Earlier this week, I visited the fabled Isle of Sheppey: 'Kent's Treasure Island' according to the local tourist agency... although Jeremy Clarkson had some different views earlier in the year.
I went by train to Ebbsfleet and was picked up by my former GA colleague Paula, who proceeded to give me a tour of the island, interrupted by torrential rainfall and strong winds.
We started in Queenborough which is the first place many visitors will arrive in, and went on from there to Blue Town, where we had a swift half before going along the north coast through Sheerness and Minster, then through Eastchurch. There were certainly lots of caravans on the island and we passed lots of examples of recent change: some for the better, and some for the worse in terms of economic, social and environmental changes. It was good to be travelling with someone who had lived there for a long time and could contextualise what I was seeing as a first time visitor....
Lots of connections with work on teaching about Place (Noel Jenkins came to the fore here a few days ago...)
There was a range of coastal scenery, and also some quirky elements, such as the concrete garden ornament factory which had an amazing range, and the lady in her dressing gown in the main street. We then headed on towards Warden where I realised why Paula was driving a Freelander, as we left the main roads and headed beyond the reach of the Google Street View car, up the side of the cliff...
That evening, after a major squall which had closed the main bridge, we headed over to the Ferry House Inn in Harty on the south coast of the island, at the end of a long road through the marshes. It was a quiet evening with a few pints of Bombardier and some fine food in front of the log burner...
A Flickr set of my images from my visit can be seen below, starting with the food - a nice seared bream followed by cheesecake....
A dark drive home was followed by my first taste of Breton whisky (Armorik), followed by a few glasses of Tobermory...
The following day dawned bright and breezy and it was out to Shellness to take a walk along the beach past the private hamlet at the end of a rather bumpy road. We wandered along to the end of the island, and back along the beach, followed by tea and tiny cakes in Brambledown.
I have to say I enjoyed Sheppey, and it's always good to take out another one of the UK"s extremities that I hadn't visited before...
I went by train to Ebbsfleet and was picked up by my former GA colleague Paula, who proceeded to give me a tour of the island, interrupted by torrential rainfall and strong winds.
We started in Queenborough which is the first place many visitors will arrive in, and went on from there to Blue Town, where we had a swift half before going along the north coast through Sheerness and Minster, then through Eastchurch. There were certainly lots of caravans on the island and we passed lots of examples of recent change: some for the better, and some for the worse in terms of economic, social and environmental changes. It was good to be travelling with someone who had lived there for a long time and could contextualise what I was seeing as a first time visitor....
Lots of connections with work on teaching about Place (Noel Jenkins came to the fore here a few days ago...)
There was a range of coastal scenery, and also some quirky elements, such as the concrete garden ornament factory which had an amazing range, and the lady in her dressing gown in the main street. We then headed on towards Warden where I realised why Paula was driving a Freelander, as we left the main roads and headed beyond the reach of the Google Street View car, up the side of the cliff...
That evening, after a major squall which had closed the main bridge, we headed over to the Ferry House Inn in Harty on the south coast of the island, at the end of a long road through the marshes. It was a quiet evening with a few pints of Bombardier and some fine food in front of the log burner...
A Flickr set of my images from my visit can be seen below, starting with the food - a nice seared bream followed by cheesecake....
A dark drive home was followed by my first taste of Breton whisky (Armorik), followed by a few glasses of Tobermory...
The following day dawned bright and breezy and it was out to Shellness to take a walk along the beach past the private hamlet at the end of a rather bumpy road. We wandered along to the end of the island, and back along the beach, followed by tea and tiny cakes in Brambledown.
I have to say I enjoyed Sheppey, and it's always good to take out another one of the UK"s extremities that I hadn't visited before...
Comments
By the way - you didn't mention Nelson, the Dutch Invasion or Henry VIII - was my historical atempt at narrative completely wasted?