Do you recognize the club house?  It was used by a former member of the club as part of his famous 007 spy novels.  Yes, you guessed it! Ian Flemming's James Bond played Royal St. George in the movie Goldfinger.  The trip to Royal St.George, took us south along the coast through the town of Sandwich.  The town is typical of a world heritage status location.   Narrow streets, old timber framed buildings.  It has a storied place in history.  Not the least of which the connection with the food group of the same name.  John Montagu, the 4th Earl of Sandwich during the 18th century, is believed to have invented the snack.  John had a bit of a gambling addiction.... in order to reduce his time away from the tables he would order his valet to prepare some meat between two slices of bread.  People in the town started ordering the snack calling it a sandwich after John's title.  The name stuck.  After passing through the village, we traveled along a back road which appears to lead nowhere.  Ahead, we see the sea and a narrow spit of fescue covered land.  It doesn't inspire golf from this vantage point.  As we roll down this narrow stretch of lane, a small non-descript sign appears just to the right of a left hand turn.  The sign reads " St. Georges Golf Club,  Members and guest only".  We turn in.  It is hard to believe that the world's best golfers have been here, most recently in 2011.  It just doesn't seem grand enough, small by the standards of today's big game venues.  However small,  the course has stood the test of time.  Built in 1884 it was the first course outside of Scotland to host the Open Championship.

  I had a nice chat with the Caddie Master, took a few pictures before it was suggested I leave since I didn't have a game and was  unlikely to get one.  "I could play on Monda for a tidy sum of 250 pounds" (500 Cdn) he says.  Sadly, we will be north of London by Monday, so I will have to be satisfied with my visit.  Off to Canterbury we go.

It is said, "Canterbury's history is England's history".  If you had but one place to visit in  England to experience history, Canterbury would be an excellent choice.  This city is a road map of all things England.  From the Romans,  the Huguenots, Thomas Beckett, Chaucer, the plague, WWII etc.  It is all  here for your consumption.  We loved this medieval city.  The centre piece of the Church of England, Canterbury Cathedral impressively stands front and centre, the towns streets arching away from this monument.

Upon entering the city walls through East gate, (shown above),  go directly to the "Canterbury Historic River Tours".

That is the crew from the river tour standing on the Kings Bridge above.  This tour is the absolute best way to see a little of the city and more importantly, learn a ton of history regarding the area from the super friendly, knowledgeable crew.  Carey, the owner has been in charge of this business for many years.  He is a very enthusiastic leader and is known in the community as a Canterbury "character".  If you should happen to meet him you will quickly realize how appropriate that description is.  Carey knows all the places to be seen and which ones to go to that you don't want to be seen in.  A terrific guide for all things Canterbury.  

Our guide for the river tour was Vincent, pictured below.  As he gently maneuvered our boat through the canal, he kept our attention, regaling in stories covering the Romans, the Abbey, writer Christopher Marlowe and many more.  The Marlowe story is particularly interesting.  Marlowe, a contemporary of Shakespeare, was a brilliant writer.  He was also a brilliant scoundrel, drinker, gambler, womanizer and a spy for the king.  It is this larger then life character that ultimately got him killed, in a drunken brawl during a poker game.  The weird thing is his body was never found. His murderer was among the witnesses to his death and burial. It seems Marlowe was in some trouble related to the spy thing and needed to disappear before he was made to disappear.   Shortly thereafter, Shakespeare started writing in a similar style and became.... famous.  Some think it was actually Marlowe doing the writing for old William. Vincent does a great job of describing the whole torrid affair.  That story alone is worth the price of admission.

Above is the Weaver's house.  A 17th century home of the French Huguenots.  Of the 5000 inhabitants in the town, 2000 of them spoke French.  These people brought silk weaving to Canterbury developing a new and vibrant industry and creating a harmonious relationship between the French and English.  Which was no small feat given the time!

Vincent gives up his paddles and uses foot power to push us under the bridge.  

Above, if you look closely you will see a chair at the top of a long post.  This is called a Ducking Stool.  This chair had a few uses, all of which related to public humiliation.  The primary application was to correct the actions of the nagging wife!  It seems that village elders would, upon request of the husband, strap the wife in the chair and dunk her in the river a few times to help her to see the error of her ways.  It must have worked..., we don't see nagging wives anymore, do we boys?  The second and more popular use of the chair was the public humiliation of cheating businessmen.  The guilty party would be strapped in the chair during the market day. This ensured that all the town's people were able to see the cheat, ruining his reputation and thus eliminating the problem.  Third "unusual" use was for witches also being tested in the chair.  A woman accused of witchcraft would be dunked under water many times and for very long periods of time.  Should she die, then she would be absolved of the charge and given a front row seat to enter the Pearly Gates.  If she survived, she must clearly be a witch and was burned at the stake. I think I would prefer to die drowned than burnt alive...wouldn't you? Justice was hard and swift in the 12th-14th century.

We thanked Vincent and Carey for our tour and continued on our way through the town. No visit would be complete without a visit to "Chaucer's Canterbury Tales" exhibit.  We walked through the still life audio tour, enjoying the stories from book being told by the characters on display.  A worthwhile stop for sure.

Before leaving the town we were privileged to participate in the afternoon Evensong and service in the Canterbury Cathedral.  The powerful pipe organ vibrated deep within our being as the choir sang in unison.  While I am not a religious person, this was an awe inspiring experience.  Needless to say Canterbury was a hit with both of us.

Back at our flat in Margate.  It is nice to have the space and comfort of an apartment for a few days.  This place is just beautifully renovated and stylish. The view of the English Channel was pretty special too. The town itself is full of beach partyers at night, roaring with music and laughters.

Tomorrow we head north of London to visit Cambridge.  

Be Well

Cheerio