Canterbury Cathedral was very cool. So was Cal's old school next door, slightly more grand than the now-bulldozed local comprehensive that Knuffy's Owner and I went to!
After Canterbury we were keen to see the coast and drove to the nearby seaside town of Deal. As we arrived, the comment was made (not by me!) that England is 'the most underwhelming country in the world'. Could the grandeur of the cathedral have been forgotten so quickly? Ok, so Deal was pretty ugly.
But later I found out that dissing Deal has become something of an English literary tradition: Samuel Pepys called it 'pitiful' and Daniel Defoe wrote that 'The barbarous hated name of Deal shou'd die'. Even Jane Austen and Dickens have made unfavourable references!
8 comments:
What?! Our old school's been bulldozed? Where did you hear about this?
I had dinner with the captain a couple of weeks ago and he told me... can someone living in Beacon Hill confirm?
I only managed to find this article on the net, so I assume it hasn't been demolished yet. Maybe it just looks like it has? http://www.manlydaily.com.au/common/story_page/0,7168,19744245%255E15721,00.html
I think it cut off the link. You'll have to copy and paste it in two goes:
http://www.manlydaily.com.au/common/story_page/
0,7168,19744245%255E15721,00.html
Hmmm.... so I should replace 'bulldozed' with 'lying in ruin due to vandalism and soon to be demolished'...
Glad you liked Canterbury, but you should have gone to Whitstable rather than Deal if you wanted pretty.
Though I do think that when you stand on the pier and look back at all the painted houses on Deal's seafront it does look rather nice. Walmer right next to Deal has a good castle and is a bit nicer as well.
I know... we're planning another trip to see stuff we missed :)
no demolition yet... some old die hards still fighting hard to have the school reopened, but considering the state of the school when it was abandoned 5 yrs ago, i dont think its going to happen!
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