I arrived in Deal late on a Sunday afternoon in August, long after lights-out it appeared by most of the properties I passed from the station.
Unchartered model ships collected dust behind window panes of old Victorian cottages squat and tall, squeezed up against each other like preserved summer fruits crammed in a jar.
A Calor Gas blue flickered behind some of the curtains on Duke Street, while tiny front rooms briefly exposed bicycles and ironing-boards, folded prams, dirty plates, an old widow and a fish-tank.
In Middle Street, a competition seemed to run for some but not all residents in choosing an elaborate house name, a brightly coloured front door and an antique knocker or bell-pull. Here, the have and have nots jostled for my attention from both sides, as if I were a special dignitary visiting for the first time.
Quiet and seemingly deserted, Deal was a sleeping child, except for the hard abrasive sound of little suitcase wheels rolling out of town.
Unchartered model ships collected dust behind window panes of old Victorian cottages squat and tall, squeezed up against each other like preserved summer fruits crammed in a jar.
A Calor Gas blue flickered behind some of the curtains on Duke Street, while tiny front rooms briefly exposed bicycles and ironing-boards, folded prams, dirty plates, an old widow and a fish-tank.
In Middle Street, a competition seemed to run for some but not all residents in choosing an elaborate house name, a brightly coloured front door and an antique knocker or bell-pull. Here, the have and have nots jostled for my attention from both sides, as if I were a special dignitary visiting for the first time.
Quiet and seemingly deserted, Deal was a sleeping child, except for the hard abrasive sound of little suitcase wheels rolling out of town.
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