And across the channel to England we went, keeping sometimes only a bare length of our motorhome in front of the terrible summer weather. We trundled down our favourite country lanes picking out the picturesque and the quaint historical oddities in some of England's most beautiful villages.
On the edge of Romney Marsh we stopped at a little village called Appledore, which once upon a long time ago was one of the ports which allowed Vikings into the country along with French invaders. And here, in 1381, when fourteen year old King Richard 11's henchmen attempted to extort a poll tax from the peasants, local serfs under Watt Tyler, brandished their weapons and marched on London, in protest.
Inside on the wall of the church the local craftswomen, no doubt inspired by the Bayeux Tapestry, have created and displayed the most magnificent piece of work depicting the history of this little town. Just beautiful.
Across the village road and down the street we came across Miss Mollett's High Class Tea Room, another remnant of days long passed. We were delighted to see one of Miss Mollett's wait-staff, in her crisply starched white apron, offering a kindly guiding hand to an elderly patron who had likely just finished her poacher's roll and tea. History and courtesy appear alive and well in this lovely little village.
On to Hilton, Cambridgeshire, where we stumbled across one of the few turf mazes remaining in England: there are only eight left. This, an historic one, was designed and cut by a nineteen year old youth, William Sparrow, to commemorate Charles 11's restoration to the throne after the Civil War. Around 1660. It is so old, and has seen so many footfalls over time, that the entire circle of the maze has sunk deeper into the ground than the surrounding parkland. Across the field was a beautiful thatched cottage, one of many in this picturesque village.
Our time is running out now. We really have only days left. As the Olympic flame rises over London our plane will be heading home. Another lovely trip complete.
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| Road into Lindsey, Suffolk |
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| History of Appledore in tapestry |
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| Miss Mollett's High Class Tea Room, Appledore, Kent |
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| Single path maze, coiled into a labyrinth |
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| Stone pillar records in Latin that William Sparrow formed the maze in 1660 |
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| Hilton thatch |
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