Groggster

By Groggster

A Rose By Any Other Name

Today we took a short hop back over to Upper Upnor for a stroll along its wonderfully characterful cobbled High Street lined with cottages clad in Kentish weatherboarding and its own Elizabethan artillery fort, Upnor Castle, at the bottom of the road where it sits on the western bank of the River Medway with views across to the historic Chatham Dockyard. It packs a mighty punch for such a tiny street - and even, rather remarkably, finds room to also squeeze in two pubs - the King's Arms and The Tudor Rose (more of which later).
My image is a view from the bottom of the High Street with the pub sign for the Tudor Rose on the left and the octagonal be-domed building ,which I have subsequently found out is not a look out tower or even a truncated lighthouse but an ornamental garden gazebo, in the middle with its accompanying gloriously flowering magnolia with a view across to the residential towers on the opposite bank of the river. It just really liked the juxtaposition of the historic and the modern.
By the time we walked back up the hill The Tudor Rose 'just happened' to be open. so of course we had to try it for a pint. It appears to be quite minuscule from the front but once you're inside it opens up like a Tardis. The bar area is still quite snug but to each side are two large rooms - one for dining and the other for just enjoying your drinks. We were guided to the latter by one of the very friendly and welcoming members of staff once we'd bought our pints and what a fantastically atmospheric room - it felt like being inside an old ship with its wood panelled walls. We found out it also has a lovely terraced pub garden with its own resident ducks - who were happily in attendance when we glanced out of the window at the back.
Once we finished our pints we headed to its sister village, Lower Upnor, for a walk along the shoreline and to take in the views of the estuary before the rain started to make its appearance felt again and we headed home.

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