The M20 reverts to being the A20
at Folkestone and continues east towards Dover through Sugerloaf Hill
Tunnel
The River Rother at Rye
A lamb near Rye
A boating lake near Rye
A horse grazes contentedly
despite the field being partially waterlogged
This couple on Camber Beach are
obviously unaware that National 'Selfie' Day was last week!
Construction work on the beach
at Jury's Gap
Dungeness
Nuclear Power Station is located on the largest area of open shingle in
Europe. From the west it is bordered by the Army's Lydd
Firing
Ranges as well as a 3 mile length of desolate coastline
The
'old' lighthouse at Dungeness is in fact the 4th such edifice to grace
the land peninsula. It was built in 1904 and would probably
still
be in service today but for the fact that somebody came-along and built
a power station next door which totally obscured the view to the west!
The 'new', 5th lighthouse at
Dungeness opened in 1961
Dungeness
Power Station comprises 2 nuclear reactors: the original which came
on-stream in 1965 and the second ('B') which started generating in
1983. Dungeness 'A' ceased electricity production in 2006 and
is
now part way through a decommissioning process that will finally
conclude by ... 2111!
The
Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch narrow-gauge railway opened in 1927 and,
unlike most preserved railways around the country, has no
'former
glory'; it was the brainchild of two millionaire racing drivers who had
it built, seemingly, for their own amusement. The initial
section
from New Romney to Dungeness was opened in 1947 by the world famous
comedy duo, Laurel & Hardy. The railway is now a
popular
tourist attraction as well as a transport facility serving several
communities along its 13.5 mile length
'The iPad Generation'
The lens at the top of the old
Dungeness Lighthouse
A beach house near Lydd-on-Sea
The railway at Lydd-on-Sea.
All ten of the original locomotives are still in service
The Union Flag flutters in a
strong breeze at Dymchurch
The coastline at Dymchurch
Not
a flag signifying the border with the People's Republic of Hythe but a
warning that live firing is taking place at the Army's Hythe Ranges
A disingenuous, jaundiced
elephant in need of some Warfarin tablets
The High Street at Hythe
Folkestone's
Harbour Station was closed in 2001 and is now in a poor state of
repair. There have been several proposals to re-open the
branch
but all of these seem to have come to nothing
The White Cliffs of Dover
Alongside
Folkestone's disused Harbour Station is another relic from a bygone
era. The ferry port declined throughout the latter part of
the
20th century and finally closed by c 2000. The infrastructure
is
still in place but serves only as a neglected monument to more
prosperous times
A man looks out over the
English Channel at Folkestone
The Grand Burstin Hotel,
Folkestone dominates the harbour area
The
Church of St Mary and St Eanswythe, Folkestone can be traced-back to
1220, some 580 years after its second patron saint died.
Excavations in the latter part of the 19th century uncovered
a
Saxon lead coffin containing the 7th century remains of a young woman.
It is thought, therefore, that the church is one of the few
in
England that still retains the remains of its patron. The
graveyard similarly contains some very old tombs although the ones seen
here date back only as far as the 1820s
Another early 19th century grave
Tulips in Folkestone
The National Memorial to 'The
Few' at Capel-le-Ferne
A
'hoe' is an area of land that juts-out into the sea ... probably the
most famous one is in Plymouth. Samphire Hoe, near Dover, is
less
well known but equally interesting as it is entirely man-made.
The whole area to the left of the railway line has been
reclaimed
from the sea using some 4.9 million cubic metres of chalk marl from the
Channel Tunnel excavations. The site is owned by Eurotunnel
but
hasnow been designated as a country park which attracts 100,000
visitors annually
Also at Samphire Hoe - the
ventilation equipment that services the Channel Tunnel which runs below
From left: Jamie Clark (local Olympic
torchbearer), Dame Vera Lynn & Ian Fleming, all immortalised at
Dover Harbour
MyFerryLink
[sic] is very much the 'new kid' around Dover having only commenced
sailing the Dover - Calais route in August 2012. Unusually it
is
a workers' co-operative but attracted controversy when it was
discovered that it leases its ships from Eurotunnel, a company that,
for reasons of maintaining a competitive market, is barred from
operating ferries. This resulted in Eurotunnel being
instructed
to cease the practice but the matter is now being taken to appeal
An outbound ferry seen from St
Margaret's at Cliffe
These
used to be commonplace not so many years ago but are now collectors'
items. Although not in great shape this relic from the 70s
would
no doubt make good money at auction
English Daisies in Folkestone
Deal
was once England's busiest
port but today is a simple resort town on the Kent coast. It
was once notorious for smugglers leading William Cobbett, the 19th
Century journalist, to write: "Deal is a most villainous place. It is
full of filthy-looking people". I saw no evidence of this in 2014
although all towns of any size tend to have their troublesome elements
... Deal or no Deal!
Great Sunday morning exercise in a stiff
breeze just off the coast of Deal
The
golf course just north of Deal cuts-across the coastal path in places -
here, the tee is on the seaward side of the path. Although
walkers have priority we all politely stopped and waited whilst the
usual 'addressing the ball' formalities took place and there was even a
ripple of applause once the shot had been struck. Apparently
'Tiger' here must be used to such acclaim as there wasn't so much as a
smile, acknowledgement or glimmer of thanks before he strode-off down
the fairway
The coastline between Deal and Sandwich is
somewhat baron in parts
Some dedicated anglers battle the wind
Those
nice people at RBS helpfully provide direction and distance indicators
at selected points around Britain's National Cycle Network. This
one is located a mile to the south of Sandwich. Having traversed
that distance, guess what is the one thing that can't be obtained there
on a Sunday lunchtime ... ?!
Wonderful blossom adorns the Prunus trees
at
Great Stonar
The imposing Pegwell Bay Hotel
Ramsgate Harbour
The cliffs north of Ramsgate are still
largely chalk and retain the appearance of those at Dover
Broadstairs Beach on a sunny, warm Sunday
afternoon
A
fairly ordinary stretch of road at Foreland, north of Broadstairs, but
the most easterly point of the coastline south of the Thames and,
accordingly, the eastern extremity of my circumnavigation of the south
of England. The northern most point was achieved unceremoniously
at Wolvercote, near Oxford in June of 2013; the southern and western
points are yet to come!
Not Durdle Door but a similar rock
formation at Kingsgate Bay
Ruins at North Foreland Point
No, he wasn't cut-off by the rising tide!
The coastline at Margate looking west
towards the Thames Estuary
Margate Sea Front
Margate Beach bathed in late afternoon
sunshine
Dover Harbour in the morning sunshine
The figure of local Olympic Torchbearer,
Jamie Clark, with Dover Harbour behind
It's sometimes fun to 'play' with camera
settings ... here is an attractive fountain in Dover town centre
photographed with normal shutter speed and aperture settings ...
Extending the shutter speed produces a
brighter, less distinct shot ...
Slowing down the shutter speed further
causes the movement of the water to blur to the extent that it can
barely be discerned
Dover has several War Memorials but
this one is located in the centre of the town
Dover's Pencester Gardens came-about
somewhat by accident as the land had been acquired in 1880 as a site
for a new station serving the Channel Tunnel which was then being
planned! Obviously this didn't come to fruition until some
decades later and, in 1924, the land was designated as an area of
recreation. The pavilion, just visible, was erected in 2000 as
part of the Millennium celebrations
The MSC Magnifica dwarfs even the larger
of Dover's ferries and, at 93,000 tonnes, it is rather better equipped
for long voyages. It boasts 13 passenger decks, 3 swimming pools,
2 restaurants, 17 bars and a 1,250 seat theatre. Dover is its
penultimate port of call on an 18 night cruise from Santos, Brazil to
Hamburg, Germany
P&O's Spirit of Britain is a lot
smaller than the MSC Magnifica (circa half the tonnage) and has been
making the rather less glamorous crossing between Dover and Calais
since January 2011
When several ferries disembark
simultaneously the flow of lorries through the port is relentless
A number of statues commemorating Dover's
wartime associations adorn the sea front. This one commemorates
the many men of the merchant navy who gave their lives
The tunnels through Shakespeare Cliff that
allow vehicular and railway access to Samphire Hoe. The Channel
Tunnel passes under the cliff, some 45 metres beneath the sea bed
The
village of Durweston, near Blandford Forum, has a population of c 400
and was mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086. Here we see the
weir with the River Stour in full flow
The
last train passed under Durweston Bridge on its way to Blandford during
1966 when the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway closed the line.
The trackbed between Sturminster Newton and Stourpaine had already been
transformed by Sustrans into a footpath/cyclepath a few years ago but,
during 2013, the extension from Stourpaine through to the old station
site in Blandford Forum was completed
Is it a snake? No, probably a Slow Worm
Fifty shades of Grrrr ... een near
Bryanston
Dandelions at Travellers' Rest
The village of Stourpaine seen from the
hills
The A350 Blandford Forum bypass
A quintessentially British countryside
scene at Durweston
Copperhouse
Pool, at Hayle, was created artificially so that ships could navigate
the tidal channel up as far as the copper smelter at
Ventonleague. The site of these docks is now a Co-Op supermarket
and tourism has replaced copper production as the major industry in the
area
Phillack Church seen across Copperhouse
Pool from Hayle
The Church of St Elwyn the Martyr, Hayle
is dedicated to the 5th Century Irish missionary
Sunset over the Hayle estuary with the
silhouette of Lelant Church just visible
