Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to all my clients and blog readers!

As you may have seen on the website, we at Discover South East England are taking a well deserved break over Christmas and New Year and will be back with you on Tuesday 10th January. In the meantime I hope you all have had a very peaceful Christmas and welcomed in 2012 in style.

It's all very exciting here in the UK as 2012 is the year of many different events and celebrations - Charles Dickens Bicentenary, London Olympics and the Queen's Diamond Jubilee to name just a few! I will be bringing you plenty of updates of what is going on and what is planned for any of you visiting the South East of England this year. Looking forward to seeing you soon!

A Bun on the Run in Sandwich!

There are many local and national traditions that happen throughout the year, plus many fun books written about them. I hope to be able to bring your attention to some of the more unusual ones, especially those in the South East region.

On Wednesday 24th August, try and get yourself down to the Cinque Port of Sandwich - a beautiful town with a large concentration of preserved medieval houses. It is on the 24th August, St Bartholomew's Day, that you can join in the Sandwich Bun Race for free at St Bartholomew's Hospital.

St Bartholomew's Hospital is one of the oldest established hostelries for pilgrims and travellers. The building dates back to 1190 and is located on the Dover road - an important pilgrimage route from London via Canterbury and on to the Continent. The Chapel was built around 1217 and is said it was built to celebrate the defeat of the French.

Every 24th August, a special service begins at 11am which concludes with a run around the church. Children are given buns, and adults are given a hard baked biscuit stamped with the arms of the town on it. The buns and biscuits may represent a dole of bread that may have been given out to the poor, but no one is sure for certain. What you do need to know, though, is that the Bartlemas Bun Run is part of The Sandwich Festival 2011 which this year runs all week from Sunday 21st August to Monday 29th August, with music, festivals, walks, fashion shows, Markets, Duck Races and much more.
Have a look at: www.open-sandwich.co.uk for more details.