A glorious start to the day, wall-to-wall sunshine and at 8 am already the temperature was in the 20s, we felt sure today was going to be a really hot. Just before we left, looking out across the channel this semi submersible rig was seen being towed.
Diesel prices have come down slightly in this part of the UK and the cheapest was at Portsmouth at £1. 94 litre. On route was the Battle of Britain Memorial. We had to stop and glad we did. The emptiness of the grounds spoke volumes. The wall of remembrance, the two British fighter planes and the crashed German Stuka all helped to set the mood. This was a site for reflection and to remember the lives lost in fighting to keep us free. It was all very moving and to think the Ukrainians are going through a terrible war at the moment, just so they too could be free.
It was roughly a 90-minute drive to Nymans Gardens and house or should have been! A good twenty-minute delay on the M23 and nothing really to show for it! I expected some delays on the M20. The local news warned of more delays going into the port of Dover for the weekend, miles and miles of queueing traffic again, but this time lessons had been learnt as the west bound carriageway was now down to two lanes with the east bound toward Dover having taken the fast west lane for eastbound through traffic too. A total of 5 lanes could now be used, including the hard shoulder, for east bound traffic. On the opposite carriageway cones separated the three lanes. They stretched all the way to Junction 8, that's a total of 36 miles of cones! I didn't think there were that many in the UK!
The Gardens at Nymans were wonderfully colourful and well looked after. Unfortunately we were a day early in seeing the house. It had been shut since end of April and would reopen the next day. Never mind, walking the well kept lawns and flower beds were enough for us, especially as the day had warmed to over 26 deg! The shade was a welcome relief.
Oh, dear. There is always an element of surprise when a CS site is booked. They are nearly always rural with no facilities other than water, rubbish and elsan. What one can never envisage is what the site will be like. Yes this one was everything a self sufficient motor homer would want, level ground, shade, 5 cows and a bull romping in the field to keep the interest and a gorgeous black pony to pet. We felt this would be just the place to get chairs out and relax in the sun. And then, overhead a roar was heard! We looked at each other and groaned. This place was right under the flight path of Gatwick! One plane every two minutes either landing or taking off. I hope its true about no planes flying after 11 pm!
Tomorrow we collect Toffee. We have her for three weeks...wonderful. Not sure how she will react to the motorhome life because our next adventure will be in the Lake District.
And today's wildlife
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4 comments:
We've been to the Battle of Britain Memorial a lovely site, the pilot looking out to sea was an impresive sculpture I thought.
Your blogs are so varied and detailed, enjoying everything about them...especially your wonderful pictures.
Thank you.
Ann Makemson xx
Hi Irene, I assume the BofB Memorial was the one near Folkestone? Do you know if the names are of all the men who flew in the BofB or just those who lost their lives? Chris's Dad was an air gunner on Defiants - one of the very few who survived. Have you ever been to the air museum at Cosford? They have the remains of a German Dornier 17 that was lifted from the Goodwin Sands a few years ago. It is fairly certain that Chris's Dad was the air gunner who shot it down. Jennie
Hi Jennie, I believe it was all those that flew in the BofB. There were well over three thousand names on the wall of remembrance.
Not been to Cosford yet. We will have to put that one on our to-do list.
Xxx
Thank you, Ann.
Xxx
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