Chatham's Historic Dockyard

The summer holidays are over, the children are back at school, and Jane has finished her Grandma duties for now. Seemed like a good idea to go away for a few days. Where? We hit on Kent. Never been there as a couple before.

First things first, how many drivers get caught out by the Dartford Crossing now you have to go online to pay? Don’t know about you, but it feels, to me at any rate, some advances in technology are designed to catch us out. No booths any more, how I used to love tossing a pound coin in the bucket! A tad embarrassing when you missed and had to get out of the car, and crawl about looking for it. “I’ll pay that when we stop,” said Jane.

First port of call was Chatham Historic Dockyard. We probably didn’t allow enough time for this spectacular excursion. I am not convinced that we were given enough information about things on arrival. There are three ships you can tour. HMS Cavalier, a WWII Destroyer, HMS Gannet, an early fuel hybrid, sail and steam, from the mid-nineteenth century, and HM Submarine Ocelot, a Cold War vessel. On arriving to tour the sub, we discovered that this had to be booked at Reception. Maybe, we should have planned our day a little better, but I think we could have been informed as we booked in and passed over our hard-earned.

We explored Gannet, iron framed with a copper-bottomed teak hull. I still think I prefer HMS Victory. There was a guide on board to answer questions and, I am afraid to say, whilst he was very enthusiastic, he was lacking in knowledge of the ship he was on. Many of my questions proved to be too baffling. I think that when you spend £32 a head to enter you have the right to better information. Fortunately, in our case, though, we are English Heritage members which entitled us to a 20% discount. Jane, as my carer/companion gets free entry. Maybe £25.60 for the pair of us seems about right. £64, though?

The ‘Hearts of Oak’ exhibition was awesome. We followed a retired Master Shipwright, John North, and his Grandson, around the Dockyard, in a virtual sense anyway, through a walking, immersive audio visual tour. Grandad was trying to persuade his only grandson that a career in the dockyard was a better bet than going to sea. Jane said that the video was very well done and, to be fair, I gleaned quite a bit from the audio.

Visiting the Mould Loft, where the full sized plan of HMS Victory had once been laid out, made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I love anything Victory and Nelson. What did Grandson do? Sorry, you will have to go along and find out for yourself.

If you wish to find out what life was like on an early nineteenth century battleship, before corrections come in, I know Victory was built in the 1700s, I would thoroughly recommend a series of novels by Julian Stockwin. They follow the career of a pressed man, Thomas Kydd, as he learns to enjoy life as a seaman, before making the quarterdeck and, eventually, the rank of Captain. The next in the series is called ‘Admiral,’ so I am assuming he will make it to the top. I would rather my own Grandsons took up roles in a shipbuilding company, ahead of signing up to a life on the gundeck of a Ship of the Line; far too gory and gruesome. That was, without doubt, my highlight of the Historic Dockyard, but I am biased towards that period of history.

We also took in Number 3 Slip, the RNLI exhibition of retired lifeboats and the Commissioner’s garden, where we had to shelter in a greenhouse as the heavens opened, before making our way to the Ropery. We were too late. Shame, as a friend had told me it was one of his best bits.

Oh well, I feel another visit coming on. Fortunately, having moaned about the admittance cost, it does entitle me, along with any companion, to return within one year of the first visit. I get the feeling that Jane probably thought we had done enough there, war and its constituent parts are not really her cup of tea! I need to work hard on that one.

I do think an audio guide would be a useful addition for blind and visually impaired visitors. Due to the nature of the site, my companion, or carer, spends most of their time ensuring I do not trip on stairs or ladders, bash into unseen obstacles, it really is quite dark in places, or bump my head on low deck beams; were the sailors really that short? That meant that, just maybe, we missed some of the information boards. They don’t even need thousands of pounds worth of hardware, just develop an app to go on visitors’ phones. This sort of technology is fully inclusive. I know I extol the virtues of the brilliant Battlebox in Singapore, but it really does work well there and, I think, enhance the experience for everyone.

Day done, we headed for the hotel. Dartford Crossing Toll, Came into my head.

“I’ll do it when I get to the hotel,” said Jane.

White Cane Ratings

This is a difficult one. I thoroughly enjoyed my half-a-day here and can’t wait to visit again. Because of the nature of the site, I am not sure that it can ever be all things to all visitors, different times and all that, but it is dark in places, there is irregular footing in places and there is some very low headroom. I have, therefore, split my ratings into two bits.

Attraction: very good; very educational - 🦯 🦯 🦯 🦯(4)
Accessibility: adequate; not easy in places - 🦯 🦯(2)

Langkawi: Two Ways To Feed Fish

On arrival at Dingli Island, engine killed, we drifted close to shore where landlubbers were tossing bread into the water. We had bread ourselves but really didn’t need it as the fish were biting bigtime. I could hear people saying how exquisite they looked. Jane confirmed this, the literal definition of the term “a Kaleidoscope of Colours.” To me, they all looked the same, a load of silvery-grey blobs, albeit sometimes glistening in the right light , floating just below the surface. Every now and again one would break the surface and consume a piece of bread with a delicate splash.

We stopped off at a fish farm on the way back where Jane could get up close and personal with, among other things, a stingray. This was after the crew of the boat, the skipper, had entrusted Jane to drive the thing. We went at a pedestrian pace, maybe even slower than the Broads’ speed limit, but she was having a terrific time. People said she had the happiest of looks on her face as she was piloting the craft. I think it is the same sort of people who observe a baby is smiling when it actually has wind. By the way, I am not suggesting for one minute, that she had wind. Just being a tad cautious, that’s all.

There is a restaurant next to the fish farm. Alcohol and killer fish is not a good mix. One day a slightly inebriated diner left the comfort of the restaurant to play with the fish. Yeah, I know, you have to ask why? Suffice to say, he was never to leave another restaurant or play with killer fish again. It’s a bit of a rum-do when you go out to eat fish and it ends up that fish eat you!

This day will go down as one of the best of the year. It was like the Norfolk Broads but with rocket boosters. Never forget it. Both of these tours and many more besides can be booked through the hotel.

That was almost the end for us in Langkawi. Onto Kuala Lumpur tomorrow. I will miss it and I think we both wished we had booked in for longer here. Room: great; bar: great; restaurant: great; view: great: staff: brilliant. I could easily get around the resort on my own, and now I have started awarding white mobility cane ratings, like tour companies hand out rosettes and stars, this would probably be a 4-white-cane, maybe 5-white-cane, stay. Well done to all.

We have now booked a return trip for early next year, 2025.

Find out more:
Resort: https://www.casadelmar-langkawi.com
Sky Bridge and Cable Car: https://.panaramalangkawi.com;
Mangrove Tour and Other: https://www.welovelangkawi.com;

White Cane Ratings
Casa del Mar Hotel: 🦯 🦯 🦯 🦯 4
Mangrove Tour: 🦯 🦯 🦯 3
Sky Bridge and Cable Car: 🦯 🦯 2
Kuala Lumpur Airport: 🦯 🦯 🦯 🦯 4
Langkawi Airport: 🦯 🦯 🦯 3