Yahoo News 'I visited an underrated seaside town just over 90 minutes from London and it was slightly cultish'
In the UK, we're blessed with some of the world's most gorgeous beaches and coastal towns. Rule, Britannia, an island nation and all that.
Last weekend, my girlfriend and I decided to take a trip to sample some sea air at one of these. We considered Brighton, but in the end decided that the home of the Seagulls might be too obvious.
Whitstable emerged as the winning candidate. The train journey from Victoria took just over an hour and a half. It was a very pleasant one, with nice views. Although, passing through Rainham station was confusing until I remembered that there are two of them.
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The time whizzed by as I enjoyed a read of my book and felt a sense of excitement reminiscent of the one I experienced during my childhood at seeing the sea. Upon arrival, we followed a crowd of people out of the station and down the road to the high street.
It seemed a healthy high street, despite some closed shops
We strolled in the direction of the beach, scoping out what shops and café we'd visit a bit later on. It seemed a healthy high street, with a variety of independent businesses. I thought to myself that this would be the peak time of the year for businesspeople in the area, and wondered how they fared during the autumn and winter.
Next to each other were a closed down café and fish and chip shop. You'd think that these would be the most resilient businesses in a town such as this one. Presumably, they were casualties of the COVID-19 pandemic.
There were also a couple of homeless people, who were sitting in the sun and watching the world go by.
Before sitting down on the beach, I enjoyed the best (soft-boiled) scotch egg I had ever had from Polly’s Handmade Pies. It goes without saying that there were many, many, and we both immensely enjoyed this.
My sandwich was immense
After a disappointing effort on my part to skim some stones across the incoming waves and a sit down on the beach (which was comprised of small stones and, thankfully, not sand), we grew hungry. In the end, we settled on eating at the Whitstable Produce Store.
My sandwich - ham, cheese and chutney on granary bread - was immense. My arteries won't thank me for it, but life wouldn't be nearly as enjoyable without these small pleasures. It was accompanied by a tangy orange 'zinger' juice. Delicious.
Next on the agenda was a visit to the town's museum. It happened to be free entry on that day, and we were welcomed by a friendly guide.
It ended up being a bit cultish
By far the stand out memory from the experience was, after sampling the interesting history of the area, dropping into its Peter Cushing section. The Star Wars actor had lived in Whitstable, and inevitably now more mature fans flock to the town to see where he chose to call home.
There was no photography allowed, which is a pity because what we saw is quite difficult to describe. You'll have to swing by and see it yourself. With the best will in the world, it felt slightly cultish.
The exhibition featured a Dalek, which did not exactly look production standard, and a mummy, complete with googly eyes. Cushing references were not contained here.
There was the local Wetherspoons, which looked like a former cinema, that is named after the actor. This was by no means the only reference. I won't tell you them all to save you from spoilers.
Being a big Star Wars and Doctor Who fan, as well as being amused by Alan Davies' tale of a local band writing a song about seeing Mr Cushing buying vegetables and riding his bicycle, it was a novelty at first. But I was thoroughly Cushinged out by the time I got on the train back to London.
