It is an odd quirk that the main main heritage weekends are not six months apart, but on on adjacent weekends in September. This weekend was the Heritage open Weekend, as organised by English Heritage. And despite it supposedly lasting four days, and me booking the last two days of the week to take in more buildings, most events were on the Saturday and Sunday. And as I am mostly interested in churches, that kinda rules out churches on the Sunday.
So for this Saturday, I initially thought about spending time visiting several buildings on Sandwich, but I really wanted to visit Holy Trinity in Dartford. So, I drew up a list of seven churches, Jools programmed the sat nav and after breakfast, we set off.
Up the M20, through Ashford and up past Maidstone (where we spent last Heritage weekend) and on to nearly the M25 before heading off to our first visit, Sutton-at-Hone. We did not have a post code for this, so after driving through the village and checking the map, we find the Baptist church which was marked on our street map. I looked some more and saw a cemetery marked, and the road leading to it: Church Lane.
Bingo.
Bango.
Bongo.
We set off and found a space to park in front of the church. Overhead the clouds gathered and a light drizzle fell. I took a couple of shots of the outside before we head inside. A couple were waiting, and offered us coffee, tea and brought out a tray of biscuits too. We chatted long and it was very pleasant. The church was very fine, full of interest and potential GWUK. I decided on the usual open Bible wide angle shot; always looks good. Although it was very pleasant we really needed to push on.
We drove a few miles to Darenth, where we received another great welcome. It was a much different church, but again crammed with lots of interest. We were offered more coffee, which we declined; there was a possibility of there being another five churches and there is only so much tea one can drink in one day!
Next up was Wilmington; a suburb of Dartford. It is a grade I listed building, but three renovations have smoothed most of it's character out, which was a disappointment. As we stood talking to the wardens, a couple came in and said they had been married in this very church 50 years ago that day. We wished them good wishes and handshakes and kisses were given. The groom was very surprised with his kiss!
We moved on again and headed into the centre of town to find Holy Trinity on the High Street. Dartford is best known for being the point where the M25 crosses the Thames of course, but there is a town here, and one with a long history when it was on the main road between London and Dover dating back to Roman times. It is a typical British town, complicated one way system, and at midday clogged with traffic.
We drive round and find a place to park for an hour. We had about half a mile to walk, and as we walked the drizzle grew heavier. We walked through a street market, and one bloke on a fruit stall was shouting out his latest bargains. I have no idea what he was selling, but it cost £2. I think it might have been eight cobs of corn. It all looked really nice stuff, but I only had eyes on the church and the orange people of Dartford whose only task that morning seemed to stand in my way!
We dash inside out of the rain and are greeted warmly once again. But it soon gets frosty when I say I want to take photos. Oh no, I don't think so, she said. You might be a journalist. In the end I convinced her it was just a hobby. In fast so good was I with the chatting I could not shut her up, and I wanted to take shots! Thankfully, Jools took over so I got my shots. I did find a memorial to what must have been a local man, Richard Trevithick, the inventor of the steam locomotive. Or one of them. He exhibited a locomotive in Euston Square, of all places, in 1805.
We set off back to the car in the rain; we had no time to pause as we had to get to the car in an hour. We do get there in time and drive off again, looking for our 5th church, Stone. Stone is another suburb of Dartford, and the sat nav took us through industrial estates, over the M25 and along a narrow lane. We have to go round the village a second time to find the church as a housing estate had been built in the 70s along the lane, and the church was hidden. But at the end of the dead end lane, there was the gates to the church with another 'church open' sign on display.
We go in and find the church crowded with people. It is another fine church, and full of welcoming and friendly people. I get the shots and am loving this place.
It was now half one, and I was aware Jools might be getting church-fatigue. In truth I was a little too. We try one last church as it was on the way back to the A2: Swanscombe was another bugger to find, hidden by another estate, but after checking the map a few times, I find it, but the gates are locked with no one clearly there.
I snap it and go back to the car and we decide to call it a day. The weather agrees and it begins to pour. We head down the A2 which resembles a lake at times. We stop of at medway services for lunch. We don't have fast food much, but I can be tempted by Burger King, as can Jools. So we have a bite to eat then complete the trip home.
On the radio Norwich struggle, and end up losing 2-0 to a rampant Spurs at White Hart Lane. A disappointment, but one we kinda expected from a team that spent £108m during the summer. So, we will regroup and fight another day.
I spend the rest of the day sorting through the pictures from the day. another good one.
I will upload pictures here as I post them on flickr. Thanks
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