The equinox occurred at 21:47 GMT, marking the end of the year and the beginning of light winning over darkness. It’s a time of mixed emotions, but the narrator was on vacation and happy to be away from work. His friend Jools still had half a day to work, but her employers paid for all employees to go to a fancy place in Folkestone for lunch, drinks, and wine, making it a time for celebration.
The narrator dropped Jools off at work and had the car for the day. He drove through Dover and Folkestone on the main road and motorway before turning over the downs into Hythe. He dropped Jools off in the town, and then drove back home for breakfast and chores before leaving on a mini-churchcrawl.
Kent is not a big county, but it takes some time to get to some parts of the west of the county. The narrator drove up the A20 then onto the motorway to Ashford then to Maidstone until the junction before the M26 starts. After turning down the A road, it was fine until he got to Mereworth, but from there the road began to twist and turn until it lead to Tonbridge. The church he visited was built around the outskirts of Penshurst Place, home to the Sidney family since Tudor times. The church has memorials and tombs worth revisiting, including one that features the heads of the children of Robert Sidney.
The narrator then moved on to Speldhurst but had trouble finding a place to park. He moved on to Groombridge where there is a small chapel with fabulous glass. He missed the church on first pass and discovered that it and the other church in the village were in Sussex. He turned around and decided not to stop at Groombridge either. Instead, he drove to Tunbridge Wells where there was another church to revisit.
The church was across the road from the Georgian square known as The Pantiles. The narrator went in, and there was a service underway. He sat at the back to observe and pray but did not take communion. He was there to photograph the ceiling and other details he failed to record when he was last there over a decade ago. He was quizzed strongly by a warden as to why he was doing this but had no answer other than he enjoyed it.
After getting his shots, the narrator left and started the slog back up to the car. He promised a young man selling the Big Issue that he would come back and buy a copy on the way, but instead, he gave him a fiver and told him there is kindness in the world.
The narrator had two and a half hours to get to Folkestone to pick up Jools. He stopped at Stop 24 services for a coffee and something to eat before heading to pick her up. In other news, nothing unprecedented had happened.
At quarter past four, the narrator picked up Jools and left for home.