Bearsted, Kent

Wednesday 23rd December
As I had to work right up until Christmas Eve we decided Kenny
should tow the caravan to Bearsted on 23rd December so we
weren't towing the following day, one of the busiest on the roads.
So Kenny took Christine and towed Dorothy, only leaving after
the terrible icy conditions that had caused early havoc on the
roads across the south had been cleared away by heavy rain. I
drove harry Honda to work and was so glad to have 4 wheel
drive which helped on the black the ice, although it didn't give
any control once I got into the car park at work which resembled
a skating rink!

Kenny had a good journey along the M27, M3, M25 and M20
which was much easier than he expected. But with the caravan
site still covered in ice he had to get help from the site tractor as
Christine had trouble getting up an icy incline to the pitch. Kenny
explained it was to do with differential something or other that
sounded like a bloke thing and all I was concerned about was
that the Honda wouldn't have the same problem, which it didn't.
Caravan Adventures with
Christine & Dorothy
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The Honda manoeuvred along the still ice covered site with no
problems and we settled in for the night with no plans to leave
the warm caravan again that evening. We had bought some
ready meals from Sainsbury's for that evening and Christmas
lunch so we didn't have to do too much cooking and used the
microwave for a very successful and delicious meal, but only
after a frustrating defrosting incident created by Kenny
inadvertently putting the meals in the freezing compartment due
to a lack of space in the fridge!
Dorothy & Harry on site
Thursday 24th December
Kenny had to drive back to Dorset on
Christmas Eve to meet me at home
once I had finished work at 1pm. We
Honda back to Kent just after 2pm.
The journey was much less busy than
we expected and only took 2 ½ hours,
amazing!
Kenny was exhausted after all the driving he had done over the 2 days and so we made up the bed early and watched a DVD.
We kept the heating on low all night as the weather was still cold and had a good nights sleep.
Christmas Day Friday 25th December
Although the site had a good few caravans in situ, we had no immediate neighbours so had good views across the unused grass pitches to the south
and were not overlooked by anyone else. This turned out to be quite a blessing as Kenny decided it would be very amusing to moon out of the caravan
window as I took some photos of our pitch! I decided these would be best kept for personal consumption only.
To view any image full-size
just click on the thumbnail
Chilham church
Being quite open the site is not very attractive but has a new heated toilet/shower block, although none of the shower rooms
we had got used to on other sites. After a caravan breakfast of the usual egg and mushroom on toast with coffee we always
have, we decided it was too wet and muddy under foot to go for the walk we had planned so we decided instead to go for a
knew well, and we parked up and had a walk around the very pretty village. It was a shame so many cars were parked in the
village square which spoiled the olde worlde charm of the place.
views of Chilham
After lunch we headed to Kenny's son's for the evening which was spent watching the kids opening too many presents and
rushing from one to another before finally going to bed. We got back to the caravan quite late and were glad we had set up the
bed before going out. But it had turned cold and icy so we cranked up the heating and had a hot drink before retiring to bed.
the most haunted village in England although we saw no
confirmation of this fact) and had a cup of tea while We
drove back to the caravan site via Pluckley (apparently
considering starting our Christmas lunch. Kenny had beef
and I had a nut roast and we had a potato and cabbage
vegetable side dish. This was followed by a small chocolate
dessert (I hope Kenny's diabetes nurse doesn't read this!).
Boxing Day Saturday 26th December
We got up at a leisurely pace much later than planned and it was raining. The ice
was all gone and our plan to visit Leeds castle for a walk around the grounds
shelved. Breakfast gave a feeling of déjà vu from the previous morning and we
listened to the radio while deciding when to head for Canterbury on our site-seeing
trip (and the hoards of people visiting the sales that we were bound to encounter and
were not relishing that prospect).
Although a carbon-copy of all high streets shop-wise,
Canterbury has some lovely old buildings interspersed
amongst the usual suspects. We decided against doing
any shopping and headed for the cathedral.
How beautiful is that? We spent a thought-provoking hour
wandering around reading inscriptions and looking at
tombs. The black prince was a particular favourite of
Kenny's and I was impressed by the artefacts in the small
museum area.
old building in
Canterbury
Sun Hotel,
Canterbury
built 1503 with
cobbled street
in the
foreground
Canterbury Cathedral
Walking back to the car we both commented on the distinct lack
of English voices (within our earshot anyway) and likened this to
Bournemouth, although we guessed the reasons may be due to
Canterbury being so near the channel tunnel and not because
of the multitude of language schools Bournemouth has.

We had decided against eating out and ended up having pickles
and various hot peppers and chilli flavoured snacks in the
caravan. This was accompanied by a DVD of Carry on Spying,
an old black and white film but good watching all the same.
Nativity Canterbury
Cathedral
Sunday 27th December
We got up quite late and packed up ready for the journey home. It had rained most of the night but was dry for the drive home. The traffic on the M25
slowed us up a bit but people travelling in the other direction fared much worse! We got home after about 3½ hours which wasn’t so bad and after
unloading the caravan we decided it would be cleaned another day.

Julie
December 2009