Seagull Retail, Wild Eyed Horses And Shoe Gazing

Today the weather forecast sounded a bit on the mixed side - sunshine with cloud developing throughout the day and the threat of thundery downpours later on - but sod it, we just made to the decision to head for the coast nonetheless and settled on a return visit to Folkestone.
We decided to forgo our usual morning run and set off early - well 9.30 am to be exact, which constitutes as early in our book! We had to avoid Maidstone due to an ongoing road closure so opted for the more scenic route by the way of Leeds village and Harrietsham, then taking the country backroads via Charing and Tenterden and through the Romney Marsh before joining the coastal road to Hythe and Sandgate and finally on to Folkestone itself.
On our journey there the sun was shining but almost the minute we arrived it clouded over and as soon as we stepped out the car we could feel a distinct chill in the air. We made a beeline for the Harbour Arm only to find it almost completely underpopulated with visitors and that nearly all the food outlets and bars were shut but at least I did still manage to get my an image - my first extra of a closed fairground carousel (I particularly liked the slightly wild look in the horse's eye) through the window of its attendant payment booth.
To be honest it was a bit of a dispiriting start to our visit but we were determined to make the best of it so headed for the nearby beach where the sun did, albeit briefly, reappear long enough for me to attempt a few more shots before we decided to make for the Old Town in search of some lunch.
On our way through the Old Town we had to ascend the incline of the cobbled Old High Street (colloquially know as 'Steep Street') and this is where I captured the window display of the resolutely seagull themed retail outlet you can see in my main image.
Once we got to the top of this vertiginous thoroughfare we decided on a return frequentment to one of our favourite pubs in the town, The Pullman, for a pint each and pork belly and southern fried chicken flatbreads to sate our hunger. Lovely!
After our lunchtime repast we took a path through the grounds of a nearby church and up towards The Leas, a part of the town that we've not encountered before, with its own square overlooking the seafront below and a monumental metal arch commemorating all the servicemen and women who passed through the town on their journey to serve and fight in the First World War.
It was then time to head back down through the Old Town, thankfully descending the Old High Street on this occasion, which is where I managed to get my last shot - I just liked the abandoned child's shoe sitting atop the sign exhorting the merits of "Fabulous Folkestone" with a guy in the background just lifting his foot as I fortuitously pressed the shutter at exactly the right moment.
The journey home was I bit more convoluted than intended as we took the wrong fork on the coastal road and ended up heading inland through what felt like the 'badlands' of East Sussex. We didn't encounter a single other vehicle for what felt like ages until we finally found our way back to civilisation.
With all that unintended backroad interaction we felt in need of a pit stop before the last leg of our journey and stopped at The Pig & Sty in Bethersden for some liquid refreshment and the chance to review our images of the day.
Once we got back home we opened a bottle of wine to toast another thoroughly enjoyable, and slightly knackering, coastal adventure!