Guest 672- Registered: 3 Jun 2008
- Posts: 2,119
grass grows by the inches but dies by the feet.
Guest 656- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 2,262
Sounds like a great idea Ian
I'm with you on that one, count me in!
Guest 673- Registered: 16 Jun 2008
- Posts: 1,388
Here is what the author Alan Sillitoe, famous for "Saturday Night and Sunday Morning" and "The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner", had to say about the seafront and today's DTIZ in 1951. Sounds rather familiar and shows how long reconstruction takes to gestate. Taken from the superb little booklet "Kingdom's Key" by Christine Waterman, available from the Dover Museum shop.
'One would not think that the war had ended six years ago. These ruins look so established it's hard to imagine they were caused by war. Nearly all the hotels along the harbour front are empty and roofless, and behind their facades the extensive area of desolation is like the Cocteau Hades in the film "Orphee".
There is no movement, only decaying walls and shuttered houses divided by narrow streets. Gutters are overgrown with dandelions, weeds crawl up blackened walls, and jagged rips shatter the vision. Pools of rainwater are trapped in uneven pavements. The cemetery in the middle is a grotesque collection of stones slanting irregularly to the sky, and all that remains of the nearby church is a gothic archway and a few windows in unsafe walls, through which small clouds cross the sky, a mobility that makes the empty houses seem more ruinous than ever.
The tarmac road at the seafront is rutted with disused tramlines. The sea comes up over grey shingle and flings itself against the wall. Gulls rise and fall on ridges and vales of green water, or curve and scream over the smashed houses, flattening before the wind like the German Stukas which did most of the damage ten years before. Past the breakwater and a moored trawler, the silver band of the horizon glitters in the morning sun.'
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
brilliant stuff ed, read all his books when i was a fledgling.
they all seemed to be set in nottingham, sometimes centred around the raleigh bike factory.
he used to write in such an evocative way, that life in a back to back was as interesting as an adventure story.
Guest 655- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 10,247
15 October 2008
15:347559Last week Alison and I went on the cable car up to the top of the Rock of Gibraltar. It was certainly a worthwhile experience linking the town to the rock and a tourist attraction in itself. I can see that such a link between Dover and the Castle would be worthwhile.
If you go to Gib though dont make the mistake we did and buy your tickets on the Spanish side of the border at the koisk. It is a lot cheaper at the 'car' itself.
I have to say we did love Gib, great view from the top and the town itself was was well worth a visit. We just had a day trip there from Marbella, an hour's drive away and as we were scheduled to fly back from Gib we spent our last day there as well. Very relaxed and friendly place, good value in the restaurants with some great tapas. In many way it has a lot in common with Dover, I just wish we had their shops and leisure though.
Guest 670- Registered: 23 Apr 2008
- Posts: 573
15 October 2008
15:587560Didn't you try one of the little minibuses to bring you back down, that really is an experience.
Guest 641- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 2,335
15 October 2008
16:247563Gibraltar certainly is a great place, one of our Best friends hails from Gib and she makes the Best Paella & Tapas that I've ever tasted, Mmmmm Fried Spinach, Spanish Omlette, Grilled Garlic Sardines .... the list goes on.
On a seperate note, whilst I was away working at the Labour & Conservative Party Conferences I visited the exhibitors stands which were at both venues including Gibraltar's stand, very interesting & I got a Badge of Honour - the Rock of Gibraltar.
Jeez, I remember those minibuses Aarrgh!
But when it comes to Bus tours I'd say the most harrowing was Malta, you soon find out why there is a shrine in all of the buses and the locals cross themselves as they get on the bus.
Guest 655- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 10,247
15 October 2008
17:027567Barry, Dave - we did see the minibuses and given the distances we had to walk they would have been a good option, but then I did notice how narrow the road was and the steep drop!!!!
Gib has had a stall at Conservative Conferences for quite a few years now to my knowledge. I envy you Barry W-S, I would have loved to have gone to Birmingham this year but alas, its a hard life, had to go to Marbella a week later instead....
Guest 641- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 2,335
15 October 2008
17:277569Ah Well such is life, Marbella, Birmingham Hmm, but Manchester beforehand, now that would have been a difficult decision
I saw Charlie at Brum and Gwyn in Manchester, or was it the other way around. lol!
Guest 651- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 5,673
15 October 2008
18:027570We did Gibraltar earlier this year, the cable car I can see being useful there, I did treck up to the top of the rock to see my monkey relatives one day and cable car another. It sure was a long walk !!!!!
The Castle though you can walk in 5 minutes or so and I don't see the usage would pay for itself !
Plus they close the Keep when the wind gets any more than a breeze so I would have to see how often a cable car would be closed
Been nice knowing you :)
Guest 655- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 10,247
15 October 2008
18:297571It gets pretty windy in Gib at times too Paul...
Remember, people are very lazy these days, you just have to see how some people park their cars!!! So I have to disagree, I think it will be a useful addition to Dover.
Guest 651- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 5,673
15 October 2008
19:397576Been nice knowing you :)
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
15 October 2008
20:317579most of our american cruise customers that visit the castle, get a cab up there, they do not actually know what walking is.
they will use a cable car.
Guest 655- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 10,247
18 October 2008
12:357742Here is a shot of the cable car from the top taken by Alison....
Not working!!
I have emailed it PaulB perhaps you might be able to find what went wrong....
Guest 640- Registered: 21 Apr 2007
- Posts: 7,819
18 October 2008
15:277747Here we go....the original image was too large..this should work...
so thats Gibralter, looks pretty good there perhaps better than I imagined
Nice picture BarryW
Brian Dixon
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 23 Sep 2008
- Posts: 23,940
18 October 2008
15:327748makes me dizzy looking down phew turnd round now thats better,nice pic there barry.
Guest 651- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 5,673
8 November 2008
23:588854I am turning round on the cable car (of a sort) idea slowly. The Castle is the most important visitor attraction for the town with a number of major improvements taking place over the coming few years:
- The Keep rebranded as the "Great Tower" with more relevant interpretation and displays, giving a more professional appearance - started now til August
- New visitor admissions and welcome centre to be opened next year
- The Officers' Mess is apparently going to be a historical archive.
- Improvements to the Underground Works
- Work to the Secret Wartime Tunnels to allow for greater throughput (though unlikely to be the DUMPY level)
- works next year to the Bleriot Memorial
At present the Castle gets 300,000+ visitors a year which they hope to increase by 25% at least over the last couple of years. It is certainly getting busier - the Monday of the autumn half term it was heaving with people to the sites capacity. Next year they are planning more events than ever by the sounds of it.
To get more visitors on the current set-up is not viable as it was never built to take this many people !! At the moment Dover is a day-trip location - pop into Dover to the Castle and back home in the day. With the improvements to this and in the town it is hoped to make Dover a weekend venue and keep people into town.
If they have a better access to the Castle (I prefer the idea of a funicular railway or access via the tunnels that are honeycombing the hill) they can get the visitor numbers required. Have somewhere decent to stay and another attraction on the Heights. Get the 'ASDA' area with decent shops, Wellington Dock have the bars and restaurants and the nightlife that the town needs.
Everything individually may seem odd, but I think the future could be orange if everything and everyone works together......
Been nice knowing you :)
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
9 November 2008
00:218856pleased to see that you are warming to the idea of the cable car paul.
anything new attracts interest from outside, then maybe things go on from there.
the status quo is just further inaction to add to the dereliction.
Guest 651- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 5,673
9 November 2008
00:418860"the status quo is just further inaction to add to the dereliction."
Exactly, places like the Heights will only go downhill with more time, the Castle itself a massive drain on funds which cannot be sustained.....
Been nice knowing you :)
Guest 641- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 2,335
9 November 2008
10:538864It's good to see that you are feeling positive about the cable car proposal, now what's this I hear through the grapevine about the starting point of said cable car ie the cruise terminal at Western Docks? Okay, it will avoid the town completely (but the majority of tourists do when visiting said castle). Think about it though, Wow! it would look fantastic for the town when you take in mind the two cable car routes in Barcelona (which bring in added revenue to the city).
Are the powers that be who will be operating the cable car going to give a proportion of every ticket for riding to the castle & back to the terminal? Hmmm I don't think so, it would be worthwhile deducting monies at source ie once sold the percentage of each ticket goes back to Dovers coffers immediately transfered via BACS.
email: dover7@msn.com
