Going Down And 3 Miles To Sandwich

A Memory of Eastry.

Again, we notice Eastry is set atop a hill and the Roman Road continues its way down and along to Sandwich. On the way are Dutch sounding place names such as Felderland Lane. The land is very flat and it wouldn't surprise if it was under the sea 2000 years ago. It is now sandy and fertile either for market gardening or for orchards. When the plum and cherry blossoms arrive for two weeks the sight would be envied anywhere in the world. At the bottom of the hill is the slight risk of flooding sometimes, but nothing too bad. Sliding down here in a car is no joke in snowy times. At the bottom behind these green canopies are farm workers cottages and meadows for horses. The scene is of a green and pleasant land. Once again we wonder who has travelled along here from one Cinque port to another and from Dover Castle and its Pharos to Richborough Castle when it was directly close to the sea. If we went right at the next turning we would eventually come to the old word for village, Ham. Either old English or Anglo Saxon. Amusingly there are signs for Ham and Sandwich on the same signpost. Nearby is the old village of Worth which has fertile soils and just as interesting history as Eastry. It was also near to the sea a thousand years ago as this was possibly a launching place for setting off to France for Thomas a Beckett. In Sandwich is the architecture of a thriving port of three hundred years ago and people bought serious houses with serious money of Tudor design. The Roman Road connects so many interesting places.