To the south of Deal is the small, very pretty village of Kingsdown. This little village lies at the extreme northern end of the chalk cliffs which carry on round the coast to St Margaret’s Bay then on to Dover, and which are known as The White Cliffs of Dover.
The official footpath is the other side of the fence!
At the base of these cliffs was the Firing Range, known as The Butts, owned by the MOD and used for firing practise for the the Royal Marines who were stationed nearby. When we were children if there was firing on this site a red flag would be flown to denote that it was unsafe to enter the site.
The end of the footpath looking South towards St. Margaret’s Bay. This is where the prawns are caught!
The same view as above, this time a closer look at the recent chalk fall can be seen in the centre of the photo.
However it was fine to walk under the cliffs when the site was not in use, and at the far end of the path is the best place around here to go and catch prawns!
Both photos shown above show the sea wall, the large concrete columns apparently had jetties built out to sea at one stage. The wheel appears to be part of an old car or something similar!
The site has long been unused by the MOD, although the land is still owned by them. There is a public footpath running under the cliffs, and last weekend my husband and I had a Sunday morning walk there, we arrived to find that the footpath was closed, due to a recent chalk fall blocking the path, but that did not deter us, as the fence into the old Firing Range has been damaged in quite a few places, and lots of people walk their dogs there!
A large section of the sea wall has collapsed here, maybe in future years this piece of land will no longer exist?
It is fascinating to see the layers in the chalk, the seagulls have lots of nests on the narrow ledges, and they were telling us all about it!
I have no idea how high these cliffs are, but to walk underneath them and realise how big they are is just amazing! It is only too easy to see how the cliffs are eroding, in some places it looks like there is more chalk just waiting to fall. There is also a walk along the top of the cliffs to St Margaret’s Bay, but I haven’t been up there for a long time, something I might have to do on another sunny Sunday morning!
Looking North towards part of Kingsdown Village. The boulders have been put down to try to stop land erosion by the sea.
