September 17, 2022
Day 11: Rochester to Northfleet
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When we booked at the Golden Lion, it seemed to be important that this was the Golden Lion - Wetherspoon, but this designation meant nothing to us. It turned out that Wetherspoon is a huge pub conglomerate, with 861 locations. More than that, it has been quite controversial. Not only did the owner support Brexit, but he at first refused to close the pubs during Covid, and he later also refused to compensate laid off workers when the pubs did close. We learned a bit of this from a company magazine, prominently displayed around the premises.
One strange Wetherspoon aberration for us was that they advertised their food services with menus in our room, posters on the walls, the folder that our room key came in, etc. But when we went for supper last night they claimed to be out of food. Even out of fish and chips. In a British pub?
This morning they must have restocked, because my breakfast really was pretty excessive! They called this the American breakfast, because of the pancakes. Yes, sounds right.
We had a last look at "The Queue" on BBC, and headed out to see Rochester.
Stepping put into Rochester high street felt like stepping back into the time of Dickens.
There is good reason for this, because as you see, Dickens used these actual buildings in his novels.
The shops along the high street were the typical small English establishments, typically offering some sort of antiques, used goods, or jewelry. Or talk about typical, how about this pie and mash plus jellied eel outlet!
Although Rochester high street was really remarkable, and so pleasant given that cars are barred from the whole length, the real highlight was the Cathedral. We have by now been in a lot of cathedrals, and many (the catholic ones) are really fancy. But for some reason this one stands out. I guess the first thing is the extreme antiquity, which you can feel as soon as you step inside. It figures, because the place dates from 604 a.d. That's well over 1400 years old!
Of course the evidence of this age is all around, but look at the way stone steps inside were worn away by the huge numbers of pilgrims and others:
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Inside the cathedral were some of the I suppose standard tombs or mummies or such. These ones somehow seem special:
Possibly the key to our favourable impression of the cathedral has to do with people. Almost as soon as we entered, we were approached by a docent, who filled us in on a lot of fascinating cathedral facts. And while Dodie was talking to this man, a priest came and spoke to me. He did not talk about God stuff, but rather went through the usual cycle touring questions. And finally, we had a visit from the Dean of the cathedral. This man is the latest in a chain that you can read on a plaque on the wall, stemming back to literally the founding of the church - more or less like the Archbishop of Canterbury. The docent explained that the Dean, while powerful, actually does not have bishop status. The bishop's chair (or "cathedral") and crook are in the church, but are not the province of the Dean. It's a technical detail - one of many he gave us.
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Right beside the cathedral is Rochester Castle. This is newer than the cathedral, stemming instead from the 12th century!
As we walked in front of the castle we passed a man with his two dogs. In England, just passing like that is enough for a conversation to start. This man had just moved from London to a house across the way, which he was renovating. He said a Roman road passed by it, and that there was a medieval well under the kitchen. He then began to explain about the castle and its history. Reading the story now in Wikipedia, it is way more complex than the summary we got. But we heard about King John and the Magna Carta, John's siege of the castle in 1215, the bombardment, and the burning of fat pigs to smoke out the defenders. 800 year old history seems pretty fresh in the minds of locals!
Also on the castle grounds was another of the impromptu Queen memorials. This had a lot of personal notes, and many flowers. This really is an historic time to be here.
We finally set off on our bikes to continue, at least for now, what has always been our planned route. We did the usual amount of diddling and circling, some our fault and much just the way the darn NCN 1 goes. And we ran in, as usual, to hedge enclosed laneways, gravel tracks, and busy roads requiring sidewalk riding and much pedestrian crossing button pushing.
Our least favourite riding situation is the busy road where you not only have to ride the sidewalk but where NCN 1 itself often crosses you from one sidewalk to another. To achieve this there are often five lanes of traffic to traverse in their various directions, and this typically will require three button pushes of the devices like the one below. Each button push takes about 2 minutes for results, so crossing a road can eat up 6 minutes. Try that 5 times in an hour and half your time is lost!
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At one point NCN gave up all pretense of being any use and directed us to this blocked alleyway.
We had heard of the large Sikh temple (gurdwara) in Gravesend, and set about trying to find it. For something so large it proved rather coy, but with some hints from some sikhs we asked on the street, we found it.
The temple was very active, with lots of people around, men looking very sikh, with their turbans and beards, and women in absolutely gorgeous saris. There had been a wedding, and I think I captured the bride and groom in two photos. What handsome people, and look at those clothes!
We checked with people outside about whether we could visit the interior, and everyone was most welcoming. We expected this, because Sikh temples are known for their everyone welcome approach. The temple inside is very spacious, with many domes and halls. We noticed that unlike Amish, for example, these people have no problem with technology. There were lots of large screen TVs about, notices about use of CCTV, and a great sound system for musicians accompanying the prayer chanting. With this I could be assured that snapping photos was ok. In fact we got a fellow to take our picture, which you can see below.
I think with the beard and slightly dark complexion, I am looking pretty good. Dodie, sorry to say, is way too pale!
Too pale or not, Dodie fits in rather well with the crowd.
There were three halls, each looking approximately like this, and each serving up prayers on a continuous basis. Note the white whisk in the hand of the priest. He waves this continuously over the scriptures in front of him. The whisk is made of horse hair, I found out.
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2 years ago
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Traditionally all visitors are offered food at a Sikh temple. These were our plates. Tasted really good. Quite spicy.
We approached a couple with a question about the food, and quite a long conversation ensued. During this they explained quite a lot about their religion and the operation of the temple, and we also talked about Canada - the Sikh community near where we live, the Air India bombing - which idea was hatched near where we live, and the ban on religious symbol wearing in Quebec. These folks also asked a lot about our cycle trip, offered us a lift to our destination for today, and gave us their phone number in case we should need any sort of help soon.
A bit more noodling and pedestrian crossing button pushing, and we found our hotel - the Granby. This is a place we had planned to reach the day before yesterday, but never made it. Dodie made a point of thanking them for waiving the no show charge. We also found the room to be large and pleasant, so they get our vote.
Tomorrow we will try to reach a hotel in Maldon, that was enjoyed by the Andersons. It's the White Horse. Maldon is 70 km from where we are now, and we know that we have not the slightest hope of making a distance like that here, by bike. Instead we are going to try the train. We got a seniors' card at a station today, and it will afford 1/3 off on all future trips. Even so, trains here seem quite pricey.
There is no direct route by train from here to Maldon, so we are going to have to try the various transfers, which includes going even closer in to London. Even with trains, that 70 km will take a full day. Google quotes the train time to make the journey at 10 hours! so it's still a gamble that we will make it.
E-assist update. We pulled the controller, which is the culprit we have identified in my e-assist not working, and took a photo of its vital stats. The company behind this thing is headquartered in Los Vegas, but also has a warehouse in Vancouver, of all places. We hope to soon hear from them about the availability of a replacement, which perhaps could get shipped to Paris. Meanwhile, the darn thing decided to start working about mid-day today, and I had assist for the afternoon! Can't rely on it though. It is indicative of something (but what?) that it can still work sometimes. With Dodie having taken so much of the weight, I was just flying today. Wheee! Sorry Dodie!
Flash update: In the calm of morning I see that that 10 hour time to Maldon was for walking! Train is a little faster, but still 3 hours!
Today's ride: 28 km (17 miles)
Total: 377 km (234 miles)
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2 years ago
I guesss partial support is better than no support. But it does keep you in a state of suspense, never knowing if and when you'll get it. Good luck!
2 years ago
2 years ago
2 years ago
2 years ago
Anyway, yeah, we are thinking same as Rachael.
2 years ago