Plan A was to visit "The Pines". Today they were open. We arrived well after the opening time, mainly due to my sleeping on until 9:30. The Pines comes from a project inspired by Fred Cleary. I used to eat my sandwiches in a garden containing a plaque remembering him - "Tireless in his wish to increase open space in the City". Of course, he did more than that, and the highly sustainable building that is the Pines Calyx conference centre is also a result of his work.
This building, which reminds me of a 21st Century Hobbit House, is unique because of the traditional and modern construction techniques used to create it. The associated garden also has reed bed sewage filtration.
The tea rooms where we would later eat lunch also has a museum. The current display is called "Hellfire Corner", the nickname for St. Margaret's Bay area during WWII.
The reason is that the area was shelled from the French coast, bombed by the German air force and many of the 'dog fights' occurred overhead. For shelling, there is no warning, so no way to be sure you can get to cover. The warning sounds only after the first shell has landed, and the all-clear is 60 minutes without a shell, once the enemy knows this it is a simple task to know when the best time is to shell the town. Big guns were recovered from scrapped warships at the insistence of Churchill, they were not used to attack the guns on the other side of the channel, rather to protect the channel itself. Before the end of the war they were no longer in use, having worn out!
It was that phrase that caught my eye - 'at the insistence of Churchill'. I've seen it so many times for actions that appear so obvious (with hindsight?), I wonder how we would have progressed the war without him - certainly less would have been done, and as it turned out what was done was barely enough.
We were under very obvious attack, with guns firing across the channel, the British spirit was summed up for me in this cartoon from punch, on display in the museum.
Today, the commons is to vote on the idea of bombing ISIS in Syria. The threat from ISIS is perceived, unlike in WWII, when the threat was very real. So far, only a few terrorist attacks have occurred. Terrible though they are, it seems to me we are already in greater danger of loosing our British spirit. That is of course how terrorism works, if we change the way we live they have won, if we don't then potentially many more will be killed and injured. I have only recently reached the (temporary?) conclusion that bombing in Syria is rather more counterproductive than doing nothing, and there are plenty of more positive things that may be considered. When there were gas attacks on civilians a couple of years ago, it might have been a good time to get involved, now it is not.
Back to the exhibition. Being close to France, St Mary's bay also saw some of the first international phone cables laid, and the information about their construction and the difficulties of creating a uniform wire and consistent insulation were fascinating.
In WWI Henry Royce developed his first areo-engine, the Eagle, nearby. It was used in many WWI aircraft, and in 1919 was used to make the first on-stop trans-Atlantic flight.
Lunch in the Tearooms, where feeding the dog was as important to the staff as feeding the people, was my first Christmas lunch - an open turkey sandwich with cranberry sauce and stuffing. We took some cake with us and walked the dog down to the beach for a swim. He was confused by the tide washing the ball back onto the beach, before he had found it. He is also a natural surfer, catching a wave and riding it back to the beach. Back at the cottage, Brody was tied to the handrail and bathed. He was not allowed his 'mad moment' that usually follows a bath, and remained frustrated into the evening.
After eating, we went down to "The Coastguard" to sample their beer (again) and their cheeseboard. There is a blackboard with their cheeses listed, just as there is with their meals and their beers. Sadly, we did not get to choose the cheeses, but the sample we were given we all very good.
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