Dungeness voted top beach location

In a national poll conducted by consumer choice website ‘Which?’, Dungeness was voted number One beach retreat in the county and 17th in the country.

Apparently it scored a full five stars for peace and quiet. Not for those living here though!! An estimated one million visitors descend on Dungeness per year. Divide that by 365 days and that amounts to an average of some 2,739 PER DAY. Most of whom seem to have no respect for the people who actually live here or for their properties or private land.

There were plans not so long ago, before electricity giant EDF bought the estate, to provide some form control over those who visit the area, by means of a toll booth at the top of the estate. That seems to have fallen by the wayside. There cannot be too many private estates in the UK that allow free access and unlimited roaming at will.

The problem is, nowadays, there are fewer owner occupiers actually living here. The community has disintegrated and the majority of properties are now rented out – so would not get any support, from any owners making money here, to restrict the number of visitors.

The shutdown of the estate during the initial scare of our current pandemic was sheer bliss. It was if the area had gone back in time to the ‘fifties. Back to normal now though!!

About the Author: Mike Golding

Born in Ashford a long time ago I have had a lifelong relationship with Dungeness having spent every year here for a fortnights holiday up to the age of 15. In those good old days there was no electricity and hence no radio, no running water and no adequate sewage solutions. Nothing to do other than enjoy the vast expanse of the Ness and all it offered for the young children of that era. Out after breakfast and back before nightfall. There were lakes to swim in. Same lakes to boat on (well old railway sleepers). A derelict school and long disused railway station in and on which to play. Gun emplacements, underground shelters. Sheer bliss. That all ended at 16 when I joined the RAF, finally purchasing a shack – as indeed it was then – in 1971 for the princely sum of £750.00. Only 15 years prior to that we could not afford the £150.00 asking price for what was then known as ‘Windwhistle’, reported to be one of Queen Victoria’s entourages carriages. Still there today, sold last year (2022) and still awaiting planning permission to re construct, but the original structure still concealed behind painted shiplap. Leaving the mob I travelled, retuning ‘home’ as oft I could, and realistically, only becoming a permanent fixture since 1977. In those days there was a vibrant community here with annual gatherings for the Mayday festival – spit roast and all and open days at the Lifeboat station – with bosuns chairs, zip wires to keep the kids happy. I think Health and Safety put paid to that and other activities, as did the moving away of many locals. The result of which , today there are probably less than 20 families residing here permanently, (I have been told not to use the word ‘shacks’ as now, at £650,000.00 plus they are 'desirable bungalows in a well sought after locale'. So ‘Shacks’ they are! End. P.S A few originals left to rent from £500 per week.