Whitstable

Nipped down to Whitstable for an afternoon yesterday and very nice it was too. The weather was great which helped, because it can be a bit bleak down that way when its cold or raining or blowing a gale. Unusually for us too, we went in the car rather than on bikes. Yes I know, but it's up for sale and I forgot and filled it with fuel recently, so we had to use it or loose it.

Anyway, for those of you who don't know, Whitstable is on the north Kent coast, a bit along from Herne Bay and Margate.  Its actually in the Thames Estuary rather than on the sea and like all that bit of land on both sides, used to be a day trip mecca for Londoners thanks to the advent of the railway. That's what started it all, but now of course everybody gets there under their own steam (ha).

And Whitstable is particularly nice now that its been tarted up a bit, but not too much. That happened a while back because it was very tatty at one time, but now the fixing has blended in and the place seems to have flourished yet kept its individuality and interest. Lots of little info boards dotted around and things tidied up. Nice.

Peter Cushing used to live in Whitstable, and there are markers to him all over the place. He was a big movie star in his day ( Sherlock Holmes, the Abominable Snowman etc) The town cinema is no longer a picture house but a pub ( I think a Wetherspoons) called The Peter Cushing, and decked out as a 1930's cinema minus the screen and seats, but its all art deco and really is quite cool.

Whitstable used to be a major oyster, winkle and cockle fishing port and this still goes on, only to a much lesser extent.

Turns out the Oyster festival had finished yesterday but there was evidence of it along the beach, with piles of shells.

Along the seafront along by the tiny port, many of the sail lofts and net sheds have been converted to little shops and there is quite an art and craft thing going on down, interspersed with seafood stalls. Some have now been converted to short stay holiday accommodation as well. But its all very well done and retains that higgledy piggeldy look but blends in nicely and the place is quite lively.

It took us about an hour to get there; 65 miles from South London. And my favourite thing of the day was the town car parking.....yes really. You see, unlike many places where they rip you off and charge you big bucks for the privilege of visiting their town and giving them your money, Whitstable does it differently. The Junior School - right in the town centre - rents out its playground during weekends and school holidays. Its an old Victorian school with a substantial area around it. So the school and local charities group have teamed up, the voluntary group runs it, directs the parking and guards the vehicles, while you make them a donation - could be  10p, could be £10.00, whatever you like, for as long as you like. Half goes to whichever charity's turn it is, half to the school. Great idea, keeps traffic and jams out of the little town, yet encourages people to visit because they know they can park. And I'm not even a car fan!