Kent

July 4 -7 2020

I Feel Free

Post from John

It was a strange, almost guilty, feeling to be driving a motorhome down the motorway. Whilst in some ways it was back to “normality”, passing Heathrow on the M25 and not seeing a single aircraft in the sky indicated that it was anything but.

As soon as I received the e-mail from the Caravan and Motorhome Club giving details of their reopening dates, we decided to make a booking. It was not a trip to explore somewhere, but a way of visiting Ruth’s Mum, whom we haven’t seen for 5 months. We booked the Bearsted CMC site for three nights, as this is only a few miles from where Mum lives.

Arrival and check-in were different – no contact other than the friendly warden handing details of our pitch through the passenger window (we’d been asked to agree an arrival slot so the inflow of vans could be managed). We were not really surprised to see that the site was fairly full – there must be a lot of pent-up demand from caravanners and motorhomers!

Having borrowed a car from Ruth’s sister, we did manage a little exploring. On the Sunday afternoon we took Mum to the nearby village of Chilham. We found a parking spot on the market square, surrounded by period and listed buildings which give it an archetypal “Olde Englande” feel. Indeed, it has been used as a location for TV and film productions. I’m sure that pre-pandemic it would have been far busier on a July Sunday afternoon.

We had a walk around the churchyard of St Marys’ adjacent to the square, then ice-creams seemed in order on such a lovely afternoon. Shelly’s tea rooms were able to provide the necessary items – albeit as takeaways in paper cups rather than sundae dishes at a table.

The next day Mum demonstrated considerable sprightliness for a 94-year old by leading us on a walk around Charing, where she now lives. Charing is situated on the Pilgrims Way from London to Canterbury; our walk took us past the remains of the Archbishops Palace, adjacent to the parish church. The palace was the property of the Archbishop of Canterbury, and the Church of St Peter and St Paul is said to contain the stone on which John the Baptist was beheaded.

Archbishops Palace

Parish Church

After a loop around a small nature reserve, we headed back to Mum’s cottage and made her a well-deserved cup of tea before returning to the site, ready to head home the next day.