Project 365 day 249: Saint Margaret's Bay

An afternoon outing to Saint Margaret's Bay, a little shingle beach at the bottom of a big white cliff on the south Kent coast, between Dover and Deal. According to P, it is notable for being the point on the south coast where the English Channel becomes the North Sea, and also for being a favourite departure point for many cross-Channel swimmers setting out for Calais.

The light was very hazy, with lightly overcast sky and muted colours for much of the time we were there, though it did clear to reveal more blue sky before we left. It was very still, with no wind, and the water was beautifully reflective and diaphanous, with subtly shifting colours - hard to capture accurately but lovely to watch. The bay is a good place for watching the light on the water: there is a small seafront promenade with benches, a car park, a kiosk selling drinks and ice lollies, a few beach huts, recently repainted in pastel colours, and a pub with a rather nice 1930s style sign, reflecting the architecture of a couple of very nice beach houses built just above the sea wall. Ferries frequently move in and out of the port of Dover, which is out of view behind the cliff, and a derelict brick gun emplacement half overgrown with ivy and various works and holes in the cliffs behind a curtain of Russian vine are a reminder of the defence of this coast eighty years ago.  

On a Monday afternoon at the start of the school term, there were very few people there. J and I took some of our chocolate chip cookies and a bottle of elderflower cordial for a mini-picnic (which might fit Heanku's definition of fikka) and I perused the varied shapes and colours of the pebbles, but finally resisted bringing any of them home. It was delightfully low-key and peaceful.