DAY 22
22   AUGUST 2021 
BRUGES TO GRAVELINES/DUNKIRK - 60 MILES

Sunday 22 was to be the final day, getting myself from Bruges the 60 odd miles to Dunkirk, only hampered by the wind in my face and some warm rain showers. The landscape was flat and for most of the time I was cycling along one of the many canals around here.  The only excitement of the day was trying to find the DFDS Ferry terminal in Dunkirk, but it isn’t in Dunkirk, more like in Gravelines about 10 miles west of Dunkirk.  Then, because of the long line of people checking in and having problems with the various forms they had to present - recent Covid test, passenger locator form, proof of double vaccination, evidence of day 2 post arrival test arrangements etc. etc, I wasn’t able to get on the 6 pm ferry and had to wait for the 8 pm, which with gaining an hour crossing to the UK brought me in to Dover for 9 pm and then a late train up to London to fall in to bed after a long day.  My advice is to be very well organised when travelling and have everything printed out and packaged up separately for each person, rather than trying to find stuff on mobile phones or iPads.  Be prepared also for multiple checks on passports, customs, immigration and whatever.  Now that we have left the EU there is a real sense of us being treated differently and stringently.  Well, it’s what we wanted, apparently, and it’s what we now have. I still feel very sore and sad about it. Always will.  Take Back Control / Global Britain/ and all the other slogans don’t make up for knowing and feeling that I’m not a European citizen anymore. Anyhow, it all worked for me and in a couple of hours I sighted the white cliffs of Dover.  I didn't break out singing Land of Hope and Glory or We’ll Meet Again !

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As I cycled along the French coast towards Dunkirk, I couldn't help but notice the number of groups of, mostly, young men who were walking along by the dunes and the beaches. Migrants, refugees, whatever you want to call them. I guess they camp / live in the dunes until they can find a way to cross The Channel.  I heard on Monday after I was back that over 800 had made the crossing that day in their small boats and dinghies.  I'm bemused why they seem to have this drive to get to the UK.  They are in France and other European countries already, where arguably life is as good or better than in the UK, but still they seem to want to come to the UK.  Why ?  Is it the ubiquity of English ?  Do they have some naive notion that the streets are paved with gold ?  I reckon many of them are in for a shock when they get to post-Brexit Boris Britain.  Not to mention the weather !  Still, I have a great compassion for people who are far from their homes, have been constrained to leave their families and lives because of safety, or the need for work to support themselves and their families  People do not leave their homes willingly. Usually they are driven out by circumstances and fear.  The solution ?  Well, one way to make a bit of a change is to ensure that where they come from is safe, secure and prosperous.  Then there isn't a reason for them to leave. Cutting the UK aid budget isn't going to help, neither is tough talking (for blatantly cynical political reasons) from our Home Secretary - who, by the way, comes from an immigrant family that moved from India to Uganda and then on to the UK, precisely for the same economic betterment and safer future that current migrants / refugees are seeking.  There's something distasteful about listening to someone with that family history and experience talking about migrants and refugees as though they are a different and inconvenient species of human being.

And now, I have to begin preparing for a Spanish cycling trip down the Ruta de la Plata, from northern Spain down to the far south.  I hope.  Then a week of R&R in Portugal. You will no doubt hear about it from me !