I enjoyed my few days in Kent and Sussex in October 2020 so much that I decided to go again, departing on 7th June and staying at the Premier Inn in Ashford for 3 nights. Things did not start well; I arrived at Pease Pottage Services and bought my coffee and sausage bap only for one of the sausages to fall out! I applied the 5 second rule (or however many seconds it is) and picked it up and ate it.
My first scheduled stop was Ardingly Reservoir which I eventually located and things seemed to be looking up; just after leaving the car I saw a green woodpecker but wasn't able to photograph it. This proved to be a false dawn as an hour later I left having seen nothing else of note. It was only when driving out of the car park that I saw another, or perhaps the same, woodpecker but again there was no opportunity for a photograph.
My next stop was Lewes where I needed to return a load of empty bottles to the Harvey's Brewery shop to claim my deposit. My tale of woe continued; the car park was full and after relocating to the Waitrose car park and hauling my empties to the shop I found that it only opened Tuesdays through Saturdays; today being Monday it was closed!
In order to guarantee a successful next stop I decided to head straight to Dungeness where I was able to get some nice images. It was very disappointing to see that a boat that I had photographed on my previous visit had been destroyed by fire. A quick internet search revealed that the fire had actually taken place just the day before. I could still smell burning and the site of the boat was taped off with red and white tape. At the same time I established that the boat was called the Ian and Tina and had been on the beach for more than 65 years. The cause of the fire was unknown.
From here I took what seemed to be a circuitous route to the Premier Inn and checked in, booking dinner and breakfast in the adjacent Beefeater at the same time, both of which turned out to be very good with very efficient service.
After breakfast on day 2 I set off for Faversham but called in on the way at Chilham, a pretty village but not one that I was able to do justice to with my camera. I moved on to Faversham, parked up and made my way into the Market Place which was both busy and pretty. The reason for visiting Faversham is that it is the location of the Shepherd Neame brewery which is both the oldest in England and very prominent in the centre of the town. I picked up some town maps from the Tourist Information office and had a good look round before procuring some provisions from the Shepherd Neame shop and returning to the car.
My next stop was Whitstable, famous, I believe, for its Oysters. I parked up and took several images around the harbour and beach, including one of the well published blue Whitstable Oyster Co. boat, bought some sandwiches and moved on to Tankerton Bay on the outskirts of Whitstable where I had lunch and took some long exposure beach images.
Final stop for the day was Reculver where I took some images of the tower and some more long exposure beach images. I returned to Ashford and in the interests of not putting on too much weight decided that I could manage without dinner.
Day 3 began with breakfast in the McDonald's adjacent to the Premier Inn; it was average at best but there wasn't an easily accessible Greggs nearby. Today's planned route was Sandwich, Deal and Dover and all went according to plan. The beach in Deal was almost deserted and again I got the tripod out and took some long exposure images. I had a pleasant surprise when arriving at The White Cliffs of Dover; it's National Trust so entry was free for me as a member. I had quite a stroll along the cliffs and took several images. I was surprised by how quiet the port appeared to be.
At this point I decided that there was time in the day for a return trip to Dungeness so I headed in that direction calling in at Samphire Hoe and Hythe on the way. Arriving at Dungeness I found that the red tape which had been placed around the remains of the Ian and Tina had been removed so I was able to get some better images. From here I returned to Ashford and another nice dinner in the Beefeater.
Day 4 necessitated a return via Lewes to return the beer bottles. The cost of doing so must have far exceeded the £5.20 that I received, especially as I couldn't resist topping up my stocks with some of Harvey's finest! I decided to go via Rye as I had noticed in a book a very pretty street named Mermaid Street. When I eventually found it it was certainly pretty but the delivery lorry parked outside the hotel wasn't exactly photogenic so I had to wander around until the driver had completed his delivery and moved on. I eventually got the image that I wanted, bought some lunch in the Jempson's store which enabled me to reclaim my £2.00 parking fee and, after buying a coffee and a mug in the Jempson's coffee shop, set off for Lewes.
Reaching Lewes seemed to take an eternity but I was almost there when I hit an unexplained traffic jam. Deciding that there must either be an accident or road works far enough ahead for me to have not yet reached the warning signs, I decided to turn round. I didn't have a clue where I was going but, after going through Glyndebourne, famous for opera, I eventually arrived in Lewes but, after stupidly following my sat nav when i ought to have known better, I found myself in a traffic jam on the opposite side of the road works which I had just avoided! Luckily I was able to turn round and took what looked like the last space in the car park by the brewery. I returned my bottles, had a wander round the town and then retuned to the shop to pick up a few new bottles and set off for home. I wont be rushing back to collect the deposit on these bottles! A final stop off at Pease Pottage for lunch at Greggs and I arrived home at about 3:30pm. A very good trip but I'd possibly tried to fit too much in as, writing this about a week later, I'm struggling to remember all of the details.