Day 4 Trip to Broadstairs on the train

The Premier Inn is next to the station and it is only five minutes to Broadstairs on the train. We wander towards the sea and discover Dickens House Museum.   Charles Dickens had a long connection with Broadstairs from 1837 to 1851. The museum is housed in the cottage that was Charles Dickens’ inspiration for the home of Betsey Trotwood in David Copperfield. David’s description of Betsey's cottage with its square gravelled garden full of flowers, and a parlour of old fashioned furniture still fits today.  But we arrive at beer o'clock, so the museum is shut. 

There is a row of houses and shops from the same era overlooking the harbour.  It is very picturesque. 

The town lies above a harbour with cliffs on either side. It has seven bays of golden sand, which are (from south to north) Dumpton Gap, Louisa Bay, Viking Bay (below) Stone Bay, Joss Bay, Kingsgate Bay and Botany Bay.  North Foreland rises between Stone Bay and Joss Bay.   In AD449 the Viking Hengist actually landed near Ramsgate at Pegwell Bay. Today there is a replica Viking long ship on display at the site. This replica was actually rowed across the North Sea in 1949 and landed at was then called Main Bay in Broadstairs It is now renamed Viking Bay in honour of this event.

The Shrine of Our Ladye Star of the Sea was an old chapel on the cliffs.  Dating back at least to the 1350s, the two towers of the chapel were a major landmark for sailors in the area. 

The Chapel of St. Mary is all that remains of the shrine and is the oldest building in the town.  It is now a micro pub and book shop.  Funky! 

We visit The Thirty Nine Steps next.  No prizes for guessing the nature of the memorabilia here!  This is a great, busy little pub and the Adnams Ghost Ship is heavenly.  

Next we have a short walk beyond the station to the smallest micro brewery cum pub in the country.  

It is named The Four Candles in honour of Ronnie Barker who is said to have been inspired to write the famous Four Candles sketch whilst on a visit to Broadstairs to see his comedy partner, Ronnie Corbett.  Corbett had a holiday home next to the Charles Dickens public house and just along from H. E. Harrington's general ironmonger business that is famed for stocking everything you could possibly need.
Barker, who wrote under the pseudonym of Gerald Wiley, is known to have noticed Harrington's wide and diverse stock. This gave him the basis of an idea that he then developed into the classic 1976 Two Ronnies BBC sketch that starts with a customer who walks into a hardware store and asks the shopkeeper for "fork handles".
The premises now known as The Four Candles pub, was a hardware store for many years, before going through other, briefer, incarnations as a florists, delicatessen and exotic meat shop.

Mike gives us a very warm welcome and has a great rapport with the contented band of drinkers.  The ale is really good.  Read more at Mike's great website here http://thefourcandles.co.uk/

I snap a photo of the site in the old days.  

We have to run to get the delayed high speed train which is a lot of fun.  

We arrive just in time for a lovely sunset.  

And then it's back to the Fez via fish and chips!