Pele Mele and Lehman Trilogy

Back in London, met with Jane and Vicky - dinner at Pele & Mele before going to see the best thing I've seen in theatre for years.

Sheer Brilliance in writing, directing and acting!

Signs of the times

Time to pack up and to... Royal Albert Hall and Carmina Burana call...

Just a few of the signs I loved!

PUGIN

It's a Deal

We loved Deal with its beautiful pier, colourful houses, great cafes and restaurants.

Spent the day ambling around town... until travel weariness caught up with us and we decided to head back home..... to...

Flooding lounge room... the people in the apartment above had let the bath overflow.   Our hosts were fantastic and got onto the problem straight away.  

Found out that Warwick was a music producer and Antonio a conductor... Oh that reminded me - time to practice for Royal Albert Hall!!!

Maarrvelllous Margate

And so to Margate... Sandy beaches and "sunbathers" 

Saw the Turner Art Gallery that didn't have a Turner.  The building so awful I couldn't take  picture.  Best part was these Year 10 deckchairs... photo exhibition inside
just SO ordinary... ah well!

I did like this sculpture though... a man in post Brexit times looking enviously at France!  Sadly he could no longer afford clothes.

Also a beautiful 15th Century building crumbling through lack of funds.... sad.  

Luckily the street art was great.

From Smack Boys to Vikings

 Decided to walk along the cliff tops from Ramsgate to Pegwell Bay on the outskirts of Sandwich... We set off past grand buildings now transformed into apartments or small hotels.  Some immaculate and some well - rather the worst for wear!  We came across this beautiful building which housed the young sailors from the fishing boats.

The church was so simple and had great feel.  I loved the names and histories on the plaques.  The smack boys were apprenticed from a very young age.  They formed the crew of the small ships with the skipper often being the only adult aboad.

Eventually the home was used to house sailors that had been rescued, mostly from wrecks on the Goodwin Sands. Later some 3,300 survivors of the First World War were fed, clothed, sheltered and medically treated there. 

We left the harbour and the blue plaques behind and set off across the headland... spectacular views. 

At the end of the walk we came upon a replica of a Viking ship which sailed from Denmark to Thanet in 1949, to celebrate the 1500th anniversary of the invasion of Britain, the traditional landing of Hengist and Horsa and the betrothal of Hengist's daughter, Rowena, to King Vortigen of Kent.

Viking conditions were faithfully observed and the only instrument carried was a sextant. 

The mad Morris Dancers of Sandwich

Sandwich was such a hoot! We were off to hear Opera - the Magic Flute BUT when we arrived we found it was the Ale and Folk festival... fantastic.  So many interpretations of what it is to be a Morris dancer ha! ha!  I'm having a few problems uploading videos but I will.   Here are a few stills to be getting on with!

Now if Roger went out looking like that...

Oh Ladies you really should be wearing bells!

I knew nothing about Sandwich apart from the fact that the Earl of Sandwich invented the sandwich.  Why?   He loved Bridge and couldn't be bothered to pause to eat SO he asked his cook to come up with a dish that players could eat while they played.. hence the sandwich!

But Sandwich has amazing wooden houses... more than York or anywhere else.We even found the Thrum house  and I sent a photo to Carolyn Thrum in one of my writing groups.  Lots of Viking history here.

I loved the street names and their history.  Travelling with Roger is fab because he can always tell me the facts... So Hog's Corner.  A bell rang at 8.00 pm each night and all animals were shooed out into the streets so they could eat up all the food scraps and rubbish but they had to be back in their pens by 6.00am - if not they were impounded at ... you got it... Hog's Corner.

Pillory Gate was where thieves were nailed by the ear  and never released.  The only way (EEEEK!)  was to tear their ear from the nail to escape.  Marking them for life as a thief!

Great food everywhere and surprisingly a Punch and Judy Show... really?  Let's punch the baby, punch Judy, punch them again and feed them to the crocodile...MMM... not a fan!

Nothing for it but to head to the pub for a few sea shanties... again should be a video here.

Just loved it.. two women sang the most haunting song.. have to go to Deal folk club one day!

Finished the day with pub rock group... hey! Go the Stones.. Bopped and sang until we hopped back on the train to... Ramsgate!