Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Category: Rochester

  • Rochester – Coopers Arms

    This was the nearest pub to Rochester Cathedral that I could see was listed in the Good Beer Guide and it is thought that monks who brewed beer once lived here. There are also records that there has been an inn here since at least 1543, making it one of the oldest pubs in Kent.

    The beer selection, of which nothing particularly excited me, but my half pint of Thwaite’s Wainwright tasted fine and was well kept. I say tasted fine, but it’s a slightly drab beer with little discernible flavour, perhaps some caramel overtones.

    The interior, perhaps a little dated, but that’s hardly inappropriate in a pub of this age. The service was fine, all friendly and efficient. The set-up here rather reminded me of the Adam & Eve in Norwich.

    Nice way to raise money for charity at the bar. Incidentally, the pub doesn’t allow children other than in the garden, but they do make that clear through signage. I didn’t order food, but the lunch-time selections looked good value for money and seemed popular with locals.

     

  • Rochester – Catalpa Tree

    This quirky looking tree near to the main entrance of Rochester Cathedral is a Catalpa Tree, apparently over 150 years old. It snapped in two in 2015, but it appears that the tree surgeons were able to work their magic to keep it going and some new fencing was built around it (it had partly collapsed onto the railings around it).

    This is how I knew what kind of tree it was, as I’m not very good at identifying trees….Most sources do put the tree at over 150 years old, although I haven’t yet ascertained exactly how long it has been there.

  • Rochester – Rochester Cathedral (Golf Course)

    I saw this mini golf course on BBC News last week, although I had forgotten where it was, so this was a nice surprise. It’s a wonderful way of engaging families and children with the cathedral, all funded by the Rochester Bridge Trust. The trust is well financed, primarily through ancient land holdings, so it’s able to look after not only the bridges under its guardianship, but also give grants and support the community.

    One of the cathedral’s staff, who saw me looking excitedly at a medieval book elsewhere in the building, told me that the cathedral was thrilled with all of the publicity. And so it should be, there was a long queue of mostly families waiting to give the course a go.

    Compare and contrast to Ely Cathedral where I’ve seen children not going in because their parents didn’t want to pay…. I’m not suggesting that Ely Cathedral should install a Greggs in its nave (although I wouldn’t oppose such a move), but it’s a shame they have to charge so much.

    The golf course takes up the main part of the nave and the staff member mentioned to me that the seating had been taken out for a deep clean and so the space was easy to temporarily convert.

    And, in addition to the BBC, apparently NBC were also in the cathedral, so this project has attracted international attention. I noted that a few people complained about this on the news, including someone who said it was “desperation”.  This cathedral is one of the most welcoming I’ve been to, I didn’t sense a great deal of desperation here, but quite a lot of hope. How very lovely.