White Cliffs of Dover and Castles

Part two of our weekend was a castle spectacular. We visited Deal, Walmer, and Dover Castles. Walmer is the castle to the left. This was converted into a home and was full of history and had quite the garden surrounding it. Dover was one of out favorites and has an amazing history. From the Roman Lighthouse that dates from first century to the tunnels that date to the Napoleonic era. Then there is the extensive network of WWII tunnels and the amazing stories of the evacuation from Dunkirk to Dover. This was very entertaining and educational. The views of the harbour were magnificent. We could have spent days there but we had a date with the White Cliffs of Dover. The walk along the cliffs was a two mile hike out to a lighthouse. This meant that Big John walked about a mile each way and big daddy got a workout. It took us through some beautiful pastures and some really cool ponies were running all around. No matter how much Maggie begged, we did not sneak a horse home with us. Once at the lighthouse, we learned cool things about the advantages of whale oil lanterns for the lighthouse.

The picture to the right is from the lighthouse looking over to St. Margaret's cliffs. At the bottom of the cliff is the house where Ian Fleming wrote several James Bond novels. Trivia question of the trip. What bus did Ian take from Kent to London? Answer: Bus 007. This has some urban myth to it but the bus does exist and made for a good tale. Did it inspire 007, only Ian knows.