From: brennan@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu (Joseph Brennan)
Subject: Re: Dover -- A travel story (very long)
Keywords: Dover, England
Reply-To: brennan@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu (Joseph Brennan)
Organization: Columbia University
Date: Fri, 8 Jan 1993 17:55:25 GMT

Nice Dover article.  I visited there one day in 1988 as a day trip
from London, and enjoyed the day very much.  An interesting feature
for railfans is that there are two distinct routes between London and
Dover, from Charing Cross or Victoria by entirely different railway
lines to Dover Priory.  Both routes had an express train about once an
hour, so it was not hard to go one way and back the other.

The route from Victoria passes through many towns including Rochester
and Canterbury, which offer glimpses of old cathedrals, castles, and
city walls.  The route from Charing Cross runs through more rural
country most of the way (and is I think the one the Channel Tunnel
trains will use?).  Trains from Victoria enter Dover Priory from the
north and run through to Dover Marine; those from Charing Cross enter
Priory from the south, bypassing Dover Marine which is on a very short
north-facing branch line, and run through to the line to Margate.
Priory itself is a just two tracks with a platform on each side, and
the approach at both ends is by tunnel, since it is in a cutting below
street level.  Because I used the two different routings on my trip,
I arrived and departed the same platform!

"Since most trains to Dover terminate at the Priory station, you'll
need to take a bus from there into town" really overstates the case.
My recollection is an easy 5 blocks or so into the center of town, and
the same again to the beach.  Can it be much more?  The walk takes you
past the Priory School, then across a main road (with traffic light
protection), and then you're in the old town with a small stone chapel
as the first historic site of interest.  There are numerous places to
eat in town.

"Perhaps Dover will come back as a travel destination in its own
right"-- it should.  The two things that drew me were the Roman house
and Dover Castle.  The house dates from perhaps 150 A.D. and what is
left is the complete foundation (including the central heating!) and
the lower parts of the walls, with painted murals.  It was discovered
in the 1960's when a bypass road was being built, and fortunately the
road plan was the changed (I suppose it's the main road you cross on
the way from the station?) and a shell building was put up to protect
the excavated house.

Dover Castle, up on the hill east of town, is extremely impressive and
I highly recommended.  Used from about 1066 to 1950 (!), its thick
walls and numerous interior buildings can take a few pleasant hours to
tour.  Again, you could go up the hill by bus or just walk up.  Inside
the Castle grounds is a stone lighthouse tower dating from about 45
A.D.  and a church of about 900 A.D. with unfortunate 19th century
restoration.  My New World perspective gave me a thrill out of seeing
such ancient buildings, and as someone pointed out, "when that church
was built in 900, the lighthouse tower next to it was about as old as
the church is now."  There are nice views of the harbor and cliffs
from several locations in the castle.

"The rolling stock is older, slower, and a bit more rattly.  The
fastest trains cover the 79 miles from London to Dover in 1 hour and
26 minutes."  80 miles in 90 minutes isn't so bad really, and I found
the old trains quite comfortable to ride.  The windows are large and
the scenery wonderful, by either route.  

Joe Brennan     Columbia University in the City of New York
                ("affiliation shown for identification only")
via Internet:   brennan@columbia.edu
via BITNET:     brennan@cunixf

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