42. Folkstone - Dover - Hythe - UK

FOLKSTONE

Folkstone was 'nice', but in our opinion, not nice enough to come back to visit. It's a bit eclectic in its makeup with some beautiful Victorian-style housing mixed with ghastly more modern architecture. (See picture below). There seems to be a lot of money being spent on the beachfront but for us, there was something missing... Maybe we have been spoilt with the natural south-eastern beaches in Queensland as I haven't seen anything compared to them as of yet. The Folkstone beach is getting a facelift with the dumping of the coarsest sand I have ever seen. They have built modern apartments that, again in our opinion, don't suit the area at all. 

        

The older places still standing have heaps more character.

                                    


 Full moon over the water looking south towards France.


The beautiful Folkstone church


And the stunning church organ inside


An open day at the church was put on by the locals.
A scone and a cup of tea were in order...



Comparison of architecture between the 1870s and 1970s. A no-brainer!


                                    
DOVER
A one-hour bus ride took us to Dover. I needed to tick the white cliffs off my list. The town itself was ...eh... 
Its the main port between France and England so it was very busy with goods and passengers. The channel tunnel was not far away either which has taken a lot of traffic stress from the port.

A 40-minute walk took us to the white cliffs.

The cliff face is made from layers of soft, white, finely-grained limestone. 
My first attempt at graffiti.


If you look really closely you can see the French Coast


The Dover Castle as seen from the path to the cliffs.


HYTHE

Hythe was pleasant enough. A sleepy coastal town near Folkstone.


St Leonard's church in Hythe was a bit different to others as it has a crypt underneath the church and I HAD to see this. The church, like all others we've seen, is beautifully designed and built.


This was the graveyard behind the church


And... the crypt. A bit eerie but a must-see. 

St Leonard’s Church has the largest and best-preserved collection of ancient human skulls and bones in Britain. The collection consists of shelves in four arched bays that contain 1,000 skulls in total, and a single stack of bones and skulls measuring 7.5m in length, 1.8m in width and just over 1.8m in height.  There is no clear reason why the bones are there. Different theories exist and what information you are given depends on who you speak to.




I tried to be funny and asked if dogs were allowed in. I had another visitor howling (pun intended) with laughter. The guy at the reception area didn't get my attempt at humour and started looking in the handbook to see if they were...

Canterbury next...

Comments

  1. LeanneMay 13, 2023 at 10:16 AM

    Great to keep up to date with your travels Paul. Thanks for your effort... I enjoy reading it. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. PaulMay 18, 2023 at 9:48 AM

      It's actually a great way to diarise the trip and share at the same time!

      Delete
  2. AnonymousMay 13, 2023 at 6:53 PM

    I would say that the skulls were there because of a real pandemic! ...The Black Death. You will love Canterbury Cathedral. My guess is that it was possibly the largest building in the world, at one time. A masterpiece of engineering for it's time.

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousMay 13, 2023 at 11:26 PM

    looks great, loving your adventures Happy Mothers day Max

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. MaxineMay 18, 2023 at 9:51 AM

      Thank you. Two mother's days this year 😂

      Delete
  4. NataliaMay 14, 2023 at 12:14 AM

    Ah ha ha ha 🐩🐕🐕‍🦺🦮.
    Loving the postcard quality photos😍.
    Seeing the shot of how close France was gave me a whole new understanding.
    Happy Mother’s Day ❤️❤️❤️

    ReplyDelete
  5. GabiMay 14, 2023 at 9:36 PM

    Was there any historic people in the crypt Paul?
    Yes, that modern building is so ugly - what were they thinking?
    You really get an idea how close France is, and why the Brits were shitting themselves about the Nazis in WWII.
    Hope you had a lovely Mother’s Day Max. Xxx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. MaxineMay 18, 2023 at 9:52 AM

      Thanks Gabi. My boy and his girl surprised me. ❤️

      Delete
    2. PaulMay 18, 2023 at 9:53 AM

      It wasn't mentioned regarding historical well known people. I'm sure they would have mentioned if so. In regard to the buildings... I have to agree!

      Delete

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