Broadstairs - A Bit of a Disappointment

I am getting behind once again with my posts so in order to play catch up I thought that I would do two posts in a day! On Monday of last week we awoke once again to the sound of the waves lapping the shore - we repeatedly hit the snooze button, we were on holiday after all! We got up later than usual and had a late breakfast. We looked at things to do of interest locally and made our journey to Broadstairs as the guidebooks told us that it had a Dickens Museum and that it was where the house upon which Dickens drew the inspiration for Bleak House was situated.

We arrived at Broadstairs shortly before lunch-time. The Tourist Information Office told us that the Museum did not open till 2.00 p.m. Alarm bells should have started to ring by this time as what decent tourist attraction does not open its doors till 2.00 p.m.?

We had a relaxing lunch al fresco at an Italian Restaurant / Cafe.

By now it was after 2.00 p.m. and we made our way to the Museum - we paid £10 for all three of us - daylight robbery if you ask me! The only thing that seemed to be anything remotely to do with Charles Dickens were some Toby Jugs depicting some of Dickens' best known characters!

We spent about 30 minutes at the house before beating a hasty retreat! I thought that the museum would have offered something educational for Our Daughter as she loves the film "Oliver" and she enjoyed seeing "A Christmas Carol" at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre in Guildford a few years ago which was brilliantly performed by Clive Francis in a one man show narrating the story through the eyes of Ebenezer Scrooge.

The beach at Broadstairs did look O.K. and was nice and sandy but the day had been a bit spoilt by that awful museum. 

I hope that I haven't battered Broadstairs too much and certainly I hope that I haven't hurt anybody's feelings but that museum needed one hell of a makeover if it was to make any money and bring people into the town.

Here are some of the photographs that I took.

I liked the colours of these stackable seafood containers.

We headed for Bleak House - in a garden nearby we saw this mosaic giraffe!

Even Bleak House was a disappointment. I think it was because over the years you picture something in your head and then when you're confronted with the original it is a bit of a let down. I don't know what it was but we all felt it!

There was a Dickens plaque on the wall otherwise you would not realize that this house had anything to do with Dickens other than the name might have aroused your curiosity!

Far more interesting was walking along the lanes and coming across the house where Oliver Postgate used to live - remember "The Clangers" and "Bagpuss."

We made our way back to the car and drove back to Whitstable.

We left the car in the driveway and walked back to town to buy some food for our dinner that evening.

We walked past the Fish Market.

We cut across back into the town and came upon this lovely car parked outside "The Whitstable Trader."

Another photo of the same car. You don't see many of these cars.

Well, blow me if we didn't come across another one! A bit like buses you wait for ages and then two come along at once! As Our Daughter said "I like the pink one. I also like the green one. Fight!" I think she watches too much T.V. She especially likes Harry Hill and TV Burp! You would never have guessed!

Whitstable has retained that proper High Street feel. It was a pleasure to walk around the town and do some shopping. Lots of little boutiques snuggled amongst the butcher, the baker, etc. This is how I remember my mum shopping in the 1960's / 1970's and it was always a pleasure - people stopping for a natter and people being far more friendly and wanting to help others. Why have we allowed our love for cheap food, via the supermarkets, to kill our High Streets.

We again walked passed "Wheelers Oyster Bar."

We walked past "Rendez Vous" - that red painted building which houses a cafe where we had two lovely lunches.

There was a fab shop next door selling quite expensive whacky items.

Heavily laden with groceries and a few bottles of pear cider we walked back to the house to cook dinner and sit on that verandah admiring the views that I showed you on todays earlier post.

We walked past the harbour and I had to take some photos of the fishing paraphernalia. The Other Half wasn't too enamoured with me asking him to stop so I could take photos - those shopping bags were heavy! I was carrying some of the bags but not the heavy ones, you understand!

I liked the colours of the nets.

More fishing stuff!

Fishing boats!

Fishing nets!

More boating things!

Stating the obvious - a seagull!

We did finally get home. I did manage to put the camera in its case and there it stayed until the following morning. I don't know why but I didn't photograph another sunset - perhaps it was too much pear cider!

Until next time,

June.