Dover Castle

Last weekend I was at Dover Castle telling tales with a group run by Ian Pyecroft of Black Knight Historical. It was an event to celebrate the five hundred year anniversary of Henry VII's accession to the the throne and I was telling stories about the rise and falls of Kings.

Other than that there is not a lot I can tell you, because I didn't heed my own advice and have much of a look round. There was so much else going on. All I can say is that it is in a way a much bigger version of Southsea Castle, although its history does extent much further back. It has the remains of a Roman Lighthouse, a Saxon Church and a massive Norman Keep, which unfortunately is still being redisplayed and so inaccessible to all. I suppose this evidence alone is important as it clearly shows that the headland on which Dover Castle sits has been important to people for a very long time. It reminds me a lot of Scarborough Castle where I worked last year, which also has a Roman Lighthouse and Saxon remains and also has evidence of much earlier bronze age and Iron peoples too. And I wouldn't be at all surprised if there isn't similar evidence of much earlier activity at Dover.

To sum up... Come to Dover Castle, spend the day at Dover Castle, for Dover Castle is really, really, really big!

Many thanks to the Sea Cadets who made us feel so welcome at their clubhouse and especially to Sheila, who cooked us some superb breakfasts...