Monica in Canterbury

This is my dear friend Monica in Canterbury... all the way from Brazil!

Drainage

This photo was taken during a boat trip on the River Stour.

The drains are no longer used so said the guide!

The Weavers Restaurant.

If you are looking for somewhere to have a meal and relax you have to go to the Weavers Restaurant and sit at their garden area and enjoy your meal while watching the river flow...
Here you can see the grapes growing on the vines above the garden.

Kings Bridge in Canterbury

Walk along the old High Street in Canterbury up towards the West Gate and, when you come to the Old Weavers' House, you will find yourself standing next to the oldest working road bridge in Britain, The Kings Bridge.

The bridge was built in the 11th century and it has seen more social change than most of us can imagine.

Most of the bridge is still intact, though it has been fortified a little over the years as you can see from the picture - we are under it now!

Ducking Stool

The Canterbury Ducking Stool is a remnant from the Medieval times.

This is a chair that is suspended on a frame and hangs over the River Stour, next to the Old Weavers House. It was used in the middle ages as a form of retribution for three types of situations:

Firstly it was used as a punishment for nagging wives. In those enlightened times, a man could pay for his nagging wife to be dipped into the river on the ducking stool and of course suffer a degree of public humiliation at the same time. It's unclear where the payment went, but clearly not to charitable causes.

Secondly, it was used as a punishment and public embarrassment for cheating businessmen, who would be ducked into the water in front of a baying crowd and who would inevitably be forced to leave the city afterwards, their reputation in tatters.

Lastly it was most famously used as a litmus test for witches and the way it worked was this: any woman accused of being a witch would be placed in the chair, and the chair would be swung out over the river and then submerged deep in the river for 2-3 minutes. After that time, the poor woman would be brought back to the surface. Now here is the tes: if she survived this lengthy ducking then clearly she was a witch as she must have used her powers to survive the fatal dowsing. If so, she would be burned at the stake as a witch. If, however, the lady was dead after being submerged for 3 minutes, then clearly she was not a witch. Her family would receive an apology letter from the Churcha and could be given a Christian burial and have her soul recommended to God.

Though easily the best outcome, it was death either way for anyone accused of witchcraft!

Stour River in Fordwich

I took this picture early spring and I loved it... hope you like it too.

Blue Boat

I don;t know much about this boat or boats in general but a few days ago, on a gloriously sunny day, David and I went for a walk and we found this one in the River Stour in Fordwich.

I thought it was beautiful.

Bridge in Fordwich, Canterbury

I often go out with David on Sundays.

Yesterday I went to a little village called Fordwich about 2 miles from Canterbury.

It is one of the loveliest places around here and if it wasn't for the amount of cars around, I would say it is like travelling in time.

I took quite a few pictures that I was very happy with and this is one of them.

The bridge you see in the picture is very old and very narrow with room for one car only. The river is the same one you have seen a few times in my blog: River Stour.

Bridge

This is another beautiful bridge in the City of Canterbury. This one is over the Stour River in St Radigunds St.

River Tour

Yesterday I went to a tour in the River Stour in Canterbury.

The guide, a guy called George, was very knowledgeable about the history of Canterbury and provided us with an excellent and detailed account of many events and background of all the places we went past during the tour.

If you fancy going in one go to The Weavers and over the bridge you will find someone selling tickets for the tours. It costs £6.50 per person (please tip the boys!) and departures every 15-20 minutes. They don't operate in winter.

To find out more about the tours go to http://www.canterburyrivertours.co.uk/

Water under the bridge

I wish I had a better light then this picture would be even nicer.