The Kent Castles Caper! – Day 4

Reading time: 3 minutes...

Morning Readers!!

We’ve been in Kent since Tuesday in search of Castles! On the list was:-

We’ve been staying at Channel View Apartments in Deal and checked out after breakfast today. It hasn’t been the best of accommodation, but it’s put us in the right location for what we had planned. Parking has been challenging and we didn’t need an alarm clock because the seagulls rise early around here (just before 4am!). Thanks, Gulls! 🤬

If you came here to read about our Castle Capers they’re all done for this visit and you can read about them below:-

Tuesday – Arrival
Wednesday – Deal Castle & Walmer Castle
Thursday – Dover Castle

For completists, here’s what we did today…

And so, with all the Castles conquered, we headed towards Maidstone for a one-night sleepover and to catch up with a work-mate of Ann’s (and a BBQ) before hitting the road early tomorrow heading home. But before Maidstone, I heard the word ‘sandwich’ which caught my attention! 😮

Sandwich

I must have misheard as I saw the sat-nav was pointing to the town rather than the snack! Doh! 😂🤔😋

Sandwich lies on the River Stour and has a population of around 5000. It is one of the Cinque Ports and is probably most people’s idea of what a ‘olde English’ town looks and feels like!

Scenes around Sandwich

Well, the town certainly lived up to expectations. An immaculate location that appeared to be frozen in time – and looking all the better for it!

To complete the picture, it even has a Toll Bridge! (No tolls these days, though!)

The Guildhall Museum

If you want a potted history of Sandwich, then the Guildhall Museum (located in the 16th Century Guildhall) is the place to visit – and just a minute or so from the main car-park.

Admission is free and it’s a good use of an hour of your time. The staff were enthusiastic and knowledgeable – the perfect combo! 👍

On the ground floor there is a comprehensive maritime history of the town that was once the second busiest Port after London! Who knew? 🤔. The photo above is of something that we didn’t know existed – a early sea mine dating back to the 18th century and designed by American inventor Robert Fulton.

On the next floor, the perfectly preserved Town Court (last used in 1987). David, one the staff gave us chapter and verse about the Court and how it operated. It was in great condition and these days it’s mostly used for Weddings! 😁

Elevenses

Time for a pitstop at the appropriately named ‘The Sandwich Shop’!

A couple of coffees and a slice of Victoria Sponge later, we were ready for anything! (well, almost!). It was then back to the car as we headed west for the 50 mile journey from Sandwich to Maidstone.

Maidstone

First stop was the NEXT store on the lookout for some bargains. Even though this was an ‘out of town’ site, parking was nowhere near large enough and it soon became clear that some drivers had created their own parking spaces – just because… well… they could! For the rest of us, it made manouevering into the official spaces even more difficult. May your cars be full of seagulls on your return!!! 😠

After bagging a few deals at NEXT (and encouraging the Gulls to stick around), we drove the short distance to the newish M&S in order to top up EVie. Yikes, the car-park was manic and although we got a space for charging pretty quickly, that area too, was full within minutes! Unlike NEXT, the drivers here seemed a lot more considerate! 👍

We had a picnic lunch in the car before heading to M&S. In spite of its gleaming appearance, it had opened back in August 2020 but looked almost brand new.

Inside was massive! It included a Food Hall and one of the largest clothing areas I think I’ve ever seen. A Café and a Click and Collect point completed the picture. Not surprisingly, it was busy too! Whoever said that people are tightening their belts, obviously none of these customers had seen the memo! 😮

It was another scorcher outside and we hurried back to the car and fired up the AC 🥵🥵. Altough it began cooler this morning, it was now definitely hotter than yesterday. The car said 29℃ but it fell a lot, lot (lot) warmer. Next stop? The Premier Inn

We arrived at the Premier Inn about half an hour before official check-in of 3pm, but good ol’ Premier Inn allocated our room ahead of schedule and we were soon on our way to room 32 for the night.

Better still, they’d thoughtfully put the most important item in the room without asking – a rather high-tech fan! 👍😊

Just time for a short siesta before getitng into ‘BBQ mode’.

It’s 5.45 and thankfully, it was a little cooler outside, as we took the short 15 minute drive to David and Anne-Marie’s BBQ. Tomorrow, we’re checking out early, hoping to be home by 10am (ish).

Thanks for reading this far, everyone! 👍🙏😊. See you on the other side!