Castle, cathedral and a submarine!

[diamondlil]

Today I went to Rochester, one of the two cathedral towns in Kent (Canterbury is the other one). In Roman times it was called Durobrivae, the castle and city walls date back to the Normans and the cathedral was originally built by the Saxons. So, firstly, here's the high street as I walked from the train station and Eastgate house.

 

[diamondlil]

Eastgate house used to hold an exhibition about the life and works of Charles Dickens, and on school trips there I fell in love with it, especially the sweet little wooden chalet in the courtyard. It's currently closed awaiting replacement housing for the collection

 

[diamondlil]

Here are the remains of the city walls. Originally the city was fortified by the Romans, then the walls were rebuilt by the Normans soon after they conquered Britain in 1066

 

[Allalaskan]

Those are some cool pictures. I really like the way alot of those old buildings look. Also the pictures of Charles Dickens Chalet are really cool. Thats something that I will most likely never get to see but to see live pictures taken by a member on the forum is almost like being there

 

[diamondlil]

Next, the castle.

 

[Tavia]

Awesome! Thanks for sharing! My favorite Gillian Bradshaw novel is Island of Ghosts and that town is mentioned, though I don't think it's in there too often.

 

[Allalaskan]

The castle is just way to cool!

 

[Jeff Linkchorst]

Great pictures J9. Thanks for sharing them.

 

[diamondlil]

In the castle grounds

 

[diamondlil]

The cathedral

 

[diamondlil]

Views of the river Medway. This is further upstream from where I usually walk Rosie at the riverside/estuary, it was of great strategic importance hence all the forts and defences along its length. My school was built on the site of a napoleonic fort and I grew up surrounded by military history without even realising. Here there are still working docks, as well as moorings for pleasure craft.

 

[diamondlil]

Especially for Alan, here's the Black Widow, a russian hunter-killer class sub that's moored in the river just over the bridge from Rochester.

 

[diamondlil]

Things that caught my eye as I walke over the bridge

 

[diamondlil]

Back into Rochester

 

[diamondlil]

More historic buildings. Hope you enjoyed my daytrip, I'll get back there in better weather to climb the castle and share inside the museums and cathedral with you!

 

[Tavia]

More historic buildings. Hope you enjoyed my daytrip, I'll get back there in better weather to climb the castle and share inside the museums and cathedral with you!

Looking forward to it!

 

[diamondlil]

Looking forward to it!

Thanks! Today was just too cold, I got chilled to the bone even though I had a ski jacket on.

 

[Momto3boys]

Wow....I would love to go visit there! It's beautiful and so interesting, that castle is freakin awesome, can't wait for you to post more pics of inside.

 

[vetusvates]

Fascinating, Janine. Thanks for the pics.

 

[whippet]

*sigh* I wanna go!!!!

Great photos!