Janet Gogerty's Blog: Sandscript - Posts Tagged "dungeness"
Sandscript on Edge
The world is round, so to reach the ends of the earth is impossible, but some places seem to peter out to the very edge. Our September travels did not go beyond Kent and Sussex, but exploring the coast brought us close to the edge.
Weather warnings of high winds made Beachy Head on the South Downs the perfect choice for a day’s outing. It is a beautiful area of rolling green, at 530 feet it boasts the highest chalk sea cliffs in the United Kingdom and the red and white lighthouse is iconic. Alas, simple small wooden crosses, nestling in the grass beyond the cliff edge warning signs, remind visitors it is also famous as a suicide spot. But help is at hand; Beachy Head Chaplaincy has been patrolling the cliffs since 2004. The day we visited, people were more likely to be blown off the edge than jump; with a coach party of tourists and local walkers there was little chance for morbid introspection. Blue skies, white clouds and the exhilarating winds ensured the views literally took our breath away; a perfect day to be alive.
On this holiday I also wanted to visit the past, a holiday remembered of a grey chalet and constant rain, three adults, my infant school friend and two toddlers. We got told off for playing in the muddy puddles and my little brother burnt his hand on the Calor gas stove. What a holiday for the poor grownups! The sun did come out at least once and I recall a bright road leading down to the beach. So we headed for the Isle of Sheppey, by the Thames Estuary, reached by a bridge, but soon feeling remote from the mainland. Leysdown-on-Sea boasts a short road full of amusement arcades with ironic names such as ‘Las Vegas’ and empty of customers. But the place was small and friendly, an old fashioned café served mugs of milky coffee not called lattes. My other half asked where our chalet had been. I had no idea, we had passed swathe after swathe of chalets and caravan parks, mostly shutting down for the winter and mostly a long way from the little beach.
Dungeness is a large headland of shingle beach which shelters low-lying Romney Marsh. Everything is low lying here. Dungeness is also the name of the nuclear power station and of the unique national nature reserve. About a hundred homes of various construction are scattered over the shingle. Some locals are fishermen, others are escaping ‘The World’. You can also reach Dungeness on the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch light railway. Despite torrential rain when we visited, passengers alighted cheerfully from the train into the station coffee shop. However remote a spot on the English coast, you are almost certain to find a café with pensioners and dog walkers enjoying a weekday morning outing. But away from people and buildings, out on the shingle amongst dilapidated boats and weathered burnt out fishing huts, there is a dystopian feel, completed on our walk by watching oddly attired people bashing each other with strange weapons. The presence of two cameramen suggested this was a perfect spot to film a low budget space fantasy; a perfect place to inspire writers as well. Who would come to live here and why?
Weather warnings of high winds made Beachy Head on the South Downs the perfect choice for a day’s outing. It is a beautiful area of rolling green, at 530 feet it boasts the highest chalk sea cliffs in the United Kingdom and the red and white lighthouse is iconic. Alas, simple small wooden crosses, nestling in the grass beyond the cliff edge warning signs, remind visitors it is also famous as a suicide spot. But help is at hand; Beachy Head Chaplaincy has been patrolling the cliffs since 2004. The day we visited, people were more likely to be blown off the edge than jump; with a coach party of tourists and local walkers there was little chance for morbid introspection. Blue skies, white clouds and the exhilarating winds ensured the views literally took our breath away; a perfect day to be alive.
On this holiday I also wanted to visit the past, a holiday remembered of a grey chalet and constant rain, three adults, my infant school friend and two toddlers. We got told off for playing in the muddy puddles and my little brother burnt his hand on the Calor gas stove. What a holiday for the poor grownups! The sun did come out at least once and I recall a bright road leading down to the beach. So we headed for the Isle of Sheppey, by the Thames Estuary, reached by a bridge, but soon feeling remote from the mainland. Leysdown-on-Sea boasts a short road full of amusement arcades with ironic names such as ‘Las Vegas’ and empty of customers. But the place was small and friendly, an old fashioned café served mugs of milky coffee not called lattes. My other half asked where our chalet had been. I had no idea, we had passed swathe after swathe of chalets and caravan parks, mostly shutting down for the winter and mostly a long way from the little beach.
Dungeness is a large headland of shingle beach which shelters low-lying Romney Marsh. Everything is low lying here. Dungeness is also the name of the nuclear power station and of the unique national nature reserve. About a hundred homes of various construction are scattered over the shingle. Some locals are fishermen, others are escaping ‘The World’. You can also reach Dungeness on the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch light railway. Despite torrential rain when we visited, passengers alighted cheerfully from the train into the station coffee shop. However remote a spot on the English coast, you are almost certain to find a café with pensioners and dog walkers enjoying a weekday morning outing. But away from people and buildings, out on the shingle amongst dilapidated boats and weathered burnt out fishing huts, there is a dystopian feel, completed on our walk by watching oddly attired people bashing each other with strange weapons. The presence of two cameramen suggested this was a perfect spot to film a low budget space fantasy; a perfect place to inspire writers as well. Who would come to live here and why?
Sandscript Unpacks
We have arrived home from our 24 days away to find the house still standing and unburgled. But I could not access my Command Control Centre (computer in the bedroom); due to my insistence on unplugging everything electrical while we were away lest lightning strike the house. Strange white messages appeared on a black screen, pressing F1 was not enough and long suffering Cyberspouse had to reset the computer’s body clock and re-boot it. But I still stand by my sensible precaution as our local area did have a dramatic storm while we were away. We also have the electrician in this week leading to more switching off and rebooting. But at last I am writing.
September brought a very hot late summer especially in Kent and there was only one rainy hotel afternoon when I actually got out my notepad. The rest of the holiday was spent with family or visiting interesting places and spotting fascinating people.
So I have returned with no progress on my novel, but plenty of ideas for short stories.
Dungeness is the only desert in the United Kingdom and one of the largest areas of shingle in the world; it is now a national nature reserve. But it also has a nuclear power station and for 88 years has been the end of the line for the Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch Railway, one third size steam trains which travel across the Romney marshes from Hythe.
Not as desolate as when only fishing families lived here this is still a unique and isolated spot, with fascinating shacks and stranded boat wrecks. Sitting in the station café I was just as interested to find the staff having a late lunch break on the tables next to us. It was like being in an episode of ‘Dinner Ladies’, a cosy little world where train drivers sat down with the cooks. I could imagine a jolly sitcom, with a dark edge perhaps. One of the drivers wore a South West Trains jumper, had he been demoted from mainline to miniature railway, his nerves shattered after running over a dog? http://www.rhdr.org.uk/about.html
Completely different was our Sunday out in Canterbury. The cathedral is one of the oldest and most famous Christian structures in England, forms part of a World Heritage Site and is one of the most visited places in the country. This was obvious by the crowds thronging the city as pilgrims and visitors have since the middle ages. Cyberspouse says they get in the way of his photography, but I love photographing people, they are a part of the city as mush as the many delightful buildings. The Salvation Army band was playing by a café, several guitarists had taken up spots by the shops and on the River Stour you could relax in a punt and be rowed by young men giving floating commentaries on history.
Entry to the cathedral close is through a stone archway and just inside is the Constables’ Lodge with the sign ‘Close Constables’; on duty 24 hours a day they deal with more than lost property and first aid, monitoring CCTV, crime prevention, sorting out problem visitors and even wearing stab proof vests. This is truly a place both ancient and modern and despite the crowds of visitors, still a world of its own. The public can sit on benches in the sunshine or admire interesting old houses; but these homes are exclusive residences for the lucky people who are part of the cathedral community. There have been several absorbing documentary series about cathedrals and last year BBC television screened a year in the life of Canterbury Cathedral, but it would be more fun for a writer to place strange characters in the Cathedral Close and imagine what havoc they might cause.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04vf10f
Visit my Beachwriter's Blog to see our holiday in technicolour.
http://www.ccsidewriter.co.uk/chapter...
September brought a very hot late summer especially in Kent and there was only one rainy hotel afternoon when I actually got out my notepad. The rest of the holiday was spent with family or visiting interesting places and spotting fascinating people.
So I have returned with no progress on my novel, but plenty of ideas for short stories.
Dungeness is the only desert in the United Kingdom and one of the largest areas of shingle in the world; it is now a national nature reserve. But it also has a nuclear power station and for 88 years has been the end of the line for the Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch Railway, one third size steam trains which travel across the Romney marshes from Hythe.
Not as desolate as when only fishing families lived here this is still a unique and isolated spot, with fascinating shacks and stranded boat wrecks. Sitting in the station café I was just as interested to find the staff having a late lunch break on the tables next to us. It was like being in an episode of ‘Dinner Ladies’, a cosy little world where train drivers sat down with the cooks. I could imagine a jolly sitcom, with a dark edge perhaps. One of the drivers wore a South West Trains jumper, had he been demoted from mainline to miniature railway, his nerves shattered after running over a dog? http://www.rhdr.org.uk/about.html
Completely different was our Sunday out in Canterbury. The cathedral is one of the oldest and most famous Christian structures in England, forms part of a World Heritage Site and is one of the most visited places in the country. This was obvious by the crowds thronging the city as pilgrims and visitors have since the middle ages. Cyberspouse says they get in the way of his photography, but I love photographing people, they are a part of the city as mush as the many delightful buildings. The Salvation Army band was playing by a café, several guitarists had taken up spots by the shops and on the River Stour you could relax in a punt and be rowed by young men giving floating commentaries on history.
Entry to the cathedral close is through a stone archway and just inside is the Constables’ Lodge with the sign ‘Close Constables’; on duty 24 hours a day they deal with more than lost property and first aid, monitoring CCTV, crime prevention, sorting out problem visitors and even wearing stab proof vests. This is truly a place both ancient and modern and despite the crowds of visitors, still a world of its own. The public can sit on benches in the sunshine or admire interesting old houses; but these homes are exclusive residences for the lucky people who are part of the cathedral community. There have been several absorbing documentary series about cathedrals and last year BBC television screened a year in the life of Canterbury Cathedral, but it would be more fun for a writer to place strange characters in the Cathedral Close and imagine what havoc they might cause.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04vf10f
Visit my Beachwriter's Blog to see our holiday in technicolour.
http://www.ccsidewriter.co.uk/chapter...
Sandscript
I like to write first drafts with pen and paper; at home, in busy cafes, in the garden, at our beach hut... even sitting in a sea front car park waiting for the rain to stop I get my note book out. We
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