Dover in General

Say Dover to most people and they think of cross channel ferries, illegal immigrants, white cliffs etc. I want to tell you about Dover Castle, often overlooked, more people should take a day to discover it's charms. I am going to explain why I like it, so read on and learn!

I entered Dover Castle through the traitors gate because I'm actually a member of The National Trust, and Dover Castle belongs to English Heritage so I had to pay ...
...are only two things in Dover worth their salt, one is the castle and the other is the port, the rest seems to be an almost deserted town and not worth further investigation unless you happen to be a refugee or asylum seeker!! However to visit the castle you should allow a full day, unless you happen to be an Olympic athlete, as the walking is immense and hilly.

The castle is located on the top of the famous White Cliffs of Dover, above ... more

Say Dover to most people and they think of cross channel ferries, illegal immigrants, white cliffs etc. I want to tell you about Dover Castle, often overlooked, more people should take a day to discover it's charms. I am going to explain why I like it, so read on and learn!

I entered Dover Castle through the traitors gate because I'm actually a member of The National Trust, and Dover Castle belongs to English Heritage so I had to pay to enter. However in Kent if one purchases a paper printed by the Kent Messenger group there are often reduced price tickets, so in this way at least I got in for half price.

In my impression there are only two things in Dover worth their salt, one is the castle and the other is the port, the rest seems to be an almost deserted town and not worth further investigation unless you happen to be a refugee or asylum seeker!! However to visit the castle you should allow a full day, unless you happen to be an Olympic athlete, as the walking is immense and hilly.

The castle is located on the top of the famous White Cliffs of Dover, above the town of Dover itself, the car park is about 100 metres away, though there is parking available within the castle itself, mainly for diabled access.

On first entering the castle, head straight for the secret wartime tunnels. I say this because although there is a tour for 30 people every 10 minutes, they need to be booked. The tunnels are built in "The White Cliffs of Dover " (there is usually a Vera Lynn song playing whilst you are booking ) and of course under the castle, such is the nature of tunnels. First used during the Napoleonic wars, they become a nerve centre in World War II (arithmetically speaking that is 150 years later ), and were the headquarters from which the Dunkerque (I've spelt that the French way monsieur ) evacuation was masterminded.

The tunnels are on four levels, but the visitor sees two of these during his one hour visit including the hospital complete with sound effects of a shot down pilot having an operation and (hopefully squire )fake blood. One would also tour the war time operations rooms. After that extensive amount of underground burrowing, one returns to the castle proper.

It is at this point that one realises that the properly prepared take their own food and drink with them, the people in the queues were wondering why I was making funny faces at them as they delved into their pockets to pay £1.30 for a cup of tea !!

There is a further smaller labyrinth of medieval tunnels which are also interesting (thought Castles were above ground myself but then Dover is like that !!) Coming up for air at this point, I would advise a trip on the free land train around the castle unless one is determined on keeping fit.

The next point of major interest is Henry II keep. This is a massive tower completed under Henry III (that is right, I can count ) and is full of ........stairs. At this point all the children I could see were saying "Let's go home dad "

Other points to see once one has sat down again to once again draw breath are various towers, Admiralty lookout, A church and roman lighthouse and a walk (for sadists ??) around the ramparts.These points were to me personally not as rewarding as the afore mentioned attractions, but I did spend a while in the church which is still in regular use. There is finally The Pocket Pistol (actually an absolutely masssssive gun ) and The Princess of Wales Regiment collection of historical items from the 1600's to date, mainly of a military nature which used half an hour of my time there

Most weekends there are also period displays, when I was there Henry VIII was beheading his wives (one or two of them needed that !!)

There it is then, an excellent day out at a very reasonable price, and I'll see you soon when I'm in the British Olympic Marathon team .

P.S There is one other place in Dover worth visiting, the JD Wetherspoon pub in the town, also excellent value .

Dover Castle can be contacted on 01304 201628 for further details.

 

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