Tide tables are back!

As the gardens and countryside of England dream in the long heat of hazy summer afternoons, we’re delighted to announce the resumption of our weekly Tide Tables for Seasalter.

Check out our weekly updates on the Tide Times page for the main daily high tide at Seasalter / Whitstable, and start planning your days out at the beach!

What do you recommend?

From Oare Gunpowder Works to Reculver Towers….what’s your favourite FREE thing to do over the Easter holidays??

Please comment below and share your special places or events with us!

 

Tales of two cities: from London to Canterbury with the visitor’s attraction in town

To visit the Canterbury Tales attraction in the centre of Canterbury is to travel from a London inn to Canterbury Cathedral in the space of an hour, as you follow in the footsteps of Chaucer’s band of pilgrims.

Image credit: centre's website

Situated entirely within the confines of the former St Margaret’s Church in the heart of the city, the tour takes visitors through a series of individual rooms, each staging a tableau depicting either a stage in the pilgrimage, or one of five of Chaucer’s famous tales, with life-size mannequins and authentic sound-effects and smells working to bring each story to life. An audio guide (separate ones for adults and children) narrates your way through the stories, and introduces some of the characters and scenes encountered on the way. Effective lighting and automated props whirr and bustle to life as you enter a room, whether a medieval inn complete with comatose patrons, a leafy glade, an entry into the walled city, or a visit to the Crypt and the site of Becket’s martyrdom.

The experience is an immersive one; from the outset, you are plunged into the murky world of the Tabard Inn and its crackling fireplace, where the voice of Harry Bailey greets you and warns you of the perils that lie ahead on the arduous journey to Canterbury. Clever lighting also serves to illuminate different characters and features in rooms as the accompanying tale unfolds. From flickering candles, starlight, illuminated windows and an array of sound effects, you finally emerge from visiting the Crypt into the light of day with some surprise.

A family ticket (two adults and two children) costs twenty-five pounds which, for a visit which lasts well short of an hour, might be more attractively priced at twenty. And here is the main issue with the visit: shepherded through the individual rooms by the audio guide, which cues the automatic opening of doors into the next room, there isn’t time to explore each room and the characters and scenes in each. This is a real shame, as the wealth of detail packed into each room is extraordinary; from the stables packed with pilgrims and animals preparing for the journey to the crypt’s frescoes and paintings, there is a rich profusion of detail which we would have liked more time to explore with the children, the chance to really bring out the features of medieval life on display. But one has to move on when prompted by the audio guide as the doors ahead open, otherwise the narration gets out of sync, and there is scant opportunity to revel in the details in the realisations.

Image credit: centre's website

Apart from this, however, the visit was a terrific success with our children, who came out and immediately wanted to go round again! They enjoyed the animated effects – the emergent behinds of Nicholas and Alison in the Miller’s Tale as they were poked through the window in particular was greeted with great delight. The audio narration is an effective guide, and includes some famous voices taking part; I’m sure I heard Bernard Cribbins… There’s the opportunity for children to dress up in period costume before they go in; parents should be mindful that, when the tour finishes and we are invited to go out ‘into the market-place’ that what is really meant is ‘marketing-place,’ and you are herded straight into the inevitable gift shop…! Be strong.

The attraction’s website can be viewed here.

[Reviewed by Tom O'Bedlam]

Read all the reviews in this column here.

Walk Through History to Crooked Oak

David Shire lead a group of Hernhill locals on a fascinating misty-morning walk from The Red Lion, Dunkirk to Crooked Oak and through North Bishopden Wood. David and Beatrice Shire are volunteers for the Blean local heritage initiative and were able to reveal to us the natural and man-made landmarks within the ancient woodland.

Deep in the wood we found the impressive Crooked Oak and a moated site, thought to date from the 14th century – perhaps once a hunting lodge, or the King’s residence when visiting Canterbury. We walked along a boundary marked by a bank and tree pollards and learnt to recognise the evidence of traditional uses for the woodland resources.

Much of this evidence is, sadly, being lost as the uses for the woodland have changed in recent times, these ancient crafts are being forgotten and their evidence erased. The Blean Heritage & Community Group & the Blean Initiative aim to “encourage people to visit The Blean, to experience and enjoy its heritage and wildlife”. They have produced a series of leaflets with circular walks through the woods, which identify landmarks to be found along the way. These can be found, along with more information about The Blean on their website: http://www.theblean.co.uk/.

If you are interested in joining us on other history or nature walks, please contact Miriam@machin.f9.co.uk.

     

Donations were collected for Tree Aid, find out more about the charity here: http://www.treeaid.org.uk/

Royal Cinema Faversham – We Love It!

http://www.royalcinema.co.uk/

“So you’ve been to the Odeon and paid a million pounds for some stale popcorn and a thimble of watered-down Coke. You’ve sat in their seats, with your knees around your ears, and watched a film for a couple of hours. It was pretty okay, right?

Try this, instead. The ushers, in their wonderfully kitsch red waistcoats will welcome you to the theatre, with reasonably priced tickets and even more reasonably priced food – at a single pound for a large Coke (and it IS Coke), I wasn’t complaining at all.

The one screen does limit the choice of films you can watch, but that’s not a problem since you can only watch one film at a time, and there is as much legroom as any other place.

The charm of the place, though, is its spirit. The Royal is one of those cinemas that we see in TV dramas from the 60s and 70s, with a proper stage, tiered seating and paintings on the walls.

I’ve taken several people to The Royal, and all of them have since been back. It’s worth a look, just for the experience, and the cheaper prices”.

(Review from http://www.qype.co.uk/place/198156-Royal-Cinema-Faversham)

Photo: faversham.org

Travelling with Emily: the Bagpuss Effect

A lonely girl comes across an empty shop, dusty with neglect and festooned with dust-sheets; she is about to embark on a voyage in the company of a young girl who seems to remind her of someone…

For adults in the audience who grew up in the seventies with Bagpuss, the show at the Gulbenkian Theatre really is a trip back in time; the strings of Emily’s banjo as she plucks them resonate within us, as the dust of our own memories is lifted and we’re reminded of our own childhood. The production works on a level for children and grown-ups alike, the three lost objects each acting as a catalyst for the stories which unfold in an engaging manner for the children; the narrative arc and the odyssey of self-discovery for the lonely girl speaking to the adults.

The magic of Bagpuss lies, as always, not in the saggy old cloth cat, or the toys with which he is surrounded; rather, the magic emanates from the stories that come alive on-stage before the audience. It must be hard work: the two actresses have to sing, dance, wrestle with props, work the puppets, play the occasional instrument and fill the stage; there’s plenty of audience interaction too, with Professor Yaffle flying off the stage and characters coming out amongst the seats. We’re encouraged to join in: my children contributed enthusiastically to the exhortations to the mice to ‘Heave!’ and sang along to the songs. There are some delightful and deft touches as well; things pop out of the stage, glittering swirls as an old ballet-shoe is revived (and a very environmentally-aware message about recycling as well).

The real magic comes at the end, with the realisation of who the older girl really is, and her relationship with the young Emily. The shop is a haven for things that have been lost, and as the girl discovers her lost childhood, the adults in the audience discover they’ve also travelled back in time with her, revisiting their own childhood memories in turn.

The three linked stories unfold over the course of an hour, a welcome winter warmer in the chill of a December day. Emily (the original cat-woman) defeats space and time for an hour and takes the lonely girl, and us, back to our memories for a brief moment. Emily, Bagpuss, and all the characters are at the Gulbenkian until Tuesday: catch them if you can…

—-

(Reviewed by Tom).

The Old City Gaol and Cafe Open

The Old City Gaol and Cafe opened on the 28th July 2011

Image: Canterburywestgatetowers.com

“After many months of painstaking work, the Old City Gaol and Cafe opened its doors for the first time on the 28th of July (to celebrate) the restauration and transformation of the Old City Gaol”.

Canterbury can now proudly boast a new visitor attraction and historical experience; a journey through time juxtaposing the experience that awaited the mediaeval felon with that of his considerably more fortunate Victorian counterpart”.

“Feel the terror of imprisonment within the medieval towers, and witness the impact of the enlightened reforms of the Victorian Prison Reform Movement as you walk through the 1830’s gaol, which has reopened for the first time in over 130 years”.

Have you visited the gaol? Let us know what you think by commenting below.

Days and Knights: Leeds Castle

Continuing our ‘Out and About’ series, with independent reviews of local attractions and amenities.

Some might consider the nature of the word ‘local’ is slightly elasticised this week, depending on your definition of the word, but at only half an hour away, Leeds Castle falls – to my mind, anyway – within the remit of a ‘local’ attraction!

Steeped in nine hundred years of history, Leeds Castle offers a wealth of attractions, including the moat-seated castle itself amidst scenic surroundings; a maze and seashell-strewn grotto; Knights’ Realm adventure playground, a turf maze and play-area for young children; there is also a restaurant as well as a cafe. It also offers a year-round events calendar, which includes a mock jousting tournament in which mounted knights thunder and tilt at each other, with on-lookers in period costume; the day we went, the children were also ‘press-ganged’ into forming a volunteer army for the presiding monach, who looked suspiciously like Henry VIII! Bird displays are provided by ‘World of Wings,’ and there’s an aviary museum featuring an array of exotic birds and daily tours.

The promise of a visit to Leeds Castle is always greeted with alarmingly vibrant enthusiasm by our young offspring, who look forward to crawling around the adventure playground, getting excitingly lost in the maze, and visiting the aviary centre – not to mention getting an ice-cream at the cafe! There’s plenty of parking in the grounds, which also afford plenty of scenic picnic-spots, and a land-train ferries visitors up to the castle and – of particular merit – takes visitors back to the exit which, when your children have worn themselves out during the day, is especially useful; however, unfortunately this year, the Castle has introduced a charge of 50 pence per person to use the land-train, which is a shame.

As usual with such places, the Exit from the Castle grounds takes visitors through the gift shop; those with children need to maintain a strong will here, in order to propel offspring through the shop without being waylaid by all manner of opportunities to spend more money. Take courage, and head straight for the exit door if you can!

Admission prices are published online, which permit unlimited visits for a year and offers excellent value if you plan to visit more than once.

There’s a photographic slideshow of Leeds Castle on its website here.

Idyllic, historic and offering plenty of interest to adults and excellent activities for children: highly recommended.

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Endlessly inventive Pantaloons tell a Tale or twenty

With over twenty stories, not including the General Prologue, it would seem nigh-on impossible to cram nearly all of the Canterbury Tales into a mere two hours. Yet with breathtaking scope, dazzling virtuosity and some serious multi-tasking, that is exactly what The Pantaloons have done with their production of Chaucer’s mighty epic.

Image (c) The Pantaloons

Playing last night to a large and enthusiastic crowd gathered at Mount Ephraim Gardens, the company display a chameleon-like quality, with a mere six players each changing character in the blink of an eye to bring all the characters in the Tales alive. With such a small company, there’s no respite either; when not acting, then they’re usually providing some musical accompaniment to the action – guitar, clarinet, bass clarinet, melodica, recorder, accordion, including quotes from Mission: Impossible, all make an appearance, and all the cast sing, bursting out into with arias, duets and even barbershop when you least expect it.

Before the play begins, the cast provide musical entertainment or wander amongst the audience in character to welcome them, harangue late-comers, or peddle their medieval wares of dubious quality (not, of course, including the programmes!).

There’s a real sense, too, of warmth emanating from the players towards the audience, which is reciprocated in equal measure. The players have fun with the audience, involving them – there’s a moment or two of audience participation, including turning them into an Angry Mob complete with fist-waving as well. The play is peppered with the occasional nod to contemporary culture too, in knowingly anachronistic asides which add to the fun.

What impresses the most, however, is the sheer variety with which the Tales are realised. There’s riotous action, but there’s also puppetry, limericks, rap, improvised comedy, and a tale-in-thirty-seconds as well; the puppet-show realisation is narrated whilst faceless puppets act out the tale, and is in places equally funny and beautifully moving. The Miller’s Tale, with its famous poker-and-posterior moment, is a lively romp; the Reeve’s Tale, with its nocturnal mistaken bed-hopping, brings the bedroom-farce alive with terrific humour; in contrast, the Second Nun’s Tale becomes a lightning-quick opera packed with famous musical references including the ‘Flower Duet’ from Lakme and more, delivered with real musicality.

The play works for both adults and children alike, with Chaucer’s famous vulgarity handled with delightful aplomb. Ranging from farce to ribald humour, romance and slapstick, the rich variety of Chaucer’s social commentary as he pokes fun at social class, mocks religion, greed and lust, is all presented in a vibrant, dynamic production that keeps its tongue firmly in its cheek throughout.

It’s a very physical production, with the hard-working players climbing in and out of the window, dashing around the stage, mock-brawls, moving in and out of the audience, and generally seeming to fill three times as much space as the set would seem to allow.

The play finishes with improvised comedy, as the Squire finally gets to tell his Tale by taking ideas from the audience and making up a tale on the spot, in song, accompanying himself on the guitar whilst the rest of the players act out his impromptu tale.

The company tours extensively throughout the year – check out their diary on-line and don’t miss the opportunity to see them if they turn up at a venue near you: you won’t be disappointed. Their tale is done: God save all the rout!

www.thepantaloons.co.uk

The Maunsell Sea forts

A short video, via UndergroundKent, of the Maunsell Sea Forts, located in the Thames estuary and visible from the north Kent coast.

Image credit: Wikipedia

Originally built in 1942 as a means of providing anti-aircraft fire over the estuary during World War Two, each sea-fort comprised seven towers.

More information and additional videos of other military features from over three hundred years, in and around Kent can be found on the UndergroundKent website here, a fascinating archive.