Dickens of a place

Echoes of Dickens abound in Rochester, says Rebecca Ford, from the mocked-up prison hulks to the dusty shelves of Baggins Book Bazaar There was something decidedly Dickensian about the woman at the next table. I couldn't help noticing her because of the way she regaled the waitress - and consequently all the diners - with spicy details of life with her 'toy boy', interspersed with memories of idyllic day-trips to Margate for bingo and banana fritters. She stopped only to sip her soup in an exaggeratedly ladylike fashion, or adjust her ample chest. She was so fascinating that I felt quite disappointed when she eventually left.

Rochester is full of such larger-than-life characters and perhaps it was the area's sense of theatrical eccentricity that attracted Dickens himself. He lived in the neighbouring town of Chatham as a child and returned as an adult to live in nearby Gad's Hill Place.

Perched strategically on the river Medway, and only an hour by train from central London, Rochester has never quite made it into the premier league of tourist hot spots. But, small enough to explore on foot, it's one of those places I'm always happy to revisit even when, like this time, it is bucketing down outside. The High Street, which is pedestrianised, was once Watling Street, the Roman highway between Kent and London. Follow it and you soon come to the great Norman castle, with its 12ft thick walls, which dominates the city's skyline. It was here that Henry VIII met Anne of Cleves, his fourth wife, for the first time and declared the unfortunate woman to be so ugly that she became known as 'the Flanders Mare'. Keen to keep her head, Anne kept her opinions on her future husband to herself. One of the castle's four corner towers is round rather than square thanks to King John, who laid siege to the castle and dug a hole under one of the towers. He then had this stuffed with the fat of 40 freshly slaughtered pigs before setting it ablaze in a bizarre barbecue which caused the tower to collapse. It was later rebuilt in a different style. One of the most interesting places in the city is the free museum which is attached to the 17th century Guildhall. It's full of fascinating objects ranging from Anglo Saxon coins to Victorian moustache cups. However, the best part of the museum is the recreated prison hulk, which recalls the ships moored on the Medway during the 18th and 19th centuries to house convicts. Was it from one like this that Magwitch escaped to terrorise the young Pip in Great Expectations? Conditions were foul, yet in the midst of absolute squalor and brutality the men, particularly the Napoleonic prisoners of war, produced the most exquisite objects. Their highly polished boxes, delicately inlaid with straw and hair, and intricate ships fashioned from bone, were made so that they could be sold in return for better food and conditions - yet each object seemed to contain the very soul of the man who made it. It's impossible to escape Dickens in Rochester. He's there at every turn, whether in the touristy Chuzzelwit's Old Shoppe or Ye Olde Curiosite Restaurante or in the buildings which inspired his imagination: Restoration House, for instance, with its stern iron gate, which became Miss Havisham's Satis House. Or Eastgate House - now the Dickens Centre - which featured in Pickwick Papers as Westgate House. My favourite was the Richard Watts' almshouse which provided free overnight accommodation for 'six poor travellers' as long as they were not 'rogues or proctors'. The lodgings, which must have been the height of luxury in their day, were used right up to the Second World War and featured in The Seven Poor Travellers. However, there is more to Rochester than Dickens. I was surprised to discover that in the Middle Ages it was a place of pilgrimage following the murder of a Scotsman, St William of Perth. He was a baker who gave away every tenth loaf to charity and was killed while on his way to the Holy Land. His shrine in Rochester Cathedral was the site of many miracles and rivalled that of Thomas Beckett in Canterbury. It attracted thousands of pilgrims on what was probably the medieval equivalent of the package tour. If you tire of the historical sites there are plenty of shops to explore. They sell all those things which take on a strange fascination when it's raining outside: quilted coat hangers, chamber pots and feathery dream catchers. Best of all is Baggins Book Bazaar, an enormous rambling secondhand bookshop, which claims to be the largest in England. There are books piled everywhere with just the right amount of Dickensian dust and mustiness to give it character. I stayed in there so long that when I came out the rain had stopped and the sun was coming out. Time for another cup of tea NEED TO KNOW There are no direct trains from Edinburgh or Glasgow, but trains to Rochester leave regularly from both London Victoria and Charing Cross. Call 0345 484950 for more information about fares and times. Rochester Castle is open daily. Call 01634 402276 for details.

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