Saturday 17th March 2018

St Patrick's Day (Ireland and Boston)

When snow is forecast for East Kent, it can mean we get what is forecast, less or more. I suppose that is the same everywhere. And yet, here near to France, a slight change in wind or humidity can mean that the wind picks up more or no moisture from the Channel. That and there are are strong winds along both the north and east Kent coasts, which is why there are four windfarms there, mean it is unpredictable. To say the least.

So, when snow was forecast for all of Saturday morning, we shopped on Friday, buying nothing more than we usually do I stress, but it did mean that we could have a leisurely lay in, then sip coffee looking at the snow free garden out the back.

We had breakfast; more coffee and croissants of course, and outside the snow began to fall. Just dry powder at first, and all we thought we would get. That soon changed to great big wet flakes that was soon laying, turning the lawn from green to white.

My plan had to do a little church crawling, but it became clear that going out in what was not quite a blizzard but close enough would be foolhardy. So we wait, looking out the window at the wintery scene.

But come eleven, the cabin fever reached its peak in me, and I said I was going out. Do you really think any churches will be one on a day like this, Jools asked. I had had it in my mind to visit Northbourne and Great Mongeham. I know I had visited them in the dim and distant past, 2009 I think. And I was pretty sure I had not taken too many or many good shots. So. anyway, to Northbourne.

Northbourne the village, not the prep school, whose chapel is the former parish church of Tilmanstone, the former mining community. And Northbourne was also the home to many miners working at that pit.

At least with Google live traffic I could check for delays and hold ups before we left, and all seemed to be fine. So we took the Sandwich road, past Whitfield and Eastry before turning off driving pas the school, where we hoped to find our way to Northbourne. But not all crossroads had signposts, and those that did we blasted by wind driven snow, so obscuring the signs. We were driving blind. Or as close as. I mean we could have used the sat nav, but we were within a mile of the church, if only we could choose the right road.

We did, more by luck, and I could see the tower of St Augustine just off the main road, down a dead end lane. I park up and chide myself for such foolishness that brought us to this windswept church on a snowy Saturday morning.

As it happens, the churchwarden's wife had said to him, do you really think anyone is going to want to visit the church today? To open the church, he would have to walk from Finglesham, a walk in the snow of a mile or so, but the warden did. And I was there too. So it came to pass that we met in the porch as he was just hanging the "church open" sign on the door. Hello, come to visit the church? Yes, is there one nearby, I quipped.

The ice (ahem) broken, he showed my items of interest, including two scratch dials, and interesting memorial that needs investigating as well as some reused stone in the buttresses. He also explained the large brick buttress on the north of the tower. He showed me an arch which was probably to a stairway turret. It is guesses that it collapsed at some point and the buttress upt up to stop the tower falling. In several places the shaped stone of a spiral staircase can be seen in the walls or another buttress.

The church has the longest curtains I have ever seen, used in the winter months to divide up the large interior space of the church. In the south transept, there is a fine monument of the first chairman of the Virginia Trading Company.

I take more pictures than last time, when I took just two interior shots, apparently.

A short drive away was Great Mongeham, we saw that tower too from a distance away. I can't remember anything of this, not even the narrow lane leading to the church.

I park up and go to try the door, not taking my cameras out this time as the snow was falling heavier and heavier. The door was locked, but a sign said a key could be obtained at a house in the lane. I went to clal, rang the bell, but no one came.

One to return to another, warmer day.

I decided not to go to Coldred either, I think that is always locked and would need the chance meeting with a warden, as happened ten years ago. A way to go in difficult conditions, best to go home and have some warming lunch.

Which is what we did, driving back along the Sandwich road, past the modern boxes in Richmond Park now taking over farmland at Whitfield and onto the A2 to home.

Snow continued to fall afternoon, but a partial melt had set in. But we were going nowhere.

A weather warning was no in force for the evening, so we decide to cancel the card evening with John and Jen, as we did not fancy being snowed in, or skid on black ice on the way home. So, I get some koftes out of the freezer for dinner, then warm up the soup for lunch. We're going nowhere else for the rest of the day.

As ever there is football on all afternoon, and rugby too; England lose heavily to Ireland who wind the Grand Slam for only the 3rd time, and the pre-tournament favourites end up losing their last three games. Norwich are home to Reading, who we thrashed last year 7-1, including six in the first half. There were five in the first half this time, three for City. And that's how it stayed, City breaking their sevan game winless streak.

In the evening we watch a film that someone off Twitter recommended: Annihilation, which was a Sci-fi/ thriller/slasher film, which on occasion felt like Alien, but not as focussed. Oh well, pretty good and kept us awake all evening anyway.

While outside the forecasted heavy snow failed to appear, but the bitterly east wind blew. We were glad not to have had to go out that evening.