Day Tripping in Dover

We decided to take the train down to Dover on a Saturday morning at the end of July to explore the ubiquitous white cliffs and the local castle. As luck would have it we happened on Dover on a very good day - not only was it super sunny but it was also the 100 year anniversary of the first flight across the Channel (by a Frenchman - Louis Bleriot). So, there was a full programme of vintage planes zipping across the Channel all day paying homage - with the white cliffs being a pretty good vantage point.

Dover Castle itself was a surprise for me (girl) - it acted as the base for Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsey in organising the evacuation of Dunkirk 21 miles away across the English Channel - the whole operation being co-ordinated from his headquarters in the cliff tunnels underneath the castle. Miles of tunnels were dug into the (white) cliffs, which housed military barracks, a command centre and a military hospital during WW2. The tunnels - now marketed by English Heritage as the "Secret Wartime Tunnels" have been fitted out the way they would have been at the time and are great to explore. Below, if you look closely, you can see windows to the tunnels cut into the cliff face (to the right of the dormer windows on the houses below).

And below is the balcony - again cut into the cliff face under the castle - on which Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsey stood and surveyed the straits of Dover during the military campaign. Standing on this it's incredible how close France is and how amazing it must have been during the evacuation.

Finally, what better way to finish off the day than a flyover by some dashing airmen? - La Patrouille de France.

M