Dover to Dungeness - day 2

Yesterday was pill boxes, today it was Martello towers and a miniature heritage railway, as we head from Folkestone to Dymchurch. After leaving the hotel it rained a little and stopped after we left Folkestone. First landmark was Sandgate castle on the town’s outskirts.

In the same vicinity, something caught my eye, a lone canon, which was next to an information plaque for army officer John Moore, who led of the 95 Rifles light infantry regiment in the Peninsular wars against Napoleon and the French over 200 years ago. I remember watching a Youtube video from the Epic History channel that mentioned them a few years ago.

Towards Hythe we saw our first Elizabethan beacon. We then saw a sign for the Royal Military Canal and we would later walk along it. 

After stopping at the Waterfront restaurant in Hythe for a pot of tea, we set off along Hythe’s sea front. From then on the Martello towers started appearing one by one. 

When we moved onto the Royal Military Canal towpath, a miniature steam train trundled alongside on the narrow gauge rails that ran parallel. Further on we came across our sound mirror and tested it out, my friend only heard a muffled voice. Then it was over the miniature railway foot crossing to go along the road to our destination, Dymchurch.

Interesting sites here included an army firing range and more Martellos. Finally we reached Dymchurch, which is a small sleepy seaside town with a little amusement park. I was expecting it to be a fishing village. It also had an incredibly well stocked charity bookshop. Unlike many second hand bookshops I’ve been in, the books are categorized for the customer. I bought three of them but I may regret it on tomorrow’s walk.

The Bay Tree, Folkestone

After checking into our hotel above the seafront, we realized it had a restaurant on the lower ground floor, so we decided to eat there rather than troop into town. 

First thing I noticed going in was how roomy it was with its spaced out tables. 

The elegant multipage menu offered mostly steak style dishes, it was a grill restaurant after all. The separate drinks menu literally highlighted local Kent specialities. Despite the elaborate food menu, there wasn’t a great amount of choice. 

Being ethnic Chinese and Cantonese in particular, I always like a soup to go with my dinner so I picked the veggie soup first. It wasn't anything special but the accompanying bread was good.

Being on the seaside I chose the fish and chips, felt a steak was just too much for dinner. The fish and the chips were well cooked and crispy, not greasy. It came with a chip shop curry sauce which was bland and runny. There was too much tartare sauce as well however the mushy peas came in a paste and had a gentle mint flavour.

After tackling the main and washing it down with a local Kent brew, there was room left for desert. I opted for a vanilla ice cream which already part melted on arrival. 

 So the food was a bit below expectation but at least we didn’t have to walk into town. We ate there on Tuesday 29th July 2025.

charing cross collectors market

Today I'm at the Charing Cross Collectors market to see if can find the first day covers I want. Opens only on Saturday and it's easier to get there from Embankment Station rather than Charing Cross. There are about a dozen stalls set out in a car park space. I found most of what I needed. Please note most, if not all, stallholders only accept cash.

Dover to Dungeness - Day 1

Last week my best friend and I embarked on a 3 day walk along the Kent coast between Dover and Dungeness on the England coast path. On the first day we walked from Dover to Folkestone.

We started at midday from Dover Priory station and straight away it was some strenuous stair climbing to reach the Knights Templar church ruin in the Western Heights. Built in the eleventh century it looked very small, obviously not expecting a large congregation back then. 

Before long we were walking along the cliff tops, France loomed on the horizon and container ships sailed in the channel. We didn’t see any of the much reported migrant boats though. After passing Shakespeare cliff we saw our first world war 2 concrete pill box, entry wasn’t allowed but we did enter the next one. It was very dilapidated and an eerie experience. I thought about those who were posted in there, waiting for the invasion that thankfully never arrived.

Then, under steel coloured skies, an abandoned fenced off building came into view. What could it be? A former command centre? An ex-stores warehouse? I have no idea. 

Another structure we couldn't work were these conical structures that resembled short thick chimneys.

Before entering the town, there was our final WW2 landmark, the Battle of Britain memorial. A tribute to the few, with the names of the fallen eched on a marble slab, overlooked by a Hawker Hurricane and Supermarine Spitfire. There was a small museum alongside the memorial and if I had more time, I would have given it more of my attention. But alas we were here to complete a journey.

Luckily the weather held for us. When we arrived in Folkestone, I noticed lots of sculptures and other artistic structures. It was to do with the Folkestone Triennial, a thrice annual arts festival. Not what I was expecting but interesting nonetheless, so I photographed a few. 

One interesting sculpture was the Folkestone Mermaid, not as big as the ones in Copenhagen or Zhuhai but pretty anyway.

Second world war pill boxes weren't the only coastal defences found in Kent, before those were the Martello towers, built during the Napoleonic wars to fend off a French invasion which also never materialized. We came across Martello number three on Wear Bay Road.

It was my first time in Folkestone and first impressions were that it was more a seaside resort rather than a major port, with its shingle and beach huts. Before long we arrived at our hotel reasonably tired. That’s day one done.

Bob’s Cafe

 Bob’s Cafe 

I’ve decided to review a restaurant I recently patronized for lunch with a friend. So here goes.

Sitting on Salisbury Road, in the middle of London’s leafy Queen’s park is Mediterranean style eatery Bob’s Cafe. Despite a nice Summer’s day, we booked an inside table.  An airy interior with ceiling fans giving a 1950s vibe and an open view of the baristas. The small tables reminded me of a Paris bistro somewhere on the Rive Gauche. However the place had a big echo, so we can clearly hear the conversations going on in the table half way down the room. As it got busier it felt like a din. 

Now to the menu, there were lots of breakfast options, along with dishes meant for evening dinner.  It had a good choice with ample veggie dishes.

I ordered the goats cheese salad, whilst my friend ordered an all day veggie breakfast. It turned out to be an ample serving with a light dressing so the flavours of the ingredients shined through.  The sweet potato cut to bite size pieces was a good touch and the halloumi cheese was grilled just about right, with a gentle crispy bite. The friend’s veggie breakfast had tempting crispy hash browns. You can choose the type of bread for the toast and she chose sourdough. For drinks, I chose the homemade lemonade, which was very tart and my friend a smoothie.

The service was calm and attentive, waitress came over to ask the customary “is everything ok?”. 

All in all not bad, only downside was the acoustics of the room.

I went there on Monday 28th July.

 

Charles Loft, “Last trains”

Even since I started following Youtubers Geoff Marshall and Jago Hazard since 2017, I have developed a slow iterative fascination of trains and railways. In 2023 I visited the National Railway Museum in York, United Kingdom as a result of watching Geoff’s videos. It was a very informative place for anyone with a remote interest in trains. 

Whilst there I bought a book, “Last trains” by Charles Loft. It gives a deep insight into the notorious Beeching cuts that took place in the 1960s as a result of Dr Richard Beeching’s report on the UK railway system.

Although I have previously heard of Beeching, it was mostly negative.  People did not want their local railway line and stations closed naturally, so I decided to read all about it in Loft’s book.

Loft starts off with a background, after world war two, the nationalised railways were haemorrhaging money as there weren’t enough passenger journeys to justify some of the lines and stations. Coupled with that, private car use was increasing. The government simply could not economically sustain a railway system that grown exponentially since the Victorian era.  

As the book pointed out, Beeching was not just about cuts to the system but also investment in improving certain lines. However history has overlooked this. Loft mentions the opposition to cuts, which included local residents and the rail unions. His report did mention the social effects of the closures and alternatives were proposed.

Contrary to public perception, Loft points out that not all lines that were proposed to be closed were closed. Some of it was due to political pressure. The UK, after all has general elections and railway closure proposals were an election issue in the 1964 and 1966 general elections. The switch from the MacMillan Conservative premiership to the Douglas-Home premiership disrupted the process, however the incoming Labour government in 1964 generally stuck to the recommendations of Beeching. 

One of the things Loft mentioned was that some of the closed lines live on as heritage railway lines. An example is the Bluebell railway in East Grinstead, Sussex, which I have personally visited after hearing about it in a Jago Hazard video. 

I find this book to be informative if you want to know about Britain’s railway history in the era of rapid economic, social, cultural and technical changes.