The Ship Inn

COUNTRY LIFE IN 10 MINS

by whitecliff62

This is a panoramic view of Folkestone from the countryside only 10 mins away. Once you get out of the crowded town there are miles and miles of open countryside with some fantastic walks to lovely little English villages

WILLIAM HARVEY

by whitecliff62

William Harvey was born in Folkestone in 1578 then after earning a degree at cambridge at the age of 20 he travelled to italy to study medicine at the university of padua. That was the center for western europian medical studies at that time. He graduated with honors in 1602 and returned to england wher he became a practicing doctor. Havey was fasinated by the way the blood flowed through the body. Most people at that time believed that food was converted into blood by the liver, then consumed as fuel by the body. Harvey knew this was untrue through his first hand observations of human and animal bodies. In 1628 he published a book about the study of the motion of the heart and of the blood in animals this book explained how blood was pumped from the heart throughout the body, then recirculated. this book was very controversial at that time and harvey lost many of his patients and friends, but this soon became the basis for all modern reserch on the subject of the heart and blood vessels. After all this he was at last recognized as a medical leader in his day. harvey was later appointed doctor to king charles1 of england. He died in 1657.

THE NEGLECTED AREA OF FOLKESTONE

by whitecliff62

This old building is where the boating pool used to be and the entrance to the huge outdoor swimming pool which was filled in years ago, since then it has slowly decayed and rotted, as i prob mentioned before this area is due for total remodernisation but when is another story

MY HOME TOWN

by whitecliff62

"MORE COMING UP NEXT MONTH"

Folkestone is a town you either love or hate, personally i love the place. I was born here and i still live here, so it must have some appeal. Folkestone has allways been known until recently as a port town with a long history of links to france. We had 2 cross channel ferries, the Hengest and the horsa which my father worked on for 30 years, but allas the ships have long since gone. Now in the so called name of progress we have a concreat monster called the channel tunnel. To be fair the channel tunnel is an engineering masterpiece and is the longest underwater passenger tunnel in the world. I actually worked in the tunnel during construction 13 miles under the sea and also the day when England and France were joined together. After prasing the tunnel i also hate it, mainly because the destruction it has caused to the contryside around here. The main shopping area of folkestone has been falling appart in recent years and many shops have left the town or gone alltogether. We have been promist a brand new indoor mall for years now but nothing ever gets done. Anyway lets get to the good points about Folkestone. The best part of the town is the harbour area, here you will find 4 or 5 seefood stalls selling cockles, whelks, prawns, crabs, and lobster. This town used to rely on its fishing and there still are fishing boats that leave the harbour most nights and they have a lovely fresh fish shop in the harbour selling fresh fish caught on the last tide so you can't get fresher fish than that. As you walk further along the prom from the fish market and fish trawlers you come to Folkeston's sandy beach, this beach was once so polluted no one swam there but now there is a new sewidge system inland so none gets pumped out to sea anymore. A short walk in the other direction will bring you to the marine parade area of Folkestone. Here is where most holiday makers flock to in the summer months. In this area ther is a lesure park called the Rotunda (great for kids) and on sundays ther is a very large market. Opposit the rotunda is a lift that will take you up the cliff to the town centre, this lift is one of the last of its kind still in operation and it works by balance and counter ballance of water. If you walk north of the town you will pass the bandstand where in the summer you can relax in a deck chair and listen to orchesteral bands playing (sundays only). A little farther on is the old grand hotel and metropole, these grand victorian buildings were once some of the most luxurious hotels in england but now they have been turned in to flats or appartments. Anouther mile or so is the little town of sandgate with one antique shop after anouther, so if its antique's your after this is the place for you. Head south to the other side of Folkestone and you will come to my favourite part, the east cliff and warren. Up here there are fantastic views over the harbour and also ther's a lovely restaurant which i will add to my restaurant pages very soon. The warren area is where i used to play as a boy and is still unspoiled because of the presivation order it has to protect the wildlife. Its also a fantastic place for a long walk and if you climb down to the warren beach you can walk all the way to the whitecliffs of dover, passing by a nudist beach, i spend most of my time down there Ha Ha Ha. And thats my tour of Folkestone i hope you liked it and my photo's will be here anytime now.

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"THE HAUNTED HOTEL"

Kent, including Folkestone is in the guinness book of world records for the most haunted places on the earth. So if you ever visit Folkestone in Kent please go and see them (IF YOU DARE). The first i will tell you about is one of Folkestones premier hotels called the Cliffton hotel (see accommodations). Afew years ago now a resident killed herself in a fourth floor bedroom because of an argument with her boyfreind. In a certain room on the floor below some guests and staff have experienced loud but wierd noises, like furniture being moved about. since then the room has remained empty. Early in 1995 a night porter left the hotel in a mad rush after reporting that he was grabbed by an invisible hand as he came to that haunted room. Since then a buisinessman was woken in the early hours to see the figure of a woman in a long white night gown standing at the end of the bed. He said all i felt was extreme sadness, great sorrow, utter misery when i looked at her. He also said the apparition stayed in the room for about half a minute. This was the room where the suicide took place. So if you ever stay in this hotel SWEET DREAMS WaaaaaHoooooo.
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"FOLKESTONE HORIZON"

FOR LOADS MORE INFORMATION AND TO GET THE BEST OUT OF A VISIT TO MY HOME TOWN PEASE VISIT THE FOLLOING WEBSITE
www.thisisfolkestone.co.uk