Deal

A Sunday afternoon stroll on the pier and around the little streets behind the seafront at Deal. It's an attractive small seaside town, part of the Cinque Ports confederation which dates back to the twelfth century, with some interesting and sometimes quirky architecture and a large, bare pier which used to provide landing for quite big boats and is now used mainly for fishing. We were pleased to see that the café at the end of the pier, which had been closed for several years, is now trading again; it used to be one of our favourite places to enjoy tea and cake, surrounded by sea. The little shelters along the sides of the pier were being well used, by families enjoying fish and chips, elderly couples with their flasks and small groups of teenagers hanging out together: the wind was chillier than I expected.