south east info
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8:18 am
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DISCOVER THE SOUTH EAST AREA HIGHLIGHTS The chalk ramparts of England - from the white cliffs of Dover westwards to the Severn Sisters - have for centuries been the first sight of island Britain for friend and foe, traveller and invader.
Sussex - Kent Beachy Head, standing out into the English Channel nearly 550 feet high. With invasion from Europe a constant threat through the Middle Ages, the ports that nestled in the shelter of the chalk walls were fortified to become the Cinque Ports. White Cliffs of Dover
Stay by the seaside and Brighton, one of several south coast resorts that enjoyed royal patronage. Today it’s a fun loving mix of the great British seaside, cosmopolitan arts and music scene. The Prince of Wales, later to become George IV, visited Brighton in 1783. He converted his famhouse retreat into the flamboyant Royal Pavilion and the aristocrats who followed him there had the town’s magnificent Regency terraces built. Up the River Medway, Chatham and Rochester share a fascinating maritime heritage. Brighton Pier
The dockyards at Chatham saw the keels laid of some of the great ‘wooden
walls of England’. The rolling chalk hills of the North and Kent Downs; the eerie Romney Marsh, once beneath the sea. Oast houses and thatched, half timbered or weather boarded cottages and farmhouses set off the great castles.
North Downs
Leeds Castle was one of Henry VIII’s homes and Hever was the childhood home of his ill-fated wife, Anne Boleyn. Some of the finest gardens in Britain. Sissinghurst Castle Garden, at Cranbrook, ranks as one of the most celebrated. Leeds Castle
Canterbury Cathedral, the awe inspiring mother church of Christendom, is set in one of England’s oldest cities.
So much history; so many fabulous walks and drives ... and enough city lights. They call this corner of England ‘special’. 36
