Reculver Roman fort

Reculver towers in the mist

The remains of the church

Cold fog greeted us this morning but Van-Man said the forecast was for clear skies. We headed to English Heritage site at Reculver to look at the Roman fort and the church towers.

The drive was easy but there were special bays for motor homes and the charge was £10 for 23 hours! There was no cost option for a few hours but Van-Man paid up reluctantly.

the drainage channels

We walked up to Reculver towers which were partly veiled by a sea mist. After looking at them, the only remaining part of the church we wandered around the remains of the roman fort then walked along side one of the drainage channels. When the Romans were here the sea lay on two sides of the fort but as time went on the channel between Reculver and the Isle of Thanet turned into marsh land. Enterprising farmers added drains turning it into farm land.

Roman wall

Reculver from the beach

We walked back through the mist past the fort walls back to the van for lunch. By that time the sun had burnt the mist away and it was a lovely afternoon.

Lottie wanted to lie outside the van but the grass was on the far side of the car park. She kept looking at it as if to ask why didn’t you park over there? We lay a rubber mat by the back door and she lay on that.

Lottie in the sea

The old church

After lunch we walked towards Herne Bay enjoying the warm weather. First we went along the beach as the tide was out. It was mud coloured strewn liberally with rocks spoiling the terrain for running as far as our Lurcher was concerned. However she enjoyed paddloing in the sea.  Lots of the rocks were covered in living seaweed, proof that the beach disappears at high tide. 

There were pretty shells piled up at the base of the cliff. On closer inspection the cliff had layers of shells in it, many of them oysters.

The beach

Then we walked above the beach on a track through a wide grassy area. Besides the seagulls flying there were swifts catching insects. Above our heads skylarks were singing and several came down into the long grass where we think they were nesting. Lottie meandered behind us sniffing various things but not charging around as she did last time we were away from home. 

Back at the van we relaxed with a cold juice looking out to sea while Lottie lay on her rubber mat outside.

The coast path

Going back to the van

We left for home after 3.00 and the traffic was difficult at a rural school we passed on the narrow lane as it was home time. At the junction a bus was blocking the road the way Van-Man wanted to go so he turned the other way. Ignoring my instructions he tried to find his way onto the road on the far side of the bus by cutting through the housing estate. It didn’t work. Defeated he drove home following my alternate route which thankfully worked. We hit a long traffic queue through Sturry and again in Canterbury but I had plenty of time to admire the city walls as we crept along. At last we were back at our pitch where Lottie lay out on her patch of grass.

Canterbury City Wall