coast DISCOVERY
ANCIENT & MODERN
Kent’s coastal towns offer a visitor experience full of variety and verve, as CHRIS BRITCHER reveals
Thirty years ago, Whitstable was a rather nondescript town on the north Kent coast, licking its wounds. The fishing industry, upon which it once relied, had declined dramatically and investment was hard to come by.
But food, drink and its unspoilt charms have seen tourism emerge as its saving grace. Today it stands as one of the south east’s most popular visitor destinations.
Its narrow streets are lined with independent stores; acclaimed restaurants mingle with high-end boutiques and, in peak summer, its shingle shores overlooking the Thames Estuary are hidden beneath a blanket of day-trippers. Many of those visitors will struggle to resist a plate of the town’s acclaimed (and ubiquitous) oysters – served on the quayside of its pretty working harbour – or quenching their thirst with a pint of Whitstable Bay Pale Ale, a tipple created in neighbouring Faversham by Britain’s oldest brewer, Shepherd Neame.
Yet you dismiss Kent’s other coastal charms at your peril. Drenched in history – from fossil-rich beaches on its south shores to its historic dockyards on the banks of the River Medway at Chatham – ancient and modern unites here.
From sand to shingle, dramatic cliff formations to marinas ringed with cafés and restaurants, the county is fast developing a reputation for delivering on all fronts.
A little further down the A299 from Whitstable brings you to Thanet.
Once an island – the River Wantsum, today a shadow of its former self, divided it from the mainland – the district retains a distinct character.
And it has three of the county’s seaside jewels.
REVIVED FORTUNES
First there is Margate, a town with a glorious tourism heritage which spent much of the last 30 years in a blue funk after being deserted by holidaymakers who preferred the lure of cheap foreign holidays to its more traditional kiss-me-quick offering.
Using art as a catalyst for its regeneration, the opening of the Turner Contemporary gallery in 2011 – perched next to the harbour arm - has seen its fortunes revived; pulling in day-trippers and locals alike.
It’s even seen Tracey Emin, once the enfant terrible of the British art world, recently return to her home town to live, work and even establish an art school.
A further boost came in 2014 when the once all-conquering Dreamland theme park was re-opened. At its heart, as in the past, was the Scenic Railway – the oldest, wooden, rollercoaster in Britain.
With the influx of crowds, Margate’s Old Town has been revived into a bustling maze of restaurants, cafés and shops. It is a revival spreading l
