Lost in the mists

Recently, although the days have been beautifully sunny, early mornings have been misty and the mists have lingered over the sea.  When I went to visit the Battle of Britain Memorial site near Folkestone, it was sunny and warm so it wasn't until I had a look over the cliffs to see the view that I realised how much the mist remained even at midday.

That is the view towards Dover with the train line running at the base of the cliffs.

A year ago I travelled along that line and managed to take a picture from as the train, the high speed one, passed along.  it can't have been travelling too fast at that point and, given how near the sea is, I'm quite glad it wasn't.

The view towards Folkestone.  In the days when there was a cross channel ferry running from Folkestone to Boulogne and Calais, the London train used to finish at the harbour arm you can see there in the distance.  The luxurious Venice Simplon Orient Express stopped there for about twenty years, before changing route to Folkestone West.

Not all the cliffs are white.  I have little to no knowledge of geology, but the red earth looks to me like the presence of an iron ore.

The North Downs Way passes right along this cliff top, and in places they seem to be encouraging you to walk over the edge.  The chalk cliffs are very prone to collapse and just last week there was a considerable fall just on the far side of Dover.  I'm rather glad there isn't a guard rail all the same.  It would ruin the feeling of the wide open space.

Possibly not the place to go if it really is misty.

Samphire Hoe

Samphire: corruption of the French Saint Pierre.  an edible plant sometimes called sea asparagus.  It doesn't taste in the least like asparagus but it's delicious.  In France it's salicorne, or Salicornia, though in the UK it's a different species entirely, rock samphire,  growing on cliffs and mentioned by Shakespeare in King Lear: "Half-way down, Hangs one that gathers samphire; dreadful trade!".

Hoe: a piece of land that juts out into the sea.

Samphire Hoe:  a piece of land reclaimed from the sea using the spoil from the excavation of the Channel Tunnel and officially opened to the public in 1997.  It is the newest part of Kent, between the famed White Cliffs and the English Channel just to the west of Dover.

This wonderful location provides peace and quiet, walking and wildlife.  This view is to the east, towards Dover.

In this view to the west you can see the main line railway to Dover as it follows the base of the cliffs, disappearing into it from time to time.  It's actually quite a spectacular train journey at times, right on the edge of the sea.

In order to reach Samphire Hoe, you have to go through this tunnel.  To the left you can just sea the rail tunnels.  To the right are the works for Eurotunnel.

The west beach, a shingle or pebbled beach, gives a view of Folkestone.  Unlike Deal beach, it's quite rocky at low tide and would merit further investigation.

A good view of the sea wall construction.  It consists of two rows of sheet piles driven into the sea bed, the space between the two walls being filled with concrete.  On the outer edge boulders are piled up to stop the sea from undermining the base of the wall.

Material was placed behind the walls and topped with concrete slabs to create terracing.  This allows the water to run off and out through the drainage gaps on the lip of the sea wall.  The round concrete blocks on the wall provide access to the site drains.

I fondly imagined the terracing was intended to view spectacles out at sea or in Folkestone, firework displays or something similar, until I read one of the several information placards which told me the more mundane truth.

 This one described some of the birds I didn't see.  There were plenty of gulls though.

Somewhere halfway up this cliff is where the samphire grows, they say.  I didn't try to find out.  The little hut or shelter at the top is, I think, a view point from the North Downs Way which runs along the top of the cliff.  I'll save that one for another day.

This was the view from the road on the way home.  The cliff straight ahead is Shakespeare Cliff with Samphire Hoe below and to the west.  Dover harbour is straight ahead with one of the cross channel ferries about to leave.

Who would believe, on a day like this, that just a few days earlier the wind was so strong that they considered closing the harbour for a time.