Janet Gogerty's Blog: Sandscript - Posts Tagged "shingle-beaches"

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?