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I know I have posted lots of pictures of my little city on here before but I had an hour to kill this morning and spent it in The Dane John Gardens. This is an ancient gardens just inside the city wall and although I had no specific reason for going there I usually find little historical points of interest (to me at least) as I wander around the city. Canterbury is steeped in history and I confess to being very lacking in knowledge of that history. A few things caught my eye before I had a coffee at Don Juan Cafe in the gardens.
At the western exit from the gardens into Castle Row, I saw a brick and stone column that I had not noticed before. A descriptive board on the wall filled my knowledge gap. Very nearby is Canterbury Castle alongside which runs Castle Street. This street lead out of the city through Worthgate, one of many exits from the city. This gate was closed off in 1548 and replaced with Wincheap gate just a short distance to the south. The history is recorded on the board and, as it says, the column is in fact the Eastern Jamb of the original gate, re-positioned in 1833.
The sign leading down from the city wall is wrong and should read Worthgate. Northgate is the other side of the city. Whoever set the type thought he knew better I expect.
Central in the gardens is a memorial to soldiers of the Buffs Regiment who fell in WWI. Sitting drinking my coffee I noticed an impressive silhouette of the memorial on the grey morning.
The gardens have a main avenue of plane trees that I know I have posted here before. As I entered the gardens I noticed that most trees had now lost their foliage but just a few greeny yellow leaves welcomed me.
Just a few assorted snaps on a very grey morning from my lovely home city .......
@Grandad - you DO live in a very lovely corner of the world and IMO there is such extensive history there you'd have to be a PhD IN the study of history to get it all concerning your area. Your trees are pretty bare though - the trees here are still holding onto a few leaves.
Lovely photos and definitely a very nice statue re: tribute to soldiers.
Don Juan Cafe
Is this a special coffee shop for men? Is there any special 'Don Juan' criteria for getting a coffee in there? What does the interior décor look like?
@Grandad - this is my street today - I stand corrected that 'some' of the trees are now totally bare but others in more sheltered areas are still clinging to their leaves
The backyard
And - while I was standing in the back door taking the photo these 2 flew over. Quite cheeky as they actually squawked at me!!
They also hung around when I pointed the camera at them (my small hand held camera so quality of photos not as good and I am not as rock solid holding a camera out front of me)
These guys usually disappear real quick and/or fly back to a safe distance but they hung about the back tree chipping and chirping and watched ME taking photos of the back yard.
Re: Don Juan Café - just curious if the guys frequenting "Don Juan" café had any special criteria for going in there! vs a Starbucks........mostly I just liked the name of this café - Don Juan.
@Horus. Nice range of trees along your road H. Being a city dwellerm we don't have too many trees along the streets. I assume your visitors are crows? Don't look big enough for rooks. I would know if they were choughs, we have three of them on the city's coat of arms.
@LLL. If I am around there tomorrow I will take some pics and tell you about the place. Not sure if they are Spaniards or Mexicans......now there is a clue to their wares.
@ Grandad, it was actually LLL's lovely tree lines street and not mine, but lovely all the same.
Nice piccies of the park and sorely reminding us that Winter is just around the corner, I do like the fact that they placed a "farewell" stone into the gate column.
I also like your picture of the 'Buffs' memorial, a famous East Kent regiment, WW1 I assume?
@ LLL, yes those do look like Crows to me as well, probably waiting to pounce on some nosh.
Nice to see the avenue again. good shot of the memorial. When you do the Don Juan, try to get photos of the prices, I am very interested to see how much stuff costs in UK now . .
As you all know I have just had a short break in Wales. I went to one of my favourite chill out sites which is actually in a small field on a farm, nothing fancy but has everything I need such as...
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LLL, the inside walls have a hard Lime plaster on the stonework which would have naturally been white when first rendered. In later years it would have had a crude Lime wash, but nowadays they...
Back and forth . . . .
Back and forth . . . .
In and out . . . .
In and out . . . .
A little to the right . . . .
A little to the left . . . .
She could feel the sweat...