Comments on: At Herne Bay

By: Joan Bailey

Joan Bailey — Mon, 31 Aug 2015 07:22:11 +0000

My father, though a proud Northerner, has lived in Kent for over 30 years and I have come to know it well. I love Reculver, especially at sunset.

By: Colleen Christine

Colleen Christine — Wed, 17 Sep 2014 12:51:37 +0000

Wonderful photos and commentary! I have always wondered about this place, since Jeeves takes his holidays there, “for the shrimping”. You told me all the things I wanted to know, and took exactly the photos I would have taken if I had visited. Now I fear that in future years, I will come to believe that I have personally visited because you gave me such a sense of the place. Thanks for taking us along.

By: Nicholas Sack

Nicholas Sack — Wed, 17 Sep 2014 10:11:06 +0000

Splendid words and pictures, GA. Whitstable and Herne Bay resonate with the progressive music of the Canterbury Scene, which was spawned in the late-1960s and gave rise to Soft Machine, Kevin Ayers, and Caravan. Richard Sinclair, bass-player and singer with Caravan, wrote a song titled ‘Back to Herne Bay Front’.

By: Mike Walker

Mike Walker — Wed, 17 Sep 2014 05:56:16 +0000

Great article and photographs, brought back so many memories of happy summer holidays almost 60 years ago. The walk from Reculver to Minnis bay and back was a regular feature.

By: nilly

nilly — Tue, 16 Sep 2014 20:49:29 +0000

My favourite place in the world! I wonder if you found Rossetti’s grave in Birchington churchyard?

By: Gary Arber

Gary Arber — Tue, 16 Sep 2014 18:32:04 +0000

In 1947 I visited Herne Bay and was there in VJ Day (the end of the war with Japan) I walked to Reculver along cliffs that are now beneath the sea, which is fortunate because the area then was an army range and the cliffs were littered with live 2 and 3 inch morter bombs.
The towers were then well back from the sea with a road and cottages between them and the sea.
I now visit the area because the area between the towers and Minnis Bay from the beach to the railway is a wonderful area for wildlife.
If it wasn’t for the strong concrete protection the towers would have fallen into the sea long ago.
Gary

By: Letterslive

Letterslive — Tue, 16 Sep 2014 17:15:53 +0000

You never fail to enchant, Gentle Author. Thank you for this and for all your other pieces.

By: Sally Baldwin

Sally Baldwin — Tue, 16 Sep 2014 12:27:01 +0000

By one of those wonderful bits of synchronicity, I was reading just last night details of the Claudian invasion of Britain in the year 43… and you’ve brought me right to the shore!

Thanks once again from your loyal reader…
Sally

By: Jill

Jill — Tue, 16 Sep 2014 10:30:41 +0000

What a lovely day you shared with us! I’m amazed that the sea seems no closer now to Reculver than it was when I was a kid.

By: Robert G. Redford

Robert G. Redford — Tue, 16 Sep 2014 10:14:38 +0000

Marvellous atmospheric writing capturing all the nostalgia of holidays in Herne Bay in the 1950’s , wonderful for a North Londoner. My Dad took me to catch crabs in the early evening on a deserted beach before returning to bed in a cosy B&B. Reculver was magic, always present in the landscape, with its brooding twin Towers; one never forgets it.