Chilham

Chilham is one of the most famously picturesque villages in East Kent, about ten miles west of Canterbury. It's on the ancient pilgrim route to Canterbury, and was a key location in Powell and Pressburger's famous 1946 Canterbury Tales film. We headed that way for this afternoon's walk because we needed to avoid the knock-on effects of the of the M20 having turned into a twenty-three mile lorry park, which is creating significant difficulties for everyone in the surrounding area, as it does every time this happens. The old part of Chilham sits on a small hill above the Great Stour valley, and is dominated by the castle, an impressive country house with a large park, built in 1616 on the site of a medieval castle. It's privately owned and not currently open for any visits, so we just peered through the gates; in any case, the website makes no mention of wheelchair access, which probably means there isn't any. The central square and small streets leading up to it are full of beautiful timbered houses, most of which look very well looked after and renovated. The two extras give a flavour, showing the castle and a large building called the Peacock, on the central square, whose renovation appears to have stalled: it was to open as a wine bar, but in February Kent Online reported that planning permission had been refused because of concerns about noise and parking. It wasn't easy to photograph the many lovely buildings, because the streets are narrow and parked cars obscure the views, so most of my pictures are of windows or doors rather than complete houses; my favourite was the pretty cottage with the duck egg blue door and its lovely pastel wreath of eggs and flowers.

The planned second part of our afternoon had to be abandoned: we didn't know there is currently a shortage of petrol and diesel in this area, and after failing to refuel at three filling stations which had no petrol, we returned home while we still could. We don't need to go anywhere next week, so P can check availability around Folkestone and refuel when, we hope, both this issue and the traffic chaos have abated. 

Back at home, J started watching the online version of Cardiff Animation Festival, where her recent film has been screened this week. The coming week will be packed with live streamed screenings of short films, talks, masterclasses and panel discussions. We're delighted and grateful that it's all subtitled, which means that although I'll enjoy watching and talking about some of it with her, I don't have to watch and sign everything she wants to see. It's going to be a busy Easter.