Today’s walk will take me from Deal to Dover. Reaching Dover seems like a bit of a milestone but I’m not quite sure why!
Anyway, I start at Deal pier which has a cafe at the end but not much else on it…
The path soon leaves the roadside and more greenery appears. It is interesting that there are bushes growing among the pebbles on the beach. We often hear about coastal erosion but this is the opposite - deposition. The land is literally growing and pushing the sea back! This landscape continues until the chalk cliffs begin at Oldstairs Bay.
Past Walmer, the path continues to follow the back of the beach until I get to Oldstairs Bay and the village of Kingsdown. Here I have to venture across the pebbles…
…where the waves are crashing onto the beach quite impressively…!
The path along the base of the cliffs looks enticing…
…but you don’t want to go down there ‘cos its a dead end. Don’t ask how i know…
What you want to do is climb the steps to the right all the way to the top of the cliff. Where it is a bit on the breezy side! The path is good though.
About forty-five minutes brings me to the Dover Patrol memorial. Standing high on the cliff above St Margaret’s Bay, this was built after the First World War to commemorate the Royal Navy’s Dover Patrol that guarded the Strait of Dover.
I am now approaching St Margaret’s Bay…
The path down to the bay is quite steep, and the final bit is loads of steps that zig-zag down the cliff. I’m glad I’m going down and don’t have to climb up this way! Once at the bottom, the bay is really nice and has a cafe, pub, car park, loos, etc. It is also quite a sheltered sun trap and I have to remove a couple of layers of clothing!
To get back up onto the cliff you have to take the road…
A few yards up the road a footpath is signed off to the left. However, it looks like this…
It is supposed to go behind the cliff top properties on the seaward side, but clearly hasn’t been maintained. I continue up the road and pass the houses on the landward side until I find this gate which leads back to the cliff path…
Twenty minutes across Lighthouse Down I find the lighthouse! This is South Foreland Lighthouse and is now a National Trust property.
From here all the way to the White Cliffs visitor centre above the docks in Dover, there is a lovely new-looking cinder path. It is also quite windy and exposed, so I have to put a couple of layers back on again! On the positive side, the views out to sea are stunning. The atmosphere is very clear and France can be seen really well!
Five minutes on from the lighthouse, the docks come into view in the distance…
Getting closer…
Finally I arrive at the visitor centre on the cliff above the docks…
There is a great view of Dover Castle from here. I highly recommend a visit as it is absolutely huge, well preserved, and represents two thousand years of history from the Roman lighthouse to the WW2 tunnels! Just to the east of the castle is the memorial to Louis Bleriot, marking the spot where he landed to become the first person to fly across the channel.
I’m onto the last section of today’s walk now. A lot of steps leads past the docks and down to the town. It’s a top spot for ferry and truck spotters…
At the bottom is a road of colourful houses built worryingly close to the base of the cliff!
I walk along Dover seafront which is very empty of people. Possibly because it is the least attractive seafront I think I’ve ever seen. There don’t seem to be any cafes or arcades or anything else you usually find, just lots of ugly blocks of flats! Sorry, Dover…
So I finish today at this war memorial. Not sure why he’s in a glass box, though?
