Folkestone Off The Beaten Path

You can do at the Wetherspoons pub in Rendezvous Street.

I almost didn't find this pub as it is hidden away a bit and it is not obvious that it is a pub. But when I did I was glad I persevered as it's a really impressive church conversion. On entering you are faced with a double iron staircase which leads up to a galleried area with drinking booths looking down on the main bar. In each corner of the main bar are raised areas with armchairs and bookcases for a comfortable homely feel. There is a small horseshoe bar, above which the old church organ can be seen. Original statues and features of the church have been retained and the whole thing is rounded off by "Hymns" and "Hyrs" hymn boards outside the toilets. Bit of a shame they couldn't come up with a more original name for the pub. Has to be the best church/pub conversion I have seen since Frankensteins in Edinburgh (q.v.).

To find it go to the top of Sandgate Road and turn right, then turn left into Rendezvous St. and follow it around to the left.

This is Cheriton near my home, its just outside folkestone and right on the edge of the countryside, there are some nice walks to be had around this part, although not on this day, it was bloody freezing LOL, this photo shows the main railway, and just ahead are the stations of Folkestone west and then Folkestone central, the trains were not working on this day because of the heavy snow falls

I got up early just to take these few photos of the sun comming up over Folkestone, when its clear and bright especially in the winter months you can take some great photos from this part of Folkestone

This is a photo taken from the round hill tunnel on the approach to Folkestone (M20). As soon as you get past this point you are in beautiful countryside which is perfect for hikers. I used to spend a lot of time as a child playing on top of Sugarloaf hill, so its got great memories for me

This is Sandgate, which is just outside Folkestone on the coast road to Hythe. Its a lovely little village and very popular in the summer with its long pebble beach. Sandgate's clame to fame is its antiques shops, there are loads of them. v.t staff have promist me that they will place Sandgate on the map, untill then i have had to put it on my Folkestone pages, as soon as Sandgate has a location i will add more information on this lovely village

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

These strange looking buildings are called Martello towers and are only found in the south of England, they were built as a defence for the possible French invasion when France and England declared war in 1794. In total 74 of these forttresses were built and construction started in 1805. At first it was thought that each tower would cost between ?3000 and ?8000 pounds per tower, but as time went on these prices rose to ?18000. This photo shows Martello tower number 1, and towers 2 and 3 can be easely seen from here sitting 200ft above the English channel

Here is another photo and the road leading down to the warren. This road also leads down to a camp site called the LITTLE SWITZERLAND and i will tel you more about that when i have the photos