Dover Castle - defense point in the past and present

Tuesday,  April 20, 2010

The goal today is to visit Dover Castle.  Since it’s only about 45 minutes away, we aren’t too anxious to get started early.  We find that we are creating a routine of waking up around 7, making the coffee and enjoying it while watching the news.  What with the volcanic ash and all flights grounded for 5 days now plus the election news, it’s quite interesting.  I think I’ve seen one picture of our President on the news since we’ve been here.  The English have more important things on their minds than our problems!  Interestingly enough, their problems sound remarkably like ours!  The economy, lack of jobs, immigration, bullying in schools, school testing, etc.  – same stuff, just a different accent!

Anyway, then we get going on our day around 10, stop for lunch at a pub around 2 or 3:00, tour some more, head home and collapse.   We seem to average about 5 miles a day in walking.  Have a light dinner of cheese and crackers or a sandwich, watch the telly (their programs are as bad as ours!) or read, plan the next day and off to bed.  That’s probably TMI and I can’t imagine why you would be interested in this, but there it is!

So we’re off to Dover Castle and got there around 10:30 or so.  There is so much to see and so much to comprehend.  The amazing thing is that most of the existing castle is almost 1000 years old and that this high point on the cliffs has been a defensive position since before the Romans arrived around AD36 or something like that.  From that point right up to the present day, especially during WWII when secret tunnels were dug into the chalk cliffs, England has used this spot to protect itself at it’s most vulnerable point.  The retreat from Dunkirk that saved 338,000 English soldiers, I think in 1940, to fight again was coordinated from here as well as many of the air and sea combats.  Churchill often came.  There was a full hospital and underground housing as well.  We were led through the tunnels by a very knowledgeable guide and it was enthralling.  Genuine papers and orders were left hanging on the walls;  the telephones were still there.  In some areas, it was as if the war had ended, everyone celebrated and never went back in.

As for the 1000 year old part of the castle, the great hall and keep were decorated to replicate the colors and furnishings as they would have been during Henry II’s day.  I had always read that the interiors of castles and cathedrals would have been very colorful but you see none of that, of course, because it has all worn away.  So it was quite a pleasant surprise to see this reproduction to get an idea of what it would have looked like.  There were also “holograms” of Henry in different parts of the castle talking to his stewards or to us as if we were his contemporaries.


  The third part of the castle defenses that we could explore are the medieval tunnels.  Wonder if this is where Churchill got the idea!  These were a bit spooky but very interesting to see. 

Well, we've been working here in the pub for a couple of hours and John is ready to leave so I am going to post this as is.  Let me just say that John kept saying about Dover Castle - "I just can't believe that there was this much to see here and the condition everything is in."  It was really fascinating.