely.
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| Marie and Dean looking at his menu |
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| Marie in our Juke at the Black Robin, Kingston |
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| Marie and I with Rob, Pauline, Marilyn and Simon |
The next, Sunday, was a bit cooler but just as nice really for March in England. We drove over to our friend Jean Cutting's home not far from where we were staying and, after a nice cup of tea, went over to a nearby pub for lunch. The owner of the Master Brewer, a Ukranian, served us a plate of delicious roast beef and Yorkshire pudding and piles of oven baked potatoes. It was nice to see how well Jean was doing in her new house in Folkestone and we felt a bit jealous of her cozy spot under Sugarloaf Hill. Then it was off to Canterbury to visit with Auntie Betty and family - you never knew who would show up while there - who we hadn't seen since our last visit. She is doing well, now 95, but still able to appreciate a good joke and remember the names of all of her 13 great grandchildren. Marilyn is staying to look after her while she awaits knee surgery before returning with Simon to New Zealand. Nothing seems to have changed since my very first visit in 1973 though the beautiful wisteria draping the front of the house was not flowering yet. I remembered to bring Betty another one of my hand painted rocks to join the other I had done of their house in 2000 - with the purple wisteria in full bloom.
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| me and Jean, Folkestone |
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| outside the Master Brewer pub |
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| me and Auntie Betty, Canterbury |
Our last full day in Folkestone was again warm and sunny and too nice not to return to the Leas and enjoy the day. We stopped for lunch along the promenade and watched the seagulls over the Channel, disappointed to see the old Victorian water and gravity driven cliff lift no longer in use that used to lead to the shoreline below. Originally installed in 1885 it had carried over 36 million people during its life. So instead we walked down the stairs to the beach and, one last time, gazed out towards France, hidden by the fog in the distance. We returned to the Promenade up along the Zig-Zag pathway. This meandering route was started shortly after the end of WW1 and was constructed with pieces of broken pottery, bricks, glass and clinker from burnt coal - this mélange called Pulhamite after the name of the company that built the caves, grottos and rock cliffs we encountered on our way up. We met with Dean and Angie for drinks later in the afternoon at the Clifton Hotel, another Victorian-style building that literally oozes nostalgia from a better time. We sadly had to say our goodbyes after a few pleasant hours and hoped to see each other again one day soon. Then it was back to our AirBnb to pack for our short drive the next day to Hastings and the town of Battle and to go back in time to 1066. GWS
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| Christ church, Folkestone, destroyed by enemy action 1942 |
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| the old cliff lift, Folkstone |
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| going up the Zig-Zag path |
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| drinks with Dean and Angie, Clifton Hotel, Folkestone |
