Comments on: A Walk Along The White Cliffs

By: Christine Swan

Christine Swan — Mon, 26 Aug 2024 17:42:54 +0000

I know this route exceedingly well. My parents retired to St Margaret’s and Dad’s boat was kept on Deal beach after he sold it.
It is indeed an unspoilt piece of coastline. I like watching the ferries crossing the little strip of blue. It reminds me of how close we are to mainland Europe.
The weather appears to have held too!

By: Christine

Christine — Mon, 26 Aug 2024 17:30:59 +0000

The White Cliffs are England are everything England is! If that makes sense? x

By: Linda Hird

Linda Hird — Mon, 26 Aug 2024 16:59:54 +0000

I am a former cabin crew member and in 1977 on one of my first flights I happened to be clearing cups from the Flight Deck as we approached the coast of the Uk. It wasn’t the first time I had been in the cockpit, however, I had not seen this amazing sight of the white cliffs before now! The magnificence stopped me in my tracks as I thought of those airmen of the second world war and what this sight meant to them. The view is unforgettable and just not the same from inside the cabin as a passenger. I count my blessings! I am in awe of the GA and his narrative

By: Marcia Howard

Marcia Howard — Sun, 25 Aug 2024 15:59:15 +0000

I haven’t been across the Channel by boat in decades, but seeing the White Cliffs of Dover was always a thrill; and immediately reminds me of some of Vera Lynn songs.

By: Katy

Katy — Sun, 25 Aug 2024 15:11:50 +0000

I really enjoyed reading about your trip out of London to Canvey Island. The gentle author has another coastal excursion and what a lovely poignant account you write. The photos with the flora and fauna along the way, an equine and tractor busy turning over stubble. I remember they used to burn stubble in Essex. Such an evocative piece for us today and a delight.

By: Lynne Perrella

Lynne Perrella — Sun, 25 Aug 2024 13:04:14 +0000

Forgive me for a cinematic observation — especially when your REAL observances are so astute! — but as a lifelong movie fan I lean forward whenever any film includes scenes of the White Cliffs.
True, sometimes these stirring scenes are concocted, a la “special effects”; but when the iconic
slashes of white are on-screen, I am mesmerized. They steal every scene, and I often think they should be “credited” at the end of the film, along with the other stars. (ahem)
“White Cliffs of Dover played by……………………themselves.”

We once saw them from the deck of a hovercraft in our earliest travels to Europe, and we were absolutely floored. So majestic, mystical and oddly-cozy. Like the most beautiful coverlet,
soft and snowy, ready to pull across the “shoulders” of the land, to keep everyone warm and secure.

Thank you for taking us to the White Cliffs today, GA.

By: achim

achim — Sun, 25 Aug 2024 08:43:13 +0000

Wonderful description of the melancholy you feel when you visit this part of England. And that always happens to you the moment you set foot on the island, but also when you leave it again — and then even more so!

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