Tales Of The Unexpected

My brother managed to get a day off work today, and after a freezing early morning run, we intended to head to Folkestone for a (very) chilly day by the sea.
However, we hadn't got even halfway when the lovely winter light that had started the day began to fade to be replaced by grey skies and a biting wind. On that basis we didn't really feel like continuing our onward journey so we decided instead to stop off at the hilltop village of Chilham. What it lacks in size it more than makes up for in charm - and it still manages to pack in a castle (which rather confusingly is actually a 17th Century Jacobean manor house), a wine shop and bar called the Tudor Peacock (it has its very own wrought iron peacock above the door), a church, a village square, two pubs, a tea rooms and a very minuscule Post Office.
The village must have no more than three or four streets and each of the two roads leading out of the village have to navigate the steep slope. We parked our car at the bottom of the hill and then tackled that fairly precipitous gradient on foot towards the imposing edifice of the village's church, St.Mary's, at the top. We'd never actually stopped by to take a look around the church on any of our previous visits so made the decision to remedy that omission on this occasion. 
Today's image was taken outside the White Horse pub which sits just next to the entrance to the churchyard and is where we came across this rather disconsolate looking hostelry hound. In fact it had a lovely placid nature and was actually very amenable to being stroked so first appearances were deceptive (we found out later that it seemed to have the run of the village square).
On first sight St. Mary's, which was mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 but has a history going back perhaps as far as the 7th Century, with its striking 68 ft tower, seemed like a very large church for such a small village but this was explained to us by the church warden who welcomed us when we went inside and with whom we had a lovely chat.
She confirmed It owes its large dimensions due to being on the route of the Pilgrims' Way and that it can allow modern day pilgrims to stay overnight, if required, as it is now equipped with a kitchen, toilets and, probably more importantly, heating. It is a beautifully atmospheric church inside with glorious stained glass windows. 
After our tour of the church we were absolutely famished as we'd left home without having breakfast. We actually passed on the virtues of The White House, despite our canine friend's best efforts, and headed down the hill on the other side of the village to try the village's other pub, The Woolpack Inn. It's under new management and it looked a bit too posh for the likes of us (it's recently undergone an extensive refurbishment) but we needn't have worried. What a lovely space and if felt very warm and welcoming on a biting cold winters day - much like the staff who were very hospitable and friendly. We settled on a pint of Spanish lager each and to share three 'small plates' - a large scotch egg, pork belly bites and crispy Japanese chicken dumplings. The food was absolutely delicious and the beer was great. 
What an unexpected but thoroughly enjoyable truncated trip!