Canterbury

[sabethea]

Hello! If anyone wants any information about Canterbury - where Kent University campus is compared to train stations, which pubs have wifi, which are nice places to go... etc etc - please do ask on this post. I've lived in and around the city all my life, and I am happy to share my expertise on the place if anyone wants it :)

Comments

[leni_jess]

I'd appreciate any good gen on second hand bookshops - not serious/collectors' places, but light reading (children's books, historical novels, science fiction...), as I plan to poke about a bit after the con.

Seems to me you should be au fait with that subject anywhere in reach of your home!

[sabethea]

Ooh, the Oxfam Bookshop on the High Street is good. It has proper sections for different sorts of books, and is one of the few places I occasionally manage to pick up old girls' school stories from. It's not the cheapest, but it definitely has the biggest range

[leni_jess]

Thanks for that! After the con I'll be exploring from our hotel on the other side of the central bus station, but your directions are nice and clear.

[ragdoll]

Oh, yes please. :)

Oops-- ETA specifically what food/chemists/shops are around the University so if we want/need anything during the con, particularly food and drink, we can get them. Assuming we can.

[sabethea]

The trouble with Kent Uni is that it is at the top of a hill and the rest of the town is at the bottom of the hill. It's about 15-20 minutes walk down into town, which isn't dreadful but isn't what you want in the middle of the Con. However, buses are quite regular on the route

[dora_the_nymph]

You will get info in which places are open on campus when you get to the con. There is a shop on campus, but very frustratingly it'll be shut on Saturday and Sunday, so people will need to stock up on Friday.

[sabethea]

Oh, bloody hell.

Or place orders with me and I'll make trips to the supermarket in the morning before coming up ;-)

[scarletladyy]

Thank you! :)

If you don't mind my asking, are there any places we shouldn't go? Particularly at night?

I'm also interested in pharmacies, as well as the nearest doctors (don't I sound healthy LOL).

[sabethea]

Hello! The city centre is basically absolutely fine. Some of the outlying suburbs aren't particularly salubrious (Thanington Without comes to mind) but frankly I can't imagine what circumstances would lead you anywhere near there! (You couldn't end up there by accident, for example - you'd have to make a determined effort to get there.) I just asked my work colleague to make sure I hadn't forgotten anywhere, but no. Basically, Canterbury's pretty safe. Safer in twos, like anywhere, but I've walked up and down and round and round in evenings and never had a problem.

As I said to ragdoll, there's a pharmacy next to the medical centre on the Kent campus, which suggests that it's open Mon-Fri 9-6pm. If it weren't, you can get a bus into Canterbury, and there are plenty very close. If you get it to the Westgate Towers, walk back in the direction you have come from on the bus (about 2 minutes walk or less - even *I* could make it!), and there's a pharmacy by the level crossing. If you get it to the Bus Station, there's a big 'Boots' store pretty

[scarletladyy]

Brilliant, thank you so much! :D

[sabethea]

Ooh, there's C&H Fabrics on the high street (I buy wool/yarn from there ;-) ) and there's another one on the outskirts of town, which is very much likely to be cheaper. If you were coming from the Bus Station, you would need to cross the bridge to Canterbury East train station and then turn right and walk down the road. You come out just by a roundabout, and you need to turn left (under the railway bridge) into Wincheap (a sub-area of Canterbury; I don't think it does anything useful like *tell* you it's called Wincheap. You would then need to cross the road and take the first road on your right into Wincheap Industrial Estate. There is a pub just on the corner, but if you follow the road round there is a big fabric shop

[sabethea]

I am a terrible knitter, but obsessive ;)

[joanwilder]

Are you going to be there? I'd so love to meet you.

[sabethea]

I am, I am. *bounces* I'll be the one with the bright red dalek mobility scooter, so I suspect I might be fairly visible :)

[joanwilder]

I will find you!