After the frankly god awful day that was Thursday I really needed a lift, herself mentioned that when she was on the way back from the vet hospital she had told Lukey that she wanted me to go to Astro Club on Friday as it would give her time to reflective on recent event and deal with it all in her own way. So on Friday morning I gathered up my scope and headed off to work and at the end of the day I set off to Ashford where I was met by two of clan Badger and Lukey-boy. At Astro club we had a talk on whether or not the moon landings had been faked, the talk was very well presented by a chap named Denver, it was his first presentation for the club and for a first time he did a sterling job. After the talk some of the members, myself included, headed outside with our scopes for an evenings observing. To be honest the conditions weren’t ideal but I saw Venus in half phase through my scope, through Jasons scope I saw Mars and could make out the polar ice caps and some dark regions. I had a look at the moon and just before the end of the evening I had this years first view of Saturn, so all in all a good night.
Saturday was quiet, a little too quiet with a certain little lady no longer with us. Herself headed out for a few hours to meet up with a lass that she nannied when she was younger, they have stayed in touch over the years, I know that Trudes has a special place in her heart for Liz and I think seeing her helped cheer her up after the week she’s had. I stayed home with the pups and had lots of snuggles which was rather lovely.
Finally Sunday morning arrived and I was met by Mr and Mrs Badger, a chap named Kieth, Luke and Boo and we set off to Dover for a walk to Saint Margarets. The plan was to explore a few holes on the way but the first two, Langdon Deep Shelter and Fan Bay Deep Shelter, eluded us as did a third set of tunnels that are not named. Although we had a good hunt for them we were later told that both Langdon and Fan Bay are virtually covered and unless you know exactly where they are you won’t find them. We had a little more luck with one of the plotting rooms for the South Foreland batteries, but sadly the drop on the inside was a bit too high so we counted that as a loss too. I was just about to start hunting for the entrance to the deep shelter when I spotted a small head appear from a hole in the ground, the deep shelter was easily accessible and well worth the visit, similar in design to the deep shelter at St Martins Battery but I suspect in may be a little deeper.
We stopped for a bit of scoff during which we were temporarily joined by a very handsome Beagle called Charlie, I like Beagles and I would love to have one in our pack but they are hard work and apparently they can get a little stir crazy, so probably not the best choice of pup for us.
After the break for nosh we headed over to the battery where we found that there was an entrance to another plotting room. After a clamber down a 15-20 foot ladder we explored the area and found a small passage that went around the entire complex, so off I set on my run around this passage, as I walked I didn’t notice the metal bars sticking out of the ceiling, the top of my head found them though and after a spot of choice language I completed the explore and headed out. Fortunately Keith is a nurse and he checked my head which wasn’t as bad as it felt and although there was a bit of blood the wound was only small so no need for stitches or anything. After the plotting room we had a bit more of a wander, found one of the magazine stores for the guns and some very beautiful horses one of which had a foal which was extremely handsome.
Finally we headed into Saint Margarets where we waited for a bus back to Dover. OK we got off the bus a bit early and had a fair walk back to the cars, but the chaps were very helpful and pointed out the other bus stops as we got closer to them and we now know that there’s one that means we only have a short walk to the car park if we go there again in the future.
We returned to Folkestone where we said our goodbyes, and I got a bit of a telling off for the head wound, bless her. I’m not sure what’s next for our band of intrepid adventurers but I’ve been told no holes until I get a hard hat! Tee hee.
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