How weird the world has gone in a week

Jackie trying to start a Spitfire at the museum

We had a relaxing day on Saturday, our first since South Africa really, it was raining, and we had little else to do, except a quick trip to the pub! We planned our first week of slow South Coast Route, and then started reading the Internet, both the motorhome Facebook forums and the Gov.UK site about travel to France and Spain. As Spain was put into total lockdown with all bars and restaurants shut, Denise and Paul in Marbella, were told off by the police for being out for a morning walk and France didn’t seem far behind. We had another rethink. 

The Hurricane aircraft at the museum

Rather than head west, should we slowly head north, to Nicky and Tony in Scotland? We love them to bits, they’ve got space for big Ted, free self generated electricity, more freezers than you can possibly imagine (8 maybe?) all filled with reduced food from Tesco and their own homegrown fruit and veg, but more importantly, something to do. If total lockdown is enforced here there is enough gardening and building work to keep us occupied and from going crazy for a very long time. We emailed to ask if

Thhe Spitfire Memorial Museum

we could come, not wanting to take anything for granted, but were thrilled when Nicky rang, asking if we were hiding at the end of the road and should she put the kettle on? What a fabulous response. With a plan now in mind we have taken it in turns to be up and down, should we potter..... should we rush up.....?

Sunday we went to the Spitfire Memorial Museum at Manston, about 4 miles NW of Ramsgate. A small, free, but very interesting museum, with a great little cafe doing Sunday lunch and free motorhome parking. Monday we

The Spitfire flight simulator at the museum. £30 for half an hour

travelled for a whole half an hour to Canterbury to one of their park and ride car parks with designated motorhome parking (location: 51°15'41.5"N 1°06'01.1"E). Most unusual in the U.K. where it is much more the norm for carparks to have height barriers to keep us out. Our £7.00 fee was valid for an overnight, water in and out and toilet disposal, and free park and ride bus into the City where we made a special point of going into the tourist information to thank them for our parking area. We don’t know how busy it normally is on a sunny Monday in March but there were people wandering about, and food wagons open. Thoroughly enjoyed our visit, particularly to the Westgate Towers, even though the two aged cats who live there were hiding and didn’t come and say hello.

One of the beautiful buildings in Canterbury

Tuesday we headed to the Cotswolds, to stay on a farm near Bourton on the Water (location: 51°52'39.8"N 1°48'53.3"W), though sadly on arrival it wasn’t an afternoon for walking, Monday’s sunshine hadn’t lasted long. We were then meant to be stopping at Tony’s parents near Stow on the Wold to collect seedlings for planting out in the poly tunnel. On speaking to Jill however the double whammy of us having to keep the seedings in the dark which would cause them to bolt as we weren’t planning on driving it in one, and that it was at least a month earlier and colder than the planned delivery date, it was decided it wasn’t worth the effort. “If Nicky orders some seeds in, you’ll be there to plant them!” That’s us all told then!

The Westgate Tower in Canterbury 

So Wednesday we went straight to mum’s and had a very productive day, trip to Helen and Ian to borrow their car to transport the surplus to requirements washing machine from their next door neighbour who has just moved to Exeter to be near her daughter. Mums machine apparently was still working, but is quite tired and didn’t seem to be performing as well as it used to, so was taken to the tip. 

The old cells in the Westgate Tower

We had also decided that we should get WhatsApp onto my old phone so mum could be more ‘in touch’ we had talked about her having the phone as a phone, but this had been deemed too difficult, until her very old phone stopped and when examined had a very swollen battery! Too difficult for two reasons, the requirement for a new sized SIM card and for the steep learning curve that goes with a first smart phone, but it had to be dealt with. 

B and I dashed to Redditch, him to get a new SIM card, which may take 24 hours to activate but fortunately took about 2 and me to get Halfords to fit a new headlight bulb in mum’s car and do some shopping for her. Many tutorials later, she’s had WhatsApps from Charles and Caroline which hopefully will continue even if they rudely welcome her to the 21st century! 

This was an old fireplace found in the main guard room in the Westgate Tower at Canterbury. They reckon they have identified those planks of wood at an angle inside the fireplace as originally being part of the gallows used in the town

Actual body, ankles and wrist manacles used in the tower

Having stayed over we liberated the 4 wine boxes and the bottle of gin from the loft and repacked Ted with many more work clothes and climbing and walking guides for Scotland and have now slowly started heading north. Social distancing has made us decide not to contact friends en route, though we don’t feel we need to drive ridiculously long days. (Unlike the horror stories we heard on the Aire in Canterbury, people who had driven from southern Spain in two or three days, not knowing if borders would close, if they had filled the permit to travel in correctly or whether ferries/the tunnel would still be running. We are so glad we aborted our overseas trip when we did). 

An actual mantrap used in the locality in ancient times. Stand on that plate in the middle and the two halves spring together with such force it would break the victims leg and trap them with such force they would be unable to open it themselves. Very cruel, but I'll bet it stopped trespassers!

View of Canterbury from the top of Westgate Tower

When we told mum we weren’t visiting people she responded with “well if they are ‘old’ they would probably rather you did”. Despite her being one of the happiest people in her own space being told to stay in, having everything on the calendar cancelled, and the whole strange uncertainty of this weirdness runs the risk of keeping older and compromised people physically safer but at what cost emotionally/mentally? I know many wonderful people are shopping for friends and neighbours but an online chat or even a trip to the park to sit on opposite ends of a bench for half an hour could be worth just as much. I’m trying to work out how mum and I can do the crossword together while 500 miles apart...!

A view of Westgate Tower from the adjacent park

Saw this tree in the park in Canterbury with a huge trunk. A sign said it was an Oriental Plane Tree. Not seen anything like it before

The hill is the Dane John and has a splendid view over Canterbury. Apparently there was an old Roman fort there

This is the Aire at the Canterbury Park and Ride. This area is specifically reserved for motorhomes. It has water fill facilities, plus grey and black water dump plus a ride on the bus into the centre. Its one of the few in the UK, but we hope they become popular as they are on the continent

This was our parking at Cold Aston, near Bourton-on-the-Water in the Cotswolds. They could only take two motorhomes in the winter due to the need for a hardstanding, but can take more in summer on grass. Its about a 2 mile walk into Bourton-on-the-Water and there are, apparently, nice local walks too. We didn't do any as it was raining!

Nicky sent us a message asking what size of gloves we needed. Jackie replied that she would send a photoi of her hand  with little ted as comparison! Very helpful!

Here's our parking for tonight. Its a spare place at someones house, but it is in the country and its quite pleasant.