DOVER
Our reason for visiting Dover was to see the Dover Tunnels under the Dover Palace. Now the website said the Palace was closed but Google said the Tunnels were open. We called in the morning to double check and were told the tunnels were open at 10AM so we set out to see them.
It was a “short” walk up to the Castle. Now the distance might have been short but medieval castles were generally built on the highest point in the area. This one was no exception. We met a lovely man that directed us to a shortcut to the Palace grounds…bless him!
On arriving at the castle we were greeted by the gatekeeper… the Castle and therefore the tunnels were closed. When we protested that the Tunnels were open, he pointed out that they couldn’t control what was written on Google and we should follow the National Heritage site.
So although the walk was in vain, we did clock in over 13,000 steps that day.
We wandered around Dover, especially the town to take some photos. A retired photographer came up to us to recommend some additional places to shoot. Now had we had the energy or been 10 years younger, we probably would have followed up on some of his suggestions. But instead we took the flat route and walked along the seaside to get a glimpse of the white cliffs.
So back to the B&B (which was also uphill) to pick up our luggage and then the train to Canterbury.
Dover Castle
St. James Church
The original church on this site was a Norman building, built sometime in the 11th century. The “new” church ws built in the later part of the 19th century. Both building was damaged during World War I when a seaplane dropped bombs nearby. but both were restored in 1931.
Both the old and new buildings were damaged by German artillery firing across the Channel during World War II. The new church was demolished in 1953 and the tower of the old church collapsed in 1951. The old building was secured and preserves.
