On the Road Again!

Another staycation day between showers to take advantage of the dry weather that appears between them! Molly the Moho is still at the dealers and so we are in the car again.  It's about a 25 mile round trip to Dungeness.  This is officially a desert.  I kid you not. We had a walk on the shingle to the Polish Airmen's Memorial and then walked back to the station to have tea and wait for the last train of the day to arrive. Luckily, when the train arrived it didn't hoot the horn.. If it had, Reggie would have gone mental. Instead he ignored the sound of it wheezing into the station. Claire took a couple of photos on her phone.  Today the Sony A300 was left at home..... The "New" Lighthouse

Today's little excursion wasn't as far as last week's, but only to Dungeness. Plenty of parking but with extra trains running that far there were many people walking to the pub and to the other fish places along the private site's road.  We easily parked in the parking lot near the station. Spaces are clearly marked, or at least they were, with wooden guides.  Unfortunately, shingle doesn't take long to cover the battens up. We parked anyway as best we could given the other cars. Reggie likes a walk on the shingle. He likes the smells and of course, the rabbit holes all over the estate.  Out first stop was for a coffee in the "End of the Line Café". There was a train in the station and another special came in. I found a table in the garden and Claire went in the building.  It's a shame but dogs aren't allowed inside. If the weather is not too good then it is a place to avoid with no real outside cover. Whilst we were there the second train, this on...

Today is the " Day of Syn " in Dymchurch. I dropped Claire off at 0930 for her shift as volunteer for Guide Dogs UK .  Her spell on the stand is finishing at 1200 and before the parade from the slipway gets to the recreation ground and so traffic might get a bit heavy later. So I thought of the train as an alternative. The Romney Hythe and Dymchurch Railway runs at the end of our garden and Hythe station is a longish walk from home. As an over-60 I get a concession fare and Reggie will travel free. It will be £9 return. However, Reggie doesn't like the train when it passes our back fence. So I decided that it wasn't worth the gamble that he would get angry and bark all the way! It's twenty minutes each way, So. We drove. The car park at Dymchurch by the Martello was almost empty. The walk to the recreation ground wasn't that far and we were soon on the Guide Dogs stand. When Claire's shift was over we set off for a look at other stands an...

After the Rocket ride out to Dover Transport Museum and with the bike stuffed back into the garage we decided to go to Dungeness for a lunch stop at the railway cafe and have a walk on the shingle. As it was a decent dry and sunny day it looked as though the light railway in full operation. No soon as one left than another arrived on the loop and into the station. Despite not being able to see much on the phone screen I did manage to get a few decent pix. Sadly, despite being able to see them Reggie went apeshit and we had to leave to stop him barking at them all. They actually go right behind our garden  but he can't see them over two six feet high fences but they actually pass only 10 feet from him! He goes absolutely berserk when he hears them. And that is way before the human ear can detect them!

Today we had a short drive to Dungeness to take Reggie for a walk. We go quite often to see the trains and for a walk on the shingle. Some info - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dungeness_(headland) As it was a sunny Saturday of the Easter Weekend the place was packed.  Now that some of fishermen are selling their product direct to the public and have small pop-up restaurants, the crowds have increased. We were lucky to park and then set off across the shingle inland to give Reggie a chance to smell down a few rabbit holes. Luckily for all concerned no rabbits ventured above ground. Shingle! The old Lighthouse The big square building is a nuclear power station!

One of the many eccentricities of the British is the fascination with steam railways. Long after the country marched on into the diesel and then the electric age, (mostly) men and boys have kept steam railways alive. The RHDR isn't simply a toy railway. Although the trains are small, for many years the railway provided transport for people going to work and also as a school service. Nowadays, it is more for holidaymakers to clamber on and travel from Hythe in the east to Dungeness in the west. More about their railway and its history can be seen on their website . I took this picture, at the weekend, from some 75 yards or so as I tested my new toy, a Tamron 70-300mm zoom for my aging Canon 300D.

After a run down to Dungeness we arrived just in time for "Hurricane" to arrive with another batch of holidaymakers and tourists.