As I write this, I’m sitting in the lounge of our apartment in the region of Brittany, France. Yesterday we left the UK via the 0830 ferry from Dover to Calais. We picked up our hire car in Calais and headed south to the tiny medieval town of Dinan. We arrived last night at approximately 6pm – 12 hours after we left our apartment in Whitstable – but just in time to walk down to the town square to watch the fireworks. Hamish was weak with hunger, so we found a creperie, ordered from the French-only menu and had a lovely dinner before returning to our apartment. Our apartment is effectively 4 rooms at the top of a tower. It’s gorgeous and we’re here for Christmas.

Our last day in County Kent was spent at Dover Castle. Initially, we’d planned to also walk along the iconic white cliffs of Dover, but the weather and eventually the time, was against us.

Take a second to think about what the word castle conjures up in your mind. To us, a classic castle has draw bridges, moats, tunnels, battlements, spaces in the walls for firing arrows or muskets, cannons and stories of power and betrayal. Dover Castle has all of these things and more. We spent the best part of four hours at Dover Castle and still didn’t see everything.

Historically, (nearly) all the major players had some input into the site of Dover castle:

• The Romans – AD 43, built a lighthouse
• The Saxons – some time after that, built a church
• William the Conqueror – 1066, started building proper fortifications
• King Henry II – 1180’s, built the imposing castle that stands there now

A labyrinth of underground tunnels were cut into the chalkstone cliffs; some of these were built during the time Napoleon was keen to invade England (about 18^th century). Masses of soldiers and officers were barracked in the tunnels. As it turns out, Napoleon didn’t invade and the medicos at the time suggested existing below ground in tunnels wasn’t a particularly healthy way to live. However, the tunnels were given an upgrade during the second world war by Welsh Sappers (Engineering Corps), who happened to know a thing or two about mining.

We explored two tunnel systems. One was essentially a field hospital, complete with triage, operating theatre and ward beds. It was used for both civilian and military illnesses and emergencies. Sometimes, airmen were rescued off the coast and brought to the hospital and stabilized before being transferred to larger tertiary hospitals (sounds familiar).

The other tunnel system was used for strategic purposes, such as:

• Operation Dynamo – the evacuation of allied troops from Dunkirk
• Eastern defences
• Preparation for invasion

The weather was wild this day – the wind was so strong you really had to lean into it so as not to get blown off course! We braved it to eat our packed lunch outside and look over the English Channel. Rod and Hamish ate their sandwiches quickly and without issue, but I was not so lucky. A HUGE ocean gull dive-bombed me in order to take my sandwich: I threw my sandwich on the ground in an act of self-preservation.

From there, shaken as I was, we continued our self-guided tour of the castle. We walked up along the castle walls and eventually found another tunnel system, which was perfect timing as the heavens opened. These tunnels had cannons and slits in the walls for firing muskets.

Next, we explored the Great Tower. The spiral staircase seemed to be never ending – I mean, we’re talking maybe 150 steps to get to the top. But once on the rooftop (battlements) the view was definitely worth the leg work. It was super windy and cold, so we got a few pics, made sure Hamish didn’t get blown off the rooftop and made our way back down the stairs. We stumbled across a little museum within one of the castle buildings, and then decided to call it a day.

We headed back to the car and congratulated ourselves on deciding to visit Dover Castle. It was awesome. We have voted it as our favourite castle (sorry Dunnotar Castle).