William the Conqueror, Shakespeare and Dover

Sailing out across Norman's Bay from Eastbourne one can imagine the scene nearly a thousand years earlier when three hundred Norman longboats beached on the shingle at nearby Pevensey as William, Duke of Normandy set about his conquest of England.

Fog approaching

Our view of this part of the Sussex coastline was soon obscured in a weak bank of fog. We sailed under autopilot for a couple of hours keeping a close watch on our radar and AIS but only came across the odd fishing boat.

Dover in sight and AIS getting busier!

On cue, the fog lifted giving us views of Dungeness power station looming castle-like out of the murk with its two sentinel lighthouses; one now disused. The tides here are strong and we were propelled along at speeds of up to 8 knots towards the familiar and distinctive white cliffs of Dover. Actually they are the white cliffs of Folkestone and Dover with the 350 feet of Shakespeare Cliff towering between both ports.

White cliffs in sight

Folkestone is no longer a ferry port due to the advent of Eurotunnel but Dover is still the busiest ferry port in the country with constant arrivals and departures to the European continent. Strict rules have to be followed by all those who seek to enter or leave the harbour in order to keep everyone safe. With a little trepidation, and still two miles out from the western harbour entrance, we called up Dover Port on our radio. Essentially the port needs three key bits of information from any vessel; who you are, where you are and where you want to go. Accordingly, our responses were; eight metre catamaran, two miles south west of the western harbour entrance and our intended destination the yacht marina.

Western harbour entrance with traffic lights

Once in possession of this info, the port instructs you to call again once 200 metres short of the harbour entrance where a set of traffic lights operate. At this point the lights will turn green and you will receive permission to enter OR you will be told to remain clear of the harbour entrance on a red light until such time as other vessels both small and big (some are very, very big) have cleared the entrance. Needless to say a fully working VHF radio is essential although the port will thoughtfully send out a high powered pilot boat to guide you in if modern communications fail. We got a green light YAY, and were soon alongside in the safety of Granville Dock.

Our stay at Dover was extended to six nights, much longer than we had envisaged, due to a very strong and persistent northerly wind preventing our passage to Ramsgate. Unperturbed, we made the most of it and set off to explore a port we thought we knew reasonably well. The Norman castle sits high on the land to the east of the port and was in constant view from the marina, however we had both visited this historic fortification in the past so we decided to set out on foot for something less familiar; Samphire Hoe. This artificial shelf of land juts out beneath the cliffs to the west of the port and was created by spoil from the construction of Eurotunnel. We followed the North Downs Way past Aycliff towards Shakespeare Cliff. The views back towards Dover were spectacular as we ascended an increasingly steep path towards the summit.

View from Shakespeare Cliff

Edgy!

Access to the Samphire Hoe reserve is through an old service tunnel constructed as part of the aborted channel tunnel project in the 1970s. An eerie few hundred yards later we emerged onto what can only be described as typical North Downs countryside but at sea level which makes it a highly unusual habitat supporting several rare species of plants, flowers, insects and birds. Part of the land is occupied by a Eurotunnel ventilation plant but this is unobtrusive and screened off to visitors. We enjoyed a walk and a picnic lunch and were fascinated by the stories of families who had lived at the foot of the cliffs on a strip of land close to the route of the railway which still runs along between two tunnel entrances. Incredibly, these pioneering people accessed their makeshift driftwood homes via precipitous paths leading down from the clifftop in the days prior to the digging of the access service tunnel.

Samphire Hoe

Dover has excellent public transport links so the following day we caught a bus to neighbouring Folkestone. A ride on the top deck is always fun and we were treated to some excellent views from the cliff tops and a drive-by of the Battle of Britain memorial at Capel-le-Ferne on the road between Dover and Folkestone commemorating 'The Few'.

Folkestone has some very quaint and unusual narrow streets filled with independent shops and cafe bars.

We made our way down to the shingle beach and finished up at the pier where the old railway station has been renovated into an open space for people and plants.

Folkestone beach

The pier is much as it was in the early twentieth century when it was the embarkation point for tens of thousands of soldiers headed to the battlefields of France and Belgium.

Folkestone Pier

The old harbour has some excellent seafood stalls selling shrimp, cockles and jellied eels so lunchtime was a very tasty experience.

We really enjoyed the few days we spent in Dover. The town has even been targeted by the renowned street artist Banksy, whose work commenting upon the effects of Brexit is hard to miss on the side of a dilapidated building just off the main A20 which dissects the town en route to the ferry port.

Banksy's Brexit

This road seems to divide the town, cutting it off from the seafront. The only connection is via a not particularly inviting subterranean pedestrian underpass. Perhaps this will be addressed as the town continues to undergo further rejuvenation and development.

By the end of the week weather conditions turned in our favour and we began to make passage plans for Ramsgate, our penultimate stop. One final point to mention is that Dover marina was the best value for money out of any of our stops along the south coast charging just a tad over £100 for the week. Brilliant!