My wife and I met up with our daughter and grandsons this morning at Samphire Hoe, outside Dover, for a walk along the clifftop.
For those who don't know, Samphire Hoe is a nature reserve at the foot of the White Cliffs that was made from the diggings of the Channel Tunnel. There's evidence that the tunnel actually runs underneath Samphire Hoe in the form of great ventilation fans.
The way in and out of Samphire Hoe is via a steep tunnel with a single car lane and an elevated pathway. Once out of the access tunnel we headed up to the clifftop.
The chimney in the photo is for ventilation for the coastal railway line that runs through the cliffs here:
Our walk today was along the North Downs Way, which begins/ends in Dover and continues along the edge of the cliffs as far as Folkestone. There are some very steep paths at this end of the NDW!
Now that's interesting...
...a large patrol aircraft was patrolling back and forth along the coast, as was a patrol boat. The car park at Samphire Hoe below is full and we had to use an overflow car park (out of shot), which is extremely unusual.
This photo shows the ventilation facility for the Channel Tunnel as well as the coastal railway tunnel (left) and visitor tunnel (right). Also in the photo is one of the great many WW2 structures that are common along this stretch of the clifftop:
This is a sound mirror. It was very hot today and there was no tree shade and barely any breeze, so we had our lunch behind the mirror before heading back to Samphire Hoe along an inland cycle track:
