First Of All....

.... this concerns Canterbury in the county of Kent at the South Eastern tip of the United Kingdom, not Canterbury in New Zealand, nor Canterbury in Connecticut, nor the clothing manufacturer, nor the rock band, nor any of the other Canterburys that have pages devoted to them on the web. Canterbury, Kent, UK, where the world renowned cathedral and St. Augustine's Abbey are found, along with the University of Kent at Canterbury and the St. Lawrence Ground where Kent play their county cricket. That's the famous bits mentioned, the rest of what follows will not be about them (at least, that's the plan).
 
The history of Canterbury is well told and can be found elsewhere easily enough although an example of the cathedral's preponderance is given in a recent official publication, the city being...
 
Steeped in history dating back to 597AD with the founding of Canterbury Cathedral...
 
Yes, well, it's actually a bit older than that, and there are still some remains to be seen that predate that particular event. No matter. What I will be sharing in this blog are the observations I have made whilst wandering about the city over the last 20 years or so. The sort of things that don't make it into the official guide books but are still part of the fabric of the city and which contribute to the overall history of the place. I will also feature some items from my own collection of Canterbury related ephemera (or, if you prefer, junk) which I have gathered together over the years. I continue to collect relevant bits and pieces today as the present all too quickly becomes the past and what was considered mundane and everyday is all of a sudden lost. After all, in the words of David Oxley, 'We are history'.

So, 'Canterbury Ramblings' seems appropriate and to begin, the image at the top of this page is taken from a pre-1914 postcard published by W.E.B. & Co. of London (try searching for that on the internet) in their 'Favourite' Series, number 1261.