Willesborough - more than just a suburb?

 It actually wasn't raining when I left the hospital today, but the promise of precipitation was there. 

However, I thought it was worth the risk to come home via part of Willesborough. Now just a suburb almost subsumed by the ever-expanding town of Ashford, it still has a lot of history to find.

Didn't have a lot of time today, but the church of St. Mary the Virgin was open for one of their coffee mornings, so it was well worth a little detour. Today being Remembrance Day, and following the Remembrance Service last Sunday, the church was full of poppies.

So, I've started a page for Willesborough, and I will eventually also include the windmill, South Willesborough, Newtown and the old railway works on this page, as and when I can.

Currently only the church and a short mention of the pub will have to suffice, but there is oh so much more to come. 

Watch this space!

Oh my, how it has changed,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Today I had an appointment at the Kent & Canterbury Hospital, which is a huge sprawling complex with no accident and Emergency facilities. I was actually quite looking forward to it, as I lived in Canterbury for a while and my son was born in what is known as the '1937 Building' of the hospital.

I am going to add a small article about it on the end of the Kent/Canterbury page.........

Quick trip out for a birthday meal

 Been too busy lately to be able to get out and about visiting places and doing research. 

Hopefully, I can resume shortly. In the meantime, tonight we went for a meal in a small village pub 'out in the sticks'.

Warehorne is somewhere we go through often, but seldom turn off of the main road. Having done so tonight, I can heartily recommend the Woolpack. It's not cheap, but the food is exquisite.

St. Matthew's church stands on a mound opposite the pub Obviously by the time we rocked up there for dinner, it was closed. But it looks interesting, so I've added it to my 'to do' list, and meanwhile, I'll look to see what else is interesting about the village.

Piccy of the pub, and a section opened for Warehorne on the KENT2 page.

Lenham - just wish this rain would do one

 Today, I had to be in Maidstone, for something that was only going to last about an hour, so I thought, as I was out that way, I would go end explore the pretty village of Lenham.

The village centres around a lovely square with a plethora of Tudor and Georgian buildings.

As usual, I started with the church, which is right on the square. However, I'd only been in there a few minutes, happily snapping away, when a lady came in and said it was starting to rain. So, not having waterproofs with me, I decided to cut my losses and make a run for home.

I reached home before the rain came to much, but what I had found up to that point, makes me determined to return to the church, where there is still much to investigate, and for a good walk around the village itself, to see what turns up.

Anyway, the few I took will be on the Kent2 page very shortly, and the words will follow at some point in the next few hours.

And there the Kent Coast ends.................(well, almost)

 So today, I visited Ramsgate. It used to be a favourite place when we were kids, and every year, the village would get a little coach trip up to go and see the Ramsgate lights (like Blackpool, only a little smaller). 

Built into the cliffside the full length of the harbour are little cavelets, mostly with seats in them, but some with little flower gardens and waterfalls. These would all be lit with coloured lights, and up the top of the hill, where the road turned right, away from the seafront, there used to be a theatre, a little motor museum and a flashing display of coloured lights depicting a ram jumping over a gate.

Now it's all gone and the water gardens are stagnant and dirty. The bandstand up the top, opposite the Plains Of Waterloo, once was the only bandstand in the world, with a polished dance floor. No more. Ramsgate, I'm afraid, has lost a lot of its' charm. Still, I found enough of interest to keep me busy for a while, mostly thanks to Augustus Pugin. 

I rounded off my trip with a return journey briefly visiting Cliffsend, Sandwich, Eastry and Elham. So these places have had more information added. They're divided between the two Kent pages

Now I have walked around every coastal town from Whitstable to Rye, but several of them still have far more to discover.................