Dover

Dover has always been hugely significant as a naval town. The Romans made it the headquarters of their northern fleet. In medieval times it was one of the Cinque Ports. It was shelled and bombed from over the channel during both World Wars. The huge Dover Castle, first started in the 1180s, stands guard over the town.

Today, cross-Channel ferries, liners and cargo ships come and go relentlessly from its giant harbour. The old Cruise Terminal, an enclosed walkway used for boarding and disembarking cruise ships provides excellent views of all the activities of the harbour and access to the pier itself. The famous white cliffs can be seen in the distance in both  directions. On the quays of the Outer Harbour huge ferries wait, with mouths gaping wide, to swallow their cargoes of cars and lorries, ready to regurgitate them on the other side. The south side is more small scale with a line of ramshackle huts standing haphazardly at the top of the pebbly beach. There is little activity. A few individuals work on small craft.

The main human activity is on the pier itself. Two small doors at each end of the walkway give access and out in the full glare of the sun, up to 100 men, drivers(?) are busy fishing & chatting & snoozing.

Folkestone

The Leas, a superb clifftop promenade with wide lawns and colourful flowerbeds stretch for a mile or so. On the landward side are tall stucco Victorian houses and large hotels. On the seaward side steep cliffs overlook the Old High Street which slopes down to the harbour where small boats bob about in the water at high tide and languish in the mud when it is out. The arched viaduct over the  harbour provides memories of yesteryear when trains used to arrive from London for the boat-train. The carriages were loaded onto ferries for the journey across to France. This service stopped in 1980.

Sandgate

Old fishermen’s cottages and one of Henry VIII’s castles share the sea front of this charming village. Amongst the smart houses, cafes, pubs & small shops edge up wooded slopes.

Seabrook

Seabrook is a small village separated from the shingle beach by a raised embankment and the coast road. Modern apartment blocks & Victorian houses line the village streets.

Hythe

In medieval times Hythe was right on the coast. Today the centre of the old town is half a mile inland, separated from the Victorian resort area by the Royal Military Canal.

That’s a Martello Tower in the background, a series of defensive forts built across the UK from the time of the French Revolutionary Wars of the 19th century. They stand up to 12 m high with two floors and typically had a garrison of one officer and 15–25 men. Their round structure and thick walls of solid masonry made them resistant to cannon fire, while their height made them an ideal platform for a single heavy artillery piece, mounted on the flat roof and able to traverse, and hence fire, over a complete 360° circle.

Dymchurch

Dymchurch crouches behind a massive embankment, several metres below sea level. It is now full of amusement arcades and funfairs. For centuries the Romney Marsh drainage system was run from the Court Room in New Hall.