Dover

From Canterbury we headed on to Dover to see the Norman castle.

On the way, we passed by the white cliffs of Dover.

 

The castle is really quite large with many parts from many different time periods.

 

It has a very imposing facade.

 

Inside it looks a lot like the White Tower at the Tower of London.

They had actors dressed in period costume explaining about life in Norman times.

 

 

They also had some of the rooms finished with furniture and accessories so we had a better sense of what life might have been like in the 11th century.

 

This was the dining hall.

 

 

 

They also had the Isle of Lewis chess set on the table near the fire place.

There was a well that was so dark that you couldn't see the bottom of the shaft, but the magic of photography allows us to see the bottom with increasing brightness and contrast.

 

 

There were passage ways along the outside edges of the castle for protection and observation.

 

There were other buildings nearby that also bore historic significance.

 

 

And you could see Dover in the distance.

 

They had a Victorian falconry demonstration for us too.

 

This lighthouse was from Roman times.

 

 

 

During the world wars they also used underground tunnels here for protection of the coast.

The chapel on the hill had a beautiful tile interior.

 

 

Here are artifacts they found in the earth of the castle graounds.

They had photographic exhibits of the castle's history.

The falconers put on a show on the green.

 

 

There was a little museum with mannequins showing military service by a particular group. Here are the WW1 trenches.

 

This panorama has something to do with India.

 

Some of the walls had sea shells (or muscle shells) in the concrete.

 

 

On the way home we sawmore sights out the bus windows.

 

This is the Maritime museum where they instituted Greenwich Mean time.

 

This is an old familiar sight by now.

 

And here is Battersea park. They are tearing down the smokestacks to put up the new U.S. Embassy. It's a shame, really.