Tuesday 11th June (Day 1)
A delay on leaving for Kent as it has rained so heavily over the last 24 hours that the M25 is closed at junctions 4 to 5 in both directions due to two sink holes appearing. Just after 10.00am we left for Preston near Canterbury. All things considered we had a good run and pulled in to Appletree Farm. It was a CL but due to some issues is no longer. What it is is a delightful little site. It is being expanded beyond the five places that the Caravan and Motorhome Club limit impose. It has seven now and will increase a few more in the near future. About 20 minutes and Chris and Carolyn arrived. We sat in the sunshine and chatted until about 2.30pm when we went on a circular walk. Part road then across fields and through a lovely little village. Part of the walk was along the Little Stour river which runs parallel to the Great Stour. Stourmouth is close and a long time ago used to accommodate ships as the river gave good access. Indeed in 885ad King Alfred trapped several Danish ships in the Stour / Wantum channel and defeated them. We stopped for a much needed refresh at the Dog and Duck at Plucks Gutter! It is here that the Little and Great stour converge. The last part of the walk was a two mile stroll along a country lane that, due to being quite busy and having lots of sharp bends was not the best. Still we all got back ok. Chris K cooked a meal for the four of us and we sat out to eat which was a very welcome surprise especially as it was getting on for 8 o’clock That should be the case every evening in June but…. A busy day and after a lots of chat we retired to bed.
Wednesday 12th June (Day 2)
So a grey day with rain forecasted. 9.45am saw us at the local bus stop as the next bus after this was 11.45am. An interesting thirty minute journey along narrow country lanes and, at one point, the driver had to reverse around a corner to retrace part of the journey as he had to pick people up from a small remote village. All along the route cars, vans and lorries had to pull over and we would squeeze by. In addition, big tree branches would whack the roof making us all jump. Eventually we arrived in Canterbury and we started off by walking the city walls including walking past a green area that has been used for recreation since the 1200's. A walk towards the city centre found us outside a small coffee house and, not liking to frequent the major chains indeed doing all we can to avoid them, we entered to find an eight seat coffee house. The other bonus was that it had started to rain lightly so we could escape the damp. Having sat down, three of us opted for 'builders tea' and the fourth in our party, a coffee. A nice sit and chat hoping the wet would cease. Well it didn't so we left and strolled along the main A2 high street - now a pedestrian area. We both got some beer tokens from the ATM. Off up a side road to the cathedral but twenty five pounds a couple to enter seemed a bit a steep so we decided to give it a miss. (we have seen inside as Richard had his Graduation Ceremony Eventually having looked at many pub menus we opted for........ a Wetherspoon pub, The West Gate Inn. As much as I moan about this chain you cannot fault the drink prices nor the good cheap food and the four of us had a panini or wrap, with chips (or salad) and a pint of beer (or soft drink) for £20 in total. While there the heavens opened. Absolutely in biblical proportions so we remained in the pub chatting. Indeed before we entered this hostelry the bus home left at 12.33. The next one was not until 16.40 so we had quite a wait. With an hour to go we walked back up the high street stopping at the museum in the library which had an interesting mix of things to see. From Brexit to children's books and games to artefacts through the ages. 16.40 saw us on the bus for the 'white knuckle ride' home. Having pulled into Preston, our destination, we started to get off. Jokingly I said could you drop us up the road by the pub - he did. Unfortunately the pub was shut so three souls dispiritedly walked back to the site (Carolyn wasn’t too despondent). The rain continued on and off and around 7.00pm we gathered in our van for a meal and even more chatting.
Thursday 13th June (Day 3)
We woke to grey skies and the threat of rain and showers. We had decided to ‘cut and run’ and not go for a walk as things were really not looking good. Around 10.00am we said our goodbyes and were off. A bit of a windy drive with the odd shower but traffic was really light - not even a queue at the Dartford Tunnel. Parked up changed the clothes etc into the car and home by 1.30pm