Gertsamtkunstwerk

Days of Syn

Gotta confess, before I started house hunting in Dymchurch, I'd never heard of Dr Syn or the books about 18th century smuggling onto Romney Marsh.

If we were still in London, we would have spent August Bank Holiday Monday moaning. Moaning that we didn't especially want to go off to Notting Hill Carnival, but there was literally nothing else to do because can't organise anything in London which might extract police from Carnival.

But in our new area, we planned to go three different Festivals. In the end  we didn't go the Vintage Car Rally in Folkestone, but I'm sure there will be other opportunities.

Our first stop was in Dymchurch to have a look at the Days of Syn. A bit weird knowing - or, at that point, hoping - you're about to move in but not yet of the Community. We watched a parade of smugglers, pirates and Grenadier Guards.

We then went to the Village Hall, to look at an exhibition of arts and crafts, and so on by local people from local groups, It was useful, nice to have a reason to visit the Village Hall (would it be our Village Hall?) and look at the schedule of events of all different sorts going on!

After that, a stroll down the road to the parish church, Ss Peter and Paul, for a flower festival and photography exhibition. The flower festival was themed - nursery rhymes. Unfortunately, the lighting conditions weren't ideal/I wasn't competent in the moment to adjust accordingly.

 

   

We then had a stroll along the sea wall, enjoying the weather, people-watching, all the things you go to the seaside for!

 

There will be many more Dymchurch (and area) photos on this blog in the future!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Holiday let near Hythe

The Project "Move House" involved selling my house in Brixton and finding temporary accommodation before buying another house.

It turns out that renting a place to live is a lot more complicated than it was when I was young. Back then, you'd answer a small ad in the local paper, turn up to meet the landlord, pay your deposit and a month's rent in advance, and there you go.

Nowadays, they have to do background checks - credit and nationality - which are time consuming. Advertised rentals may not be available for a month or more after being advertised. It is difficult to get a lease for shorter than 6 months.

So, the other option is the very short term market of holiday lets. I know people use them not just for holidays, for the reasons outlined above, typically because they're in between selling and buying, having building works done, or, indeed, looking to move into a shorthold rental that isn't yet available.

It's difficult to get the ideal place for the fortnight that includes the Bank Holiday, during the school holidays, and especially at very short notice. 

Nevertheless we did find a very nice place. Ideal for a couple, really. But, we've found in the past it's much nicer to choose a place that sleeps 3 or 4. This was newly renovated, perfectly clean, and extremely well equipped - including excellent garden furniture in a pretty and peaceful garden - as well as being in walking distance of Hythe High Street, the supermarkets, small independent shops, pubs, restaurants etc, and close to a pub.

 

The downside was,as I said, it was a bit small. I was annoyed at the poor quality mattress (two singles laid together, with a blanket at the foot to stop them slipping within the frame), but not annoyed enough to provide feedback. I thought that it was a little over-cluttered with ornaments, including a display case of china, because that makes you scared of breaking things, and, also, you do actually need some space to store your bits and bobs (paperwork, crafting, journalling, gadgets etc). 

 

Also it was almost at the top of the hill, or escarpment, that rises above Hythe, which made return journeys quite strenuous! But it was very pleasant, a quiet neighbourhood, disturbed only by the sounds of steam locos, gunshot and seagulls.

I only went to the local pub, The Castle Hotel, once. My ale was well served and obviously well-kept, but the following conversation put me right off eating there.

"Hi, do you have a vegetarian option for your Sunday roast?"

Long pause. "You know, someone else rang up about that this morning...long pause...you could have the roast veggies if you wanted." In 2018. 

Pubs so far: 2

On the Waterfront

When I decided to move to the coast, I knew I would take a lot of photos of the sea. I also vowed not to take endless photos of waves breaking on the beach. Okay, I have failed in that resolution, several times, but it doesn't mean I'm going to blog them!

However, a morning spent on the Hythe seafront was worthwhile - starting on Princes Parade and moving down to Fisherman's Beach. A beautiful hot Friday in August and the beaches were as good as deserted, except for the brunch crowd outside Griggs

 
 
 

The bottom right house is called 'Martello Tower' and it looks like a Martello Tower, but I immediately thought, it can't be, it's just not tall enough. I've been looking at a local history books that claims it is an original Martello Tower, converted, but I remain unconvinced!

Folkestone Stroll

 

It was supposed to be a relaxing day. Just a walk down the seafront, turn left into town, do a couple of errands, and take it from there. 

Hmm. What, exactly, is a relaxing day?

Even going into the Tourist Information Office to pick up a few local leaflets turned into half an hour looking round the Museum,which was more interesting than I had expected.

Although this isn't a holiday,nevertheless I behaved as if it was, snapping away left right and centre, almost as if I'll never visit Folkestone again!

I'd been a couple of times before. Once, I'd completely forgotten about, was in 1998, but only to catch a ferry to Boulogne, and I only know this because I read it in my diary - I don't really remember anything before arriving in France.

I also went for a few hours last year, but my camera had half broken the day before, and I carried on using it, but didn't realise until I uploaded my photos that they were all out of focus.

The thing is, there is a complete disconnect between the two eras. Back in 1998 it was still an active and busy ferry port for Ro-Ro ferries. Looking at it now it's very difficult even to picture where they went from, It's no longer a ferry port (that's pretty much concentrated in Dover; the Channel Tunnel starts in Folkestone's suburbs).

If you're interested, quite a lot has been written about the fall and rise of Folkestone, the challenge of regenration, and so on - for example Guardian and  Kent Online

But as I was looking at Folkestone as a newbie, through the eyes of a visitor. And taking snaps.

Firstly, in the Old Town:

 

Round the Fish Market and Inner Harbour

 
 

And onto the Harbour Arm. Once upon a time, the boat trains from Victoria and/or Charing Cross would draw right onto the pier, into the Folkestone Harbour station, which closed to regular passengers in 2001, and Venice-Simplon Orient Express in 2009. For me, the word 'boat train' is evocative, whether of the glamour and grace of the Agatha Christie class and era, or the pathos of the young men and women steaming across the Channel to the Western Front.

 

As part of the Regeneration, the Harbour Arm is now home to various pop-up food shops. It was sadly quiet and deserted on a sunny August Wednesday afternoon, so I have to assume it's mainly a weekend thing (weather permitting!)

 

 

 

Drank at The Ship; ate and drank at the Pullman. I would happily return to - and recommend - either.

 

 

 

 

 

Blog revival

Nearly two years have passed since I wrote this, and it's about time I started again.

I'm not going to write a long essay explaining, filling in and catching up.

The trick is to start in media res  and take it from there. Like all the best psychological novels, the story will be told partly in flashback.

We drove away from the house. I felt no emotion. I had lived there almost 23 years but now I was just glad to be gone. Should have moved three years ago or more. So much hassle, delay, problems.

Three and a half hours later, we checked into a hotel. It hadn't taken that long to drive down, but we had spent enough time faffing in Storage. Fortunately, we didn't have to stay and supervise the unloading of the Van into two storage units, 140 square feet in total.

Jimmy wasted no time in going to bed. He was tired, and had good reason to be. I was tired, too, but wired, and went outside the hotel to smoke.

I didn't need to hang around the doorway; I could sit on a bench on The Leas, overlooking the sea. People went past. Some going home from work, most just promenading, strolling, enjoying the afternoon sun. Momentarily, I felt resentment - everybody else enjoying the simple pleasures, whilst we skulk indoors. And, in an instance, I saw the future, where it will no longer be necessary to fit life's simple pleasures in between a tedious journey to and from London.

We spent three nights in the hotel, and, mainly, ate there too. Great chance to recharge some batteries.