A Friend at Dover Castle
George Blancet

In the spring of 1979, my wife and I were on our second visit to England. On our first trip we were consumed by the splendor and majesty of castles, palaces and landscape in and around the great city of London. While on a limited budget, we had traveled to the upper part of Wales and both sides of Scotland, Ayr to Edinburgh. The wonder and awe of our first visit were still fresh in our minds; but the second trip was to acquaint us with our most unforgettable Englishman — Victor Yeakes of Dover, Kent — a charming man in his late 60s who served as an enthusiastic "keeper" at Dover Castle.

A quick tour of Dover Castle was on our schedule for that beautiful spring day, but little did we know that my western style hat (cowboy hat) would open the door to a true friendship. The hat — with its high peaked dome and band of brightly colored feathers — was uncharacteristic of my usual attire, but it was an attention-getter; as proven by our stop at Canterbury, where in touring the Cathedral we met a group of Boy Scouts who could not take their eyes off it. I offered them a closer view, and before long they were passing my hat around and taking snapshots with it on. That hat was to play a prominent role in meeting my most unforgettable English person.