A pilgrimage and old friends

A fun day... Chats with Keith first thing, then all of us off in the car to Canterbury. I have never been to the centre of Canterbury before. I liked it lots, and as Pat and Maureen melted slowly away to do some shopping, Lorraine and I went to visit the Cathedral. A lovely place, and photogenic. I took my camera out, but the most interesting shots were to be had down in the Crypt, but here photos were not allowed. We mooched about there, looking at the tomb of the Black Prince, and where Thomas Becket was given a good stabbing in 1170, and so on. Also mooching about in the grounds, where privileged school children from the private school walked.

Back out of the grounds. Passed a statue of Chaucer, and saw a ducking stool and had a light lunch and a cup of tea before catching up with Pat and Maureen again and driving home.

At tea time Lorraine drove us into the country a little to visit Matt and Isy and their three excellent bairns. We arrived before it was dark, and Matt showed us around the garden. It has a huge pool containing, surprisingly, a yard-long sturgeon as well as a few large koi and some goldfish. The house itself is beautiful, on a lane, really quite deep in the Kent countryside. The house three sections, including a very old part that dates, I think, back to the 16th century. A beautiful quirky and lovely place with a brilliant heart of the home kitchen. 

Lovely to spend an evening with my old friend, and catch up with Isy and talk to the children, Elsa, Harry and baby William. Elsa comically lowered her spectacles to give me a side-eye when I told her I was very well behaved because Lorraine had been a headteacher. Animals... A cat and a sweet little spaniel and small rabbits. Matt said he went outside and met a badger, and there are owls around. He cooked a chicken pie, and we ate this and drank some of his excellent wine, before it was time to leave. Fond farewells to Matty boy and Isy, and back into the dark country lanes before eventually arriving back in Ashford. Lorraine offering sagacious advice on the schooling of children.

Some Canterbury snaps... Immediately below is the Black Prince. The stabby sculpture is on the corner where Thomas Becket met his end. Right at the bottom is a statue of Chaucer, and a ducking stool at the bottom.