New Delhi, Aug. 25 -- Early morning is the best time to explore a new city. The cobbled streets of Canterbury are hushed, but I can sense the thrum of a new morning: pale pink rays lighting up the sky, the occasional ring of a bicycle bell, and the echo of thudding footsteps of joggers.

I explore the shadowed lanes, the half-timbered houses, and old city walls as Canterbury sheds its blanket of darkness. But no matter where I go, the cathedral is never far, its great spire rising above rooftops as it stands guard like a timeless sentinel.

The Canterbury area in the county of Kent has been inhabited since prehistoric times. The main settlement of the Celtic tribe of the Cantiaci, it was captured by the Romans in the 1st century AD and na...