Comments on: A Walk On The White Cliffs

By: Lew Tassell

Lew Tassell — Sun, 12 Sep 2021 23:20:53 +0000

The Gentle Author, I have really enjoyed reading about your travels this week in a part of England that I am very familiar with and the accompanying photographs are superb. It brought back a lot of memories from my childhood and teenage years.

By: Marcia Howard

Marcia Howard — Sun, 12 Sep 2021 17:09:41 +0000

An amazing post with so many aspects to it, and some truly wonderful images. Thank you.

By: Josephine Eglin

Josephine Eglin — Sun, 12 Sep 2021 15:53:20 +0000

Thank you ACHIM for the introduction to Alice Duer Miller. Embarrassed to say I had not heard of her until now but was sufficiently moved by the short extract you quoted to look her up and order the book. The G.A.’s blog is always a source of new delights.

By: paul loften

paul loften — Sun, 12 Sep 2021 11:46:03 +0000

Thank you for the wonderful pictures and taking the trouble to visit and recount to us some of the rich history of this part of England.
Every time I see the White Cliffs I am reminded of a story that my father told me . During the early years of the war as a soldier in the Dorsetshire Regiment he was posted to Dover Castle . The conditions were abysmal with an a occasional rat running across his face during the night.
As a signalman he had to man a small dug out in the cliff. The access was covered with a heavy steel door which was facing the French coast . He was given a pair of binoculars and a radio set to report any activity as they were expecting an imminent German invasion. One day there was a heavy barrage from huge German artillery based in Calais. It hit the cliffs and there were many casualties in Dover itself . When the barrage had finished they tried to contact him on his radio set but there was no reply. Fearing the worst after the barrage they sent out a party to recover his body . The next thing he knew was a steel door being opened and light suddenly bursting through the pitch dark.
A voice said “Hello Joe ! we thought you were dead after the barrage “.
He replied “What barrage ? “
He had fallen asleep and didn’t know a thing which was not surprising as I always recall he slept like a log . The army was not satisfied that he survived. He faced a serious charge and there was a hearing. This was one occasion that the Army admitted they had not got things quite right. They had sent out one soldier in a situation that called for two. They realised it was too easy to fall asleep alone in dark and silent surroundings . His punishment was seven days confined to barracks which he accepted as a reprimand. From then on it became the standard practice to send out two men to occupy the dugout.
When I look at the cliffs I often wonder where that dugout was situated

By: Helen Breen

Helen Breen — Sun, 12 Sep 2021 11:30:46 +0000

Greetings from Boston,

GA, thanks for your colorful account of your jaunt to Dover and surrounds. I was only there for a brief stop off on a tour of Kent. The place evokes such nostalgia from Dickens’ description of the packet boats arriving there in THE TALE OF TWO CITIES, to the two World Wars of the 20th century when the guns could be heard from across the channel.

Great pics too. I can almost hear Vera Lynn singing, “There’ll be bluebirds over the White Cliffs of Dover…”

By: Kelly Holman

Kelly Holman — Sun, 12 Sep 2021 10:36:31 +0000

We have been on many wonderful, fascinating and often moving journeys during your absence Gentle Author. Thank you. I hope your holiday has been refreshing and enjoyable.

By: Achim

Achim — Sun, 12 Sep 2021 08:43:19 +0000

The White Cliffs by Alice Duer Miller (1940)

I have loved England, dearly and deeply,
Since that first morning, shining and pure,
The white cliffs of Dover I saw rising steeply
Out of the sea that once made her secure.

I had no thought then of husband or lover,
I was a traveller, the guest of a week;
Yet when they pointed ‘the white cliffs of Dover’,
Startled I found there were tears on my cheek.

I have loved England, and still as a stranger,
Here is my home and I still am alone.
Now in her hour of trial and danger,
Only the English are really her own.

This is my England as I have come to love it and will love it forever!

Love & Peace
ACHIM

By: Ian Silverton

Ian Silverton — Sun, 12 Sep 2021 07:42:26 +0000

Nice pictures,of Briton as was,no more, seaside Towns around the Kent coasts are looking slightly different now,more shabby,lack of investment,local Councils short of money to pay for any maintenance, Hotels full of people fleeing war torn countries, and it only gets worse as the years roll by, an option that will never be change,its here to stay. Think this will offend the offended of this world,so don’t expect GA to print it. Have a nice Sunday all.

By: Diana Birchall

Diana Birchall — Sun, 12 Sep 2021 05:22:18 +0000

Oh, how your story and pictures make me miss England, so intensely. The Edwardian hotels nestled under the white cliffs, the coast walk like so many beautiful walks, somewhat marred by modern excrescences but with real natural beauty (the hips!), and a gleam of fabulous history there. The image of Caesar landing at that spot is enough to send thrills and chills down a spine two thousand years later, and six thousand miles away, with a pandemic as a divider as well. Thanks for these glimpses of what I love.