Stranger things

Of course, what you need to do on a day that's over 30 degrees in the sunshine, is to go for a half mile walk across shingle, wearing full motorcycle gear. Ah well..............

First stop on my little trip out today was this strange 'thing' in the middle of Romney Marsh. It's been there as long as I can remember, but I've never bothered to ride down the narrow little lane (marked unsuitable for motor vehicles) to try and find out what it is.

I'm still none the wiser. If you know, please put me out of my misery and tell me.

From there, I went to Dungeness - one of my favourite places to be - to find a few lesser-known aspects of the 'Ness Estate. Well, I got a bit too hot, walking across the shingle, but several adders were laying about sunbathing, and there were absolutely dozens of tiny little butterflies.

From there, a nice cool ride along the coastal road through Jury's Gap and Camber to Rye, then inland through Rye Foreign in search of the charming little Norman church at Peasmarsh, then on to tidy up one or two loose ends in Northiam.

So - the Kent section for Ivychurch and Dungeness, then the Sussex one for Peasmarsh and Northiam.

I'm just going through the photos, then I'll start adding them

Another mystery solved.

 You may have noticed a page in Kent dedicated to the lost villages of Romney Marsh. Well, today I filmed one of them - namely Blackmanstone.  That is one that I knew roughly where it lay, but never actually stopped and got off the bike and walked around to find it. 

I did today. Sadly, there' s only a few piles of stones left to mark the former site of the village.

The other thing I did today, was to nip over to Ruckinge church, because, last time I went there, I forgot to photograph the purported site of the grave of the Ransley Brothers. I use the term 'purported', because the wood in iron grave marker has almost disintegrated.

If you have been following this site, you will probably know that the Ransleys were leaders of a smuggling gang, and were hanged for Highway Robbery at Penenden Heath near Maidstone in 1800.