We’ve all probably eaten a sandwich. Two bits of bread and a filling. I lived on them, to the detriment of my waistline during several phases of my legal career. The fillings morphed from the functional – cheese, ham, tuna etc – through the exotic – lambs tongue lettuce and New York pastrami drenched in a balsamic and tarragon jus – to the bloody ridiculous – Montgomery cheddar and banana.
However, whatever your preferences and experiences we all have the Earl of Sandwich and his gambling habits to thank for the ultimate snack.
We were visiting North Kent over the last few days and spent a couple of hours wandering around the Pegwell Bay nature reserve. The last time I was here, it was 1976 and I’d just arrived back from France on a hovercraft, singularly the noisiest and most uncomfortable form of water transport I have experienced. These days the passenger cross channel hovercraft is a museum piece and a different sort of peace is evident. It was delightful.
But all delightful walks only remain delightful if combined with tea and scones. A quick dander at the map and we were on our way south to the rather stunning medieval town of Sandwich, home to the eponymous Earl and his modest creation. I wonder what his favourite filling was? Sautéed peasant? Honey roasted backgammon?
Parking by the river, next to an American P-boat built in Germany in the 1950s (as you do), we headed for the centre.
Lots of splendid beams and overhangs, signs telling you a cordwainer resided here or this pub was built in the 1490s and we were by the church. Google recommended a cafe called Goats Can Dance, which was good to know – it’s been a worry for a while whether they ever felt the urge to tap in time – and we took tea and scones in the Church yard.
The tea was as you’d expect – apart from Lipton’s who have managed to ruin tea consistently for over 100 years, it’s hard to make a poor cuppa if you focus – but we each had a different scone. Those of us who went savoury were to be proved right in our choice; what the oatmeal and white chocolate lacked in taste it more than made up in ballast and adhesion to the roof of the mouth. My feta, tomato and olive was light and delicious.
We did a bit more wandering, tipped a hat to the Earl, spotted a sort of ‘after Banksy’ and set off for our friends house and dinner. This involved a shortish journey on the Thanet Way. I rather dissed the A12 the other day, but I have no complaints about the A299: it was smooth and unpotholed and a very different experience to that I endured as a small boy when the family drove to my Gran’s for our annual holiday just along the coast at Herne Bay. Possibly it wasn’t so much the road, back then, as the fact that, being the youngest I was made to sit under the maws of the drooling family pet, an enormous boxer called Punch, whose size meant he could lean on the back sit and puddle me for the two hours it took to get us there. Is it any wonder my hair gave up the ghost and left for pastures new as soon as it was old enough?
TanGental 
This was a delightful trip until you reminded me of Harry Potter’s drool scene
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Sorry. Reality bites…
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Isn’t Sandwich a lovely town, in fact there are so many lovely places in this country if we only open our eyes!
I am not sure about the new fangled scones I like mine full of fruit or at a real push cheddar cheese.
Good old Earl of Sandwich and his call for sustanance at the gambling table, he has a lot to answer for…. His favourite might if been beef, horseradish and tomato?
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Where would we be without disgraceful members of the aristocracy…. And yes, let’s hear it for English towns.
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Yes we are so lucky for both …. Just as well we have so many disgraceful members of the aristocracy.
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You would have thought they’d have knocked down all those old places by now and built some luxury apartments!
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I know. Utterly devoid of imagination snd pizzazz
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Thanks for the tour, Geoff. It’s such a charming place. The age of the pub amazes me. The photos are great. I enjoyed seeing the long boat. Hugs.
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Thank Teagan. I do wonder how they know its so old? It’s not as if record keeping was that accurate
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Maybe some sort of researchable documentation trail, like bills of sale. LOL, or maybe just a marketing ploy with fiction mixed. 😉
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Lovely tour!
ps sandwiches don’t need to be bad for the waistline!
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Something went a bit wrong there!
Lovely tour. What a pretty place. I wonder what ‘other beasts’ could have been apart from those mentioned, and what Dog thought?
ps sandwiches don’t need to be bad for the waistline!
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Dog would have found a bottom to sniff I’ve no doubt!!
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They don’t but if you’re diet becomes entirely bread+ based I defy even the most resilient stomach to flab’fight
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Yes, the evidence rather does point that way, I suppose!
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Lovely tour. Thanks for taking us along.
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Pleasure. England’s garden they call Kent. Well Kent does
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I certainly love seeing England’s gardens.
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A lovely part of the country.
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It’s rather splendid if still a touch tawdry in places
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I am remembering 60 to 70 years ago.
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Your pictures draw me there; I wonder if I could make a quick jaunt whilst the littles nap?
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Time machines are available with every bottle of Musk
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We visited Sandwich a year or so ago, taking our grandchildren on our usual summer holiday excursion. (Sadly, they are now all growed up, so we’ve only one not working, and she has a weekend job!) I agree that it’s a lovely little town.
We had a sandwich in Sandwich in a pub, but I forget what it is called.
We have a bit of fun trying to eat things from where they are named in the places they are named after. We ate quiche Lorraine in Lorraine, sandwiches in Sandwich, Eccles cakes in Eccles, Black Forest ice cream in the Black Forest (we couldn’t find the gateau until we got back to France, in Metz) etc. You get the idea.
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Hi Geoff, this looks like an interesting town. Mind you, I’ve never visited an English town that wasn’t stuffed full of history. I am very pleased you enjoyed your savoury scone.
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