Dungeness

I'm amazed so many people have been! How come I've never heard anyone mention it before?

I really want to go at some point in November. Is this a good idea, or should I wait until the spring?

-- Matt DC, Tuesday, 23 October 2007 16:26 (Yesterday) Link

I don't know why no-ones mentioned it before. Strange. I've been a few times and it's great, everything everyone says upthread. Also good place to hide if you're a fugitive from justice I always thought.

Go now to get full bleakness effect definitely, but most of the year round it's pretty bleak (in a good way).

The Britannia pub is open all year round I'm sure. Therefore FAP here is surely necessary.

that little train is dangerous, at least a couple deaths since we were there 3 years ago or so

It's not the train that's dangerous it's people driving their cars into the train! 2 train drivers have died when cars crashed into them at crossings in the last few years but I don't remember any other deaths.

And here's the story - 2003 and 2005. Pretty tragic.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/kent/4672231.stm

fucking hell, this place sounds amazing. four ATPs at camber and i've NEVER FUCKING BEEN.

mind you, not sure when i'd have fitted it around the drinking and consumption of superhuman amounts of weed.

and the odd band.

still.

I went on an ATP Sunday, when the thought of more drinking/ other activities wasn't too appealing. Dungeness was perfect for clearing the head and invigorating the body!

Just been this weekend. Stayed with a friend who lives in one of the lighthouse cottages. Loved it, need to go again as we only tramped up as far as The Pilot Inn. Sound mirrors next time for sure, and more of a nosey at the power station.

Is there any good way of getting there from London without a car? Looks like train - bus - train in both directions.

I had a dream about this recently. No kidding. It went weird.

getting the train to Rye (one change) and then a bus from there seems an okay route.

In my dream I got there at night and ended up having to walk down a subterranean passageway. I forget what happened next, but it was all fairly haunting

Obviously if you don't use the RH&D light railway you hate fun

So yeah. Train to Sandling (only two letters from that most delightful of wading birds), 2km walk to Hythe, light railway, done. Birdwatching & nuclear power-plant gawping fitted as standard.

Thanks!

Is it a stay for a week's holiday sort of place? (In my head, I imagine it could be incredible for a weekend ... but feels a bit of a gamble for a week, in a kind of Marmite-y way).

go for it

Any specific places to rent, ideally for a long weekend?

Anyone?

How soon are you thinking of visiting?

Probably September?

Couchsurfing is an option. I think most holiday rentals in Dungeness are on Airbnb. And several property owners rent through www.mulberrycottages.com - if those are beyond budget I'd still recommend staying near enough to do a couple of day trips.

I always get Dungeness mixed up with Dunedin - whisky/name for Edinburgh/place in NZ. It just sounds kind of Scottish.

It does! Other Scottish towns include Thurrock and Cannock.

More topically, I am not sure I'd want to spend a whole week in Dungeness, largely because I think the undoubted pleasures of the one pub might start to wane. I do love it around there though, and might well be tempted to stay in Rye and (as Craig says) spend a good couple of days in the Dungeness area.

if you decide to walk from say Camber to Dungeness wear appropriate footwear, by which I think I mean walking boots, rather than slightly loose espadrilles. I stopped enjoying our walk along the length of that beach as it changed, after the firing range, from flat broad smooth sands to endless endless sucking draining shingle, and then stayed shingle, then more shingle and the nuclear reactor seemed to be getting further away and there was no escape from the shingle and the sweat was pouring into my eyes.

First third of that walk was lovely though - the vast emptiness out there!

Laurel and Hardy opening the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway:

http://www.laurelandhardy.org/images/loco2.jpg

Going there on Sunday.

What should be on my Songs for Dungeness CD-R? (I'm probably thinking mood rather than any actual connection).

https://www.themodernhouse.com/journal/a-residents-guide-to-dungeness/

Will be there this weekend too. If you see a tall pale guy with glasses walking a french bulldog near the Old Lighthouse come say hi :-)

I still haven't been to Dungeness and I'm not sure a seemingly never-ending heatwave is the best time to go.

Ha. No, it doesn't. I'm craving somewhere green with a swimmable river but ...

Such a curious place ... and not quite what I imagined but I can't quite say why.

Certainly, I was hoping to see Jarman's garden with a casual walk-by but was genuinely shocked to see others actually walking through the garden (seemingly uninvited). I vowed to not even take a picture out of respect to the current occupier (his partner, I presume) though took a long distance shot from the miniature railway.

Partly because I find walking on pebbles knackering, I found it difficult to imagine wanting to live there despite a fondness for some of the aesthetic.

Also, didn't see Craigo Boingo.

My throat/chest were fucked too and didn't even have the energy to get to the top of the Old Lighthouse, which was gutting.