These pictures are some that didn't seem to fit well into other categories. Mind you, I suppose the above two could have been put into the buildings page, but as Lympne is not in Folkestone, I decided it fitted better here.
I love Lympne, and try to visit the castle and/or the church next door each time I go over. I was christened in the church, and also have a nephew buried there. For a while, we lived at Court-at-Street, which is a little village between Lympne and Aldington. Here is a modern photo of it:
Lympne Castle 2004
Lympne Castle 1828
The cottage we lived in is called 'Seaview Cottage', and the one adjoining is 'Forge Cottage'. The latter indeed was once the village Forge. For a while, many years after we left, the two cottages were knocked into one, but it looks to be back to two again now. When we had it, we had no electricity, used Tilly lamps and candles, and the toilet was at the bottom of the garden. It would have been around 1956.
We had a huge garden, but I see now part of the garden has been used to make a driveway and a garage has been built on the property. I expect they have inside toilets and electricity now too! It appears the rest of the garden has been sold off and housing built on the land.
The photo on the right was taken in 2025, and both cottages look very well cared for.
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A couple of modern photos showing the Amphitheatre down on the Lower Sandgate Road. I have never been there at the right time to see a play being performed. It is on my 'to do' list.
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This is a print that was a wedding gift from my sister that I have over my fireplace. It is called 'Folkestone From the Sea' by J.M.W. Turner - 1775 - 1851. He painted many in and around Folkestone, and loved to depict the smuggling that was going on during his time there. (Actually it is still going on now, but we won't talk about that!)
When I first saw this print, I thought it was of fishermen, but have since discovered that it is in fact smugglers passing booty from boat to boat, while the lookout watches for the customs and excise officers.
A photo of the sea angrily lashing the Victoria Pier. Yes, the pier has a page of its own, but in this photo, I think the sea is the star, don't you?
This is the memorial at Capel. It was erected to honour those who died in the Battle of Britain.
This was the Dymchurch Redoubt taken in 1907.
I believe redoubts were used as supply depots for the Martello Towers. You can read up on these at this website https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dymchurch_Redoubt This one, along with the one at Eastbourne was built between 1804-1810. It is now owned by the Ministry of Defence.
Old Kent Cottage, was probably built in the 15th century. Claims have been made that it is as much as one thousand years old, but since it is constructed as a medieval hall house, a type of vernacular house traditional in many parts of England, Wales, Ireland and lowland Scotland, as well as northern Europe, during the Middle Ages, centring on a hall. Usually timber-framed, some high status examples were built in stone, with Parlour and solar, this is unlikely to be the case. It is reputed to be the oldest thatched cottage in Kent and is said to have been a haven for Archbishop Thomas à Becket during his feud with King Henry II, although that claim is impossible to verify.
Pat & Trevor sent me the one on the left of a 1925 painting of Old Kent Cottage Frogholt., the talented artist of the sketch in the centre was Caromin Louw, who kindly sent it to me, and the photo on the right was taken in 2023, and I know it was occupied at that time as I could see the car in the driveway, accessed by the bridge across the Seabrook Stream. Last I heard, this house is one of only eleven in Frogholt, and it was last sold in 2007 for £249.995 but now has a valuation of £448,000. My goodness, that is quite an increase!
A couple of photos of Holy Well, on the left from 1906 and 1909 on the right. Now, although there must have been a source of water here, what you are looking at is not actually a well, it is a sheep dip, and as you can see, is open on one side. This is what it says about this area in my 1929 Ward Lock Guide:
OK, this is stretching it a little. It is not exactly Folkestone, it is Boulogne, directly across the channel, and was so interesting, I had to include it.
This postcard was entitled 'The Hour of the Bath' Did they only allow people to bathe at one certain hour? The mind boggles!
Here is an old one of the church at Lympne. Do you know how they keep the grass mowed between the gravestones? They use sheep! Again, somewhere in my big box of photos, I have a modern one of this church, showing the sheep hard at work!!
An old and modern view of Saltwood Castle. The first castle was built in 488, probably on a Roman site, but was replaced by a 12th century Norman structure which was extended throughout the next 2 centuries. It was rendered uninhabitable in 1580 by an earthquake but was restored in the 19th century, since then, the tall gatehouse has been used as a residence.
And here is a charming photo of Saltwood itself, showing the Castle Hotel, taken in 1915. Same year my mother was being born over in Etchinghill.
The Folkestone Zoo was actually called Pet's Corner, and I have been hunting for a photo of it, without any luck. So have borrowed one from Alan Taylor's latest (in 2005) book called Images of England, Folkestone Volume 11.
I highly recommend this book, he not only has three photos of Pet's Corner, but also has one of the little steam train that ran alongside the Lower Sandgate Road from 1947 to about 1952.
Alan says in his book that Pet's Corner opened in May 1947 on the sea side of the Lower Sandgate Road between the Leas Lift and Leas Cliff Hall. It closed sometime between 1958 and 1960. I do remember this zoo very well, in fact a friend of my older sister worked there.
Isn't that lamb drinking from a bottle adorable?
An old engraving of Radnor Bridge.
It looks very rural in this picture doesn't it? Nowadays, it spans what used to be the branch railway line to the harbour. The trains used to run underneath the centre arch, the Tram Road under the western arch and Dyke road under the eastern arch. It was more ornate in those days than it is now wasn't it? I wish I could read what it says on that shield.
I do hope those two people moved away before a train went under, they would have had a face full of soot and steam!.
Another old photo. This time we have Seabrook looking East towards Sandgate.
The Royal Military Canal, which I believe starts somewhere in Seabrook, so near here, and runs down to Pett Level in East Sussex.
The swans on this portion of it certain added to the ambience didn't it?
Horn Street, that runs from Cheriton down to Seabrook. I wish we knew how much that house sold for on the left. I bet it would make us weep to compare it to today's prices!
Curiously, this very old card has it listed as Frog Halt. Was it really called this once upon a time?
I received this answer from Lorraine Sansom who was living in Old Kent Cottage at the time (I think she might have moved now): "It absolutely was once named Frog Halt. It was named this because of a Frog crossing area not far from here where each year the frogs are collected by volunteers and taken across a very busy road to the safety of their breeding ground."
Both of these were taken in the 60's. On the left is Dymchurch sands, and on the right is the Dr. Syn Restaurant, which of course was named after the famous smuggler. When I took my granddaughter to Folkestone for her first visit (age 11), I took her for a ride down to Dymchurch on the little railway. On Dymchurch sands, she had her first look at some seaside donkeys. She was terribly upset at the kind of life they led, walking round and round in circles for hours on end in the summer heat, and when not giving rides, were tethered with nothing to look at but the side of a van, and said she would NEVER want to ride on one and make their life even worse. That's my girl! I agreed with her 100%. That would have been around 2004, I do hope they have stopped that practice by now. She is grown up now with three kids of her own, and is still an animal lover and teaching her boys how to be kind to them.
Moving further down the coast, we have Littlestone on the left and Greatstone on the right, showing the sand dunes.
When we were kids, and living in Littlestone, we would come down here with an old tin bath and try to use it as a boat. I think our best time to keep upright was 5 seconds!
Did you know that neither of these places used to exist? A long time ago, the sea was right up to New Romney. I remember reading this as a child, and being afraid it would suddenly come back while I was sleeping, because my house would be under water. It didn't, but it still might one day!
At the top of The Avenue from Littlestone is New Romney, and on the left we see how it looked in 1910 compared with the way it looks now on the right. It hasn't changed all that much has it?
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I don't have dates for either of these, but we have Station Road Lyminge and Lyminge Church. My Uncle Charlie & Auntie Agnes Richards lived all their married life in Lyminge. I think their address was 1 Well Cottages. They have both passed on now.
Anyone who knows Paddlesworth knows about the Cat. The pub is actually called The Red Lion, but it has been known as The Cat and Custard Pot forever, shortened to The Cat. If anyone knows the history behind the adopted name, please let me know.
Now to something Kent used to be famous for, its hop picking! Every summer people from inland would spend a working holiday picking hops. They would have a change of scenery and get paid for it too! Here are some photos.
1906
1907
1905
1906
Unloading hops at Paddock Wood
Whitbread Hop Gardens - Paddock Wood
The round buildings with the cowls on top are called oast houses which were used for drying the hops. At one time, Kent had over thirty thousand acres devoted to the growing of hops to make beer. Hops are still grown in Kent, but I believe these days the picking of them is fully mechanised.
Back to Folkestone, and this card was entitled 'The Bombing of the Speed Boat' which was put on for entertainment during the summer. Apparently it was the job of the pilot to drop 1/2 lb bags of flour onto the speedboat, but he seldom managed a direct hit due to the manoeuvrability of the boat. Do they still do it today? I doubt it, they are more concerned about what gets dumped into the sea these days.
Here we have The Grange cricket ground on the left, I believe it refers to The Grange private school in Shorncliffe Road. I think it was a boys school for the first few years, then they moved to Gloucestershire, then it became co-ed. The Indoor Bowls Centre is on the right, I know we still have an Indoor Bowls Club in Cheriton Road, but whether this is the same building or place, I am afraid I don't know.
This was a steamroller accident which took place in Sandgate Road on March 4th 1911. I don't think anyone was hurt, but the steamroller didn't feel too well afterwards!
It went out of control, and careered into the East Kent Arms. I didn't know steamrollers drank, did you?
This Russian submarine used to be on display at Folkestone Harbour.
It was the Black Widow U475, code name Foxtrot. Last I heard, it had been moved to Rochester.
Ok, so I couldn't resist putting these up! Ha ha ha!! Just as old, and just as popular with the tourists as the scenes.
Just look at those brazen hussies showing their knees and elbows - shocking!
2000's
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Capel 1907, and the road was flooded!
Still in Capel-le-Ferne, here we have an old photo, complete with cattle of the Valiant Sailor
'In the smooth and curiously marked hollow behind the Sugar Loaf is St. Thomas's Well, or the Holy Well, screened by a clump of trees, where pilgrims passing along the adjoining highway to the shrine of Thomas à Becket at Canterbury were accustomed to turn aside to slake their thirst. Henry 11 himself is said to have rested here when on his way to do penance at the shrine of the "holy, blissful martyr."
A recent photo of a couple of oast houses. These days, many of them have been converted into very expensive homes.
Now here is a motley crew if I ever saw one! Actually, I am not quite sure which school this was, but my mother, Annie Richards, was the 5th child from the right, seated on the ground (arrowed). She lived in Etchinghill, so imagine the school was somewhere nearby. I would hope it was a play or something, and that this wasn't their school uniforms! I would guess that she was around 5 at the time, which would date this photo around 1920.
You mean there was a busy road there when this picture was taken Lorraine? I am surprised!
An exterior and interior shot of Lyminge Church, I don't have a date for the one on the left, but the interior dates from 1892
Another church photo from 1892. This time it is New Romney
Cullen's Hill Elham
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This page updated May 2026
This aerial shot was just sent to me from a blast from my own past. Peter Hogben, a friend of my step-father, Darkie Blackford reminded me of the days we were involved in grasstrack racing (my stepfather more than me-I was more interested in gawping at the good looking riders!)
This shot is of Rhodes Minnis that was used by the Folkestone M.C. Club in the 60's and 70's. Not sure why the trees look so black. They had a good turnout that day didn't they? Thanks Peter!
Mark Cadier, who started a page on Facebook called 'Legends of Folkestone', posted the above photo of the hidden cemetery on Bradstone Road. He kindly allowed me to use it here, and I wanted to know more about it, so wrote to my guru Alan Taylor, who as always did not let me down.
He sent me an even better photograph of it, along with an article written by Eamonn Rooney. I urge you to click HERE to find out more about this fascinating burial ground, and to discover why it is up so high off the ground level.
On the left is the sign that used to hang outside the large white building you can see in the distance on the left. It has now been demolished and housing is on the site. So now I guess the residents have to go to The County Members in Lympne or The Walnut Tree in Aldington for a pint (if they are still open).
This was the Folkestone Golf Club opened in 1888 on Broadmead Farm, Radnor Park Avenue. This photograph was taken in 1917. There is lots of information about it HERE
2022
1900's
Roughly the same place in Horn Street in 2025. Looks like the cottages in the distance on the right are still there, but the house for sale on the left looks to have been demolished and something more modern it place of it. Just out of shot on the right is the Britannia Inn, still open and advertising cask ales and cameraderie, Wednesday night Quiz, live music, cocktail nights, charity fun nights and more.
To show you I have visited The Cat, albeit a few years ago. My sister Pat on the right and myself next to her were visiting family, sister Karol on the left and someone I am sure lots of people in Hawkinge recognise for sure, along with The Cat regulars, Albert Hooker, who lived on The Street in Hawkinge for many years before he passed away. He, along with our sister Paula had a turfing business.
I am sure this will bring back memories for some of you. It was a Race underway at Westenhanger Race Course. It looks to me as if it managed to attract a lot of interested people, I wonder why it closed?
The racecourse closed in 2012. There has been talk ever since of building houses on the site, but here in 2026, to my knowledge, nothing has been built yet and the site is pretty derelict. The picture above was taken in 2016.
A familiar sight to many of us. This used to be Folkestone's water supply. The Reservoir was located at the base of Castle Hill, and supplied Folkestone with their water for many years. I had to look up where it comes from today, as I confess I didn't know. This was an old report, but is probably still relevant today. The south east corner of Kent has particularly low rainfall, compared to other parts of the UK. Folkestone and Dover Water obtains all of its supply from underground water stored in local chalk and gravel aquifers, which need to be replenished with rain over the winter. When they have a relatively dry winter it results in depleted aquifer levels. Also there are no reservoirs or major rivers in the area for the company to draw on.
Folkestone and Dover Water, along with Three Valleys Water and Tendring Hundred Water, is owned by Veolia Water.
A couple more from Saltwood. With apologies for the quality of the image on the left, unless you were a professional photographer, your camera tended not to give you the clearest picture, but as they were fairly new, people were thrilled with them anyway, because often they had never seen a picture of themselves before. The lady on the left had her hands full with three children, mind you, that was considered a small family in those days, ten or more was common. On the right is another view of Saltwood Church.
I think he really needed to do penance, wasn't he responsible for Thomas à Becket being murdered inside Canterbury Cathedral?
