I blame Jim Moir - the comedian, otherwise known as Vic Reeves. There is a walking programme, I can't recall the name or which channel, where various celebrities go for a solo walk in their favourite part of the country, accompanied by a selfie-stick. There is probably a cameraman and drone accompanying them too, as there are a few long-range and aerial shots, but mostly it's just the celeb talking to the camera.
Jim Moir took a walk near Dungeness on the coast of Kent. There was the Nuclear Power Station, an RSPB bird sanctuary and ....... the Denge Sound Mirrors. These are 3 concrete, acoustic mirrors, built along the Kent headland. A forerunner of radar, the sound mirrors were designed as an early warning system to detect enemy planes or airships crossing the English Channel. They weren't terribly successful - ambient noise made them tricky to use and then they were made redundant with the advent of faster aircraft and the introduction of radar. Still, R's eyes lit up at the prospect of paying them a visit.
Thinking that it would be best to get away before the schools broke up for the summer, he booked 2 nights at an hotel in Guestling, not far from Hastings.
The 'Guestling Hall Hotel' was really lovely. I was rather taken by the antique clock and the beautiful rugs. There was a choice of dining rooms for breakfast - the African Room and the Asian Room, so called because of the decor. We were allocated the Asian one. Luckily, we had taken along our own soya milk (we have learnt from experience!), as they didn't seem to have received R's message about us being annoyingly vegan. We had the full English on both days, without all the meaty, eggy bits. It was fine, nothing to write home about but we didn't starve. My main issue was that it was a communal table, so I was forced to make conversation with strangers. That's not my forte at the best of times and having to do it whilst eating and before being fully awake made it doubly difficult. :O)
The African Room:
The Asian Room:
We had driven down on Friday night, so early on Saturday we set off to locate the Sound Mirrors. It turned out that R should have done a little more research before getting over-excited and booking a weekend away. Whilst they might make an exception for celebs making a TV show, the mirrors are closed off to the public apart from a few open days throughout the year!
We did manage to get reasonably close to them. They are located on a little island, access to which is gained by a bridge which is impassible for most of the time. So, whilst we did see them, R wasn't fully able to appreciate any weird acoustic effects.
From L to R: The 200 foot sound mirror, the 20 foot sound mirror and the 30 foot sound mirror:
The 30 ft mirror still has the metal pole to which a microphone would have been attached. The mirror would focus the sound onto the mic, which would amplify the sound and allow the slow moving aircraft of the time to be heard and located before they came into sight:
Having gleaned all we could from the mirrors, we drove to nearby Camber Sands to paddle in the sea and partake of the obligatory seaside lunch of chippies on the beach!
Then it was on to Rye, a town on the East Sussex coast, know for its cobbled lanes and Medieval half-timbered houses.
The 14th Century Ypres Tower (which formed part of Rye's defences) is now the Castle Museum:
After exploring the town, we had some time to kill before dinner. Luckily, there was a local cricket match going on, so we sat on the grass and enjoyed the game. I haven't a clue when it comes to cricket, but I do like the spectacle and the noise of leather on willow. I feel I could quite get into it with someone sat next to me explaining the rules:
Dinner was partaken at the Mahdi Spice restaurant, and very nice it was too!
On Sunday we decided to set off for home, stopping on the way to explore the town of Arundel in West Sussex, famous for its Medieval castle and cathedral. By happy chance, the castle was having a 'Medieval Day' and we bought tickets for the main tour, the bedrooms and the gardens. It was a bit pricey, but well worth it. Falconry and archery displays took place throughout the day, along with sword fighting, musicians and various crafts and entertainments.
The gardens were beautiful:
View of the Cathedral from the castle gardens:
Then it was a long journey home, squinting into the setting sun as we headed west. I made a quick dinner and then watched the Men's Wimbledon Singles Final on catch up. I was pleased that Djokovic won! :O)
Other happenings this month:
Newbury's annual Waterways Festival:
Following on from our enjoyable trip to see the Simon and Garfunkel tribute act last month, R bought me tickets to see a David Bowie tribute act for our anniversary. I was a big Bowie fan as a teenager, so was really looking forward to this. Unfortunately, I found it a tad disappointing. 'Bowie' wasn't bad, although he didn't have the voice and his wig kept reminding me of the psychopath in 'Silence of the Lambs', who makes a suit out of women's body parts! The worst thing, however, was the noise; it was incredibly loud and I was worried about a recurrence of the bout of tinnitus that I had a couple of months ago. That, and the fact that the people in the row in front of us (just that row!) kept standing up to dance, spoiled it somewhat - it was lovely that they were enjoying themselves, but it did rather block the view of the stage for the rest of us. They eventually went down to the front, but it was still distracting. Nevertheless, it was memorable.
Lastly, I finally finished my 'The Easy One' sweater by Joji Locatelli, just in time for the heatwave! Here I am modelling it over my summer dress on the hottest day of the year:
I'm sure that it will be really handy come the autumn! Well, that's it for this month. I hope you didn't find the recent hot weather too taxing. It's much cooler here today, although I'm disappointed that we didn't get the promised thunderstorm. Anything exciting to report at your end?
Toodle pip for now. x
