Sunday 16th July 2023

Like Saturday: no work and less wind.

So, what to do?

Well, Richborough Roman Fort reopened after a renovation and construction of a new visitor centre, and in its grounds there is the foundations of a very early church: The Chapel of St Augustine.

It has been many years since we last visited, long before the Kent church project really got started and when the nearby power station was still standing. In fact it was September 2009. 14 years ago.

Jools went swimming first thing, while I tried to wake up, only getting up after she had left for the pool.

Coffee made things better.

And once Jools came back, more coffee, breakfast, and then out laden with cameras.

The Gateway to Britannia.

Rutupiae.

Before the Medieval period, The Isle of Thanet was a literal island, separated from the rest of Kent by the Wantsum Channel. And so the hill on which the site now sites, instead of leading down to the main railway line as it does now, instead were low cliffs leading to the Wantsum and that in turn lead to the open sea of The Channel. It was safe anchorage, so used for landings, invasions and departures for centuries, until the Wantsum silted up and Thanet was no longer an island.

And at either end of this Channel the Romans built forts. At the northern end was Reculver (Regulbium) and the southern end was Richborough (Rutupiae), both guarding the sheltered passage through the Channel.

Not only that, Richborough was the site of the second invasion by the Romans in AD43.

Later, in AD597, St Augustine would land here, to bring Christianity back to Britain, despite the fact it endured in Northumberland, at least.

A chapel was built to commemorate St Augustine's landing, and I was here to photograph its ruins.

The ruins pretty much are just three low piles of stones and a concrete outline of its foundations.

That being said, there is a great new visitor centre to look round, an EH shop and a small army of volunteers to guide you.

It was less windy, just, than the day before, and the sun was shining, and being there early meant we had the site to ourselves, which was nice. On the way back to the centre, I put on the macro lens to snap some plants, and discovered a new site for a plant called Fiddleneack, which I have submitted to the recorderes.

And that was that.

We drove home, getting back in time to listen to Desert Island Discs, and afterwards, just time to nip to Jen's to say goodbye to Sylv as she was to go back to Bury that afternoon.

Things will be quieter, for sure. Which can be both good and bad.

Then back home for an afternoon of watching the cycling, with the race heading up and down and up and down and up various Alps, and the riders being so tired, falling off at regular intervals.

Phew.

And by the time that ended, and we had supper, it was gone seven and the weekend had slipped through our fingers once again.