DOVER CASTLE

Last weekend we drove down to Dover about 70 miles away. As usual the weather was beautiful although the English Channel was very hazy which denied us the chance to have a peep at France across the "ditch".
We went straight to the Dover Castle complex and booked a tour of the Underground Tunnels. These tunnels were started in the days of the Napoleonic war and were used as the barracks for defending troops thankfully never needed.
During WW2 they were considerably extended and were used as the headquarters of Vice Admiral Ramsey who commanded the evacuation of Dunkirk and later was heavily involved in the eventual D Day offensive. A complete hospital was installed in the tunnels, together with a top secret communications system and living quarters for the some hundreds of personnel involved in the war time activity. Very claustrophobic but immensely interesting.
Back above ground (thankfully) we had our sanddwiches and coffee in the castle grounds and then took a long walk around the Battlements which have majestic views. The bottom photo above is of a 1st Century Roman lighthouse!! Only the bottom half is actually 2000 years old with the upper portion restored in the middle ages. The Castle itself contains displays of Henry V111 conditions very well presented by the English Heritage.
On our way home we saw a sign to the White Cliffs of Dover, and parked at the National Trust car park and walked along the Cliff Tops. The view is of course breathtaking and in the bright sunshine the White Cliffs were brilliant as seen in the above photo.
The we drove along the coast to the historic fishing town of Deal. I couldn't help but take a photo of the way the fishing boats are "moored" - simply winch them up on the shingle beach. This is the spot where Julius Caesar landed in 55BC - finding it a lot easier to go ashore here, than trying to scale the White Cliffs - no dope the old Big Julie!!
Stopped in at Rochester for a pint of the good stuff. We will come back to Rochester as it is one of those remarkable old English towns with lots to see.
Next weekend -Paris for Carol's birthday travelling on the Eurostar under the Channel - should be exciting.