What the Dickens?

One of the first things I did when we found out we were moving back to London was contact my former literature teacher through my kids' former school there, who teaches courses to parents. Literally the very day we knew we were London-bound I emailed her immediately, before I told a single other solitary soul. I told her I wanted to sign up for her next class. Didn't matter what it was, just sign me up! When she replied telling me she'd put me on the list in the CHARLES DICKENS class, I was elated! Shamefully previous to this course, I had never read a Dickens novel cover to cover. I say this because anyone who knows me and my family well knows that this should be alarming considering who my mother is. If you are unfamiliar with her, please read this blog post. In short she is an English teacher with a career spanning many decades, an avid reader (like 75 books per annum!) and a major Dickens fan who can hold claim to having read all of his novels. So it was finally time for me to step into the Dickens world, and what better place to do it than here in England.



The course focused mainly on David Copperfield and Great Expectations. And as in the previous courses I've taken here (Bronte sisters, Jane Austen and Roman Britain), there was a fabulous finale trip where we visited places Dickens lived and places where he drew inspiration for his novels. On this Kentish trip we visited Canterbury, Broadstairs, Rochester, and ended on a rather humorous note at Dickens World.


Dickens knew and loved Canterbury and is featured quite a lot in David Copperfield


". . . the sunny street of Canterbury, dozing as it were in the hot light . . . the sight if its old houses and gateways, and the stately, grey Cathedral, with the rooks sailing round the towers"


"At length we stopped before a very old house bulging out over the road; a house with long low lattice-windows bulging out still farther, and beams with carved heads on the ends bulging out too, so that I fancied the whole house was leaning forward, trying to see who was passing on the narrow pavement below".






The Sun Hotel is generally considered to be the "little inn" where Mr. Micawber "put up" on his first visit to Canterbury.


Canterbury Cathedral gate




If you look closely at this photo you'll see a wooden chair suspended on a long wooden pole over the river. This "ducking stool" as it's called was used as a punishment to dunk the miscreant of sorts into the freezing river during medieval times. It is rumoured to have been used on a variety of wrong-doers. First legend recalls its use as a witch test. If suspected of witchcraft the could-be witch was submerged into the river for 3 minutes. If she survived, she was considered a true witch and burned at the stake. If she died, she was declared a non-witch and an apology letter was sent to her family. Nice, huh? It was also used to embarrass cheating businessmen whose reputations after the ducking stool would be ruined and consequently livelihood lost forcing them to leave the city. Lastly it was used to punish nagging wives!




The Good Shed, where we had lunch. During this lunch we as a group received some terrible news, which needs some explanation. The trip departed London for Kent early on a Thursday morning up in front of the kids' former school in St. John's Wood. We all met on the steps of ASL. I saw many forlorn looking faces around the school and was trying to glean what was going on. Then I saw a dear friend show up with reddened teary eyes. From her I learned that one of my Dickens classmates, and also a friend from our previous two years in London, was in the hospital. She went to bed Tuesday night with a bit of a headache, and Wednesday did not wake up. She was alive, but comatose. She was rushed to the hospital, where tests and scans of all sorts were performed. Her brain activity showed nothing, and they found a cyst on her spinal cord that was probably there from the time she was born that had grown to capacity and burst flooding her cranium and destroying her brain. Thursday at lunch we got the news that she had passed. She was supposed to be on this trip. I had a nice conversation with her the week before. It is just unreal, this marathon-running, most vibrant of all human beings snatched in such a sudden and peculiar way. She was one of this world's most lovely people, and sadly leaves behind two gorgeous little girls and a heartbroken husband. While this trip was an incredible opportunity to see and learn, the mood suddenly shifted by this devastating news.

As classmates, friends and people who loved her, we held a small memorial service on the beach at Broadstairs led by our teacher. I was asked to photograph it for a memory book being prepared and presented to her husband and daughters. Here are just a few of the photos I took, in memory of beautiful Brenda:























Nightfall in coastal Broadstairs, a favourite holiday spot for Dickens that he visited often


Group dinner in Broadstairs


Our hotel for the night in Broadstairs, where Dickens wrote some of David Copperfield


Now a wonderful museum of Dickens, in Dickens' time this house belonged to Miss Mary Pearson Strong, model for the character Betsey Trotwood aunt of David Copperfield. The house itself is also showcased in chapter 13 of David Copperfield, where features of Aunt Betsey's house were described.


A local pub








Our next stop was Rochester, a city beloved by Dickens that appears repeatedly in his novels. Dickens' literary footprints are thus all over the city, and is a must for any Dickens fan. It hosts two annual Dickens festivals, one in summer and one at Christmas. The flavour of Dickens' era lives on mixed with a good bit of modern quirkiness that gives this town an almost eerie quality.








Eastgate House, named Westgate House in the Pickwick Papers


This chalet actually hails from Gad's Hill Place, Dickens' beloved estate. Gifted to him and delivered via train in a "flat pack" a la IKEA, Dickens enlisted members of the town to help him in hauling the load and assembling it across the street from his house at Gad's Hill. It was a place of solace and great productivity where he wrote in abundance. It was later moved to Rochester where it sits rather unremarkably among a few random buildings.




Our costumed Dickens guide in Rochester




The Restoration House in Rochester is Miss Havisham's Satis House in Great Expectations.














Rochester Cathedral








Old Corn Exchange, the Moonfaced Clock in Uncommercial Traveller






Gad's Hill Place, Dickens dreamed of owning this place as he passed by so often with his father, and enjoying the success of his literary works he fulfilled this dream. He bought it for £1790, or by today's standards £105,000 in 1856.


The house is now operating as a school. Can you imagine going to school in Charles Dickens' house?! The school has recently announced plans to build a newer, larger, more modern school facility on the same site. Upon its completion Dickens' house at Gad's Hill will then be turned into a museum. My teacher had a chance encounter with a key member of the Dickens Fellowship who oversees Gad's Hill who was able to procure our group a special tour.


The front garden that leads to a tunnel allowing Dickens to freely move between the chalet across the road and the main house without being bothered.


The rear of Gad's Hill


Dicken's main study, aside from the desk stands much as it did when he lived there.




The handpainted stairway Dickens had installed.




Main entry hall


The conservatory, an extension Dickens added on


Dinner at a favourite Dickens pub, loaded with original Dickens paraphernalia




Sitting in Dickens' chair


Before returning to London we made a stop at Dickens World. Oh, what to say about this. A pretty sorry attempt at some Disneyfication of Dickens, a great idea just not well-executed. At first glance it looks pretty cool, but it doesn't take too long to figure out it's a pretty shabby operation.





Dickens did not lead a perfect life, and had many flaws that lead to many poor decisions, but he sure did create an amazing array of works filled with unforgettably colourful characters we love and enjoy these 140 years later.