In one of my Flickr groups, there was a discussion about what is the oddest seaside place in Britain. One place kept cropping up; Dungeness.

What I like about Kent is the diversity of the landscapes in the county, it ranges from chalky hills and downs; thick woods, fields of grapes, apples, hops and the suchlike, and marshy areas like Romney. And that is just in the Isle of Thannet area, which is where we live.

Dungeness sits at the edge of the Romney Marsh, on the spoild from millions of years of erosion and long shore drift from the chalk cliffs. From Hythe all the way out into the Channel past Dymchurch, Lydd and to the end of the marsh to Dungeness. Dungeness and its surrounding area is flat, stoney and for the most part, windy. A few hardy plants eek out a living in the shingle, and people live in semi-permanant wooden houses huddled near the shingle bank, beyond which is the sea.



Dungeness has built up a community af artists, as well as fishermen. Also there are two lighthouses, one Victorian and one dull and new. Oh, and there is the shadow of the nuclear power station. And the lines of pylons march westward in rows like soldiers to provide the south east with electrickery.

We love to go there when it's overcast and windy, it's never a friendly place, or thats the way it seems, and the mix of unusual houses, huge skies and white horses on the sea never fails to provide a subject for my cameras.I went up there on Tuesday, as a cargo ship had lost 1500 tonnes of wood and was due to be washed ashore, and I thought it might make a good subject for a picture or twelve. Sadly, the tides had changed and there were just fishermen lining the waters edge hoping for a bite or two.



I love the drive up there; at first along the motorway beside the channel tunnel rail link with high speed Eurostars swishing past in a cloud of dust. and then turn of down a twisty road to the town of Hythe, where back in Georgian times a canal was begun to aid the resuply of numerous forts built to defend the southern coast for Napolian. As the sea was often too rough, a canal seemed the best way. Its good a walk besides these days, or rent out a small boat just for the fun of it.

Hythe is also the beginning of a miniture railway that runs over the marsh and then along the stones out to Dungeness; The Romney Hythe and Dymchurch Railway is about 12 miles long, and uses a quarter scale steam trains to haul the small carriages.The road follows this route, past marsh and military firing ranges, and in the shadow of massive sea walls until at Lydd the road turns out to Dungeness and across the stones and shingle, past lakes for wild fowl and the railway that collects spent fuel rods from the nuclear plant, and the endless police patrols.

Parking the car at the cafe at the miniture railway's station, thhe wind nearly rips the car door out of my hand. I wrap my coat around me, and pull the Razorback's had down over my ears, grab my cameras and set off.

A wooden boardwalk type path takes the walker to the sea over about 400 yards of shingle. With the ultra wide angle lens it makes a good subject for a picture or two.

It seems so desolate there, abandoned houses and other buildings mix with peoples homes and their attempts at having gardens, or approximations of them. I love it. The wind was strong, but the rain held off long enough for me to get a picture of the new lighthouse reflected in a pool of water. No wood, and anyway the rain that had threatened all morning arrived, and I beat a retreat to the car with just seven pictures taken. I drove back in a downpour, heavy and low clouds creating an almost twilight feel. Back home in time for lunch and a cuppa and an afternoon watching the rain run down the living room window, listening to the radio and two cats settle on my lap.

A good day.....