Dover Castle England UK

Dover Castle & Port View 2022/ G Sutton

 Dover Castle is a place to discover nearly 2,000 years of history. The present castle dates to the time of King Henry II who ordered the construction in the 1180s.

Dover Castle stands high above the famous white cliffs of Dover--an ideal spot for defending  Britain from invaders from the continent only about 20 miles away.

The Great Tower

Within the old part of Dover castle, actors and furnishings offer a glimpse into medieval times.

Inside the walls is the small ancient church, St Mary in the Castle, which was restored in the 1800s.

The very old part of the castle is a Roman Lighthouse built after the Roman invasion in 43. This is one of three Roman lighthouses that still exist and the most complete Roman building in England.

WW II  and the Dover Castle tunnels

One of the best parts of the castle tour is a walk through the underground tunnels used during WW II when the UK stood alone against the threat of a Nazi invasion across the channel. Photography is not permitted in the area. For us, it was well worth the queue time to appreciate the experience of those defending Britain as the last outpost of European democracy between 1939 and 1945.

Dover Castle was the command centre for navy operations in the English channel. It is also the place where Britain organised the evacuation of the British Army from Dunkirk, France during May and June 1940. The evacuation plan was called Operation Dynamo.

As you can imagine from the top photo, the views of the surrounding area are amazing. Here are a few more images.

We walked from the Dover cruise port up castle hill, which does require some energy but offers great views.

Vintage photos

The photos above were from our visit in 2022.

The images below are from the summer of 1980.

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Sites in the UK

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Notes

There is an entrance fee.

Admission was free with our English Heritage pass.

A guidebook is available onsite and online.

You can download a map of the castle from the website 

You can bring food and drink into the castle or purchase items at the castle from the wartime tunnels tearoom, the café in the Keep, or the NAAFI restaurant.

Link to Dover Castle information from English Heritage

It's a great place to spend a day with some 80 to enjoy.

Google Map of Dover Castle

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Guernsey, Channel Islands

St Peter's Port, Guernsey

Guernsey is the second largest of the Channel Islands. We anchored off shore and took a water shuttle into St Peter's Port.
 

Entering St Peter's Port

Cornet Castle is visible as we enter the port.

Castle Cornet

The first thing we did was purchase a bus ticket, which was a budget way of seeing the small island. 

On our return to St Peter's Port, we headed for Castle Cornet in time for the noon day gun fired by the gunners in brilliant red.

As we wandered about the castle, we took time to look around the museums, which have some decent dioramas along with expected artefacts and story boards.

During WWII, Nazis occupied the island.

There are great views of the harbour and town from this 800 year-old guardian.

We has some time to explore the town before returning.

Here is a brief video overview of Guernsey from my YouTube Channel.

Travel notes

Comfortable busses circle the island on a regular schedule.

Castle Cornet is about a mile from the port.

  There is a fee to enter the castle.

The Guernsey pound is valued based on the British Pound

Guernsey is a self-governing British Dependency

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Portland Castle England UK

 

Portland Castle is a gun fort of Henry VIII on England's south coast built in 1539-1540 to defend Portland against European enemies.

Although called a castle, it is not like the large estates occupied by Kings and Queens. 

Soldiers lived here and English Heritage has restored a hands-on Tudor kitchen.

Soldiers may have enjoyed games popular during Tudor times.

Nine Men's Morris

Shove-Groat

Of course, there were cannons and men in uniform.

After the war with France in 1815, Portland Castle was leased to Rev. John Manning.

There are great views of the Portland coast.

Notes

There is an entrance fee.

English Heritage passes are accepted.

I used the shuttle bus between Portland and Weymouth, which stops by the castle.

There's a tea room and a gift shop.

Story boards and an audio guide tell the story of Portland Castle.

Castle website: https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/portland-castle/

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Nearby

Weymouth town and beach

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