Here is another Motorholme Diary from Vanessa who is once again in Dungeness, Kent. This time she talks about the benefits of motorhoming off season.
Vanessa: Hi and welcome to another Motorholme diary. In this episode we are going to be talking a little bit about some ideas for motorhoming out of season. Today, as you can see, we have come down to Dungeness beach on the Kent coast. What is really interesting about Dungeness beach is it is one of the largest shingle beaches in the world and there are over 600 species of plants you can see here and also many many different types of birds so it is a real bird watchers paradise. Now what is slightly surreal about Dungeness beach is that it is literally littered with old rusting hulks of boats and there is also some beach shacks and they are actually extremely valuable and they are kept in families for many many generations. If we look over there the one with the yellow windows actually belongs to the sadly departed film director Derek Jarman.
Vanessa: It has a very very surreal unusual atmosphere here. It reminds me a little bit of 1960s Americana, very very bleak, very very out of the way and yet it is only two hours from central London so well worth a visit. If you are a keen photographer you will love Dungeness beach because it really is a photographers paradise. There are so many opportunities for really unusual and atmospheric photographs and you will often see camera crews here filming music videos and TV commercials and so on.
Vanessa: Is it good here at any time of the year?
Ah yes it is, particularly in weather like this, good clouds, nice light.
Vanessa: What do you find so inspiring about it?
Well it is just very bleak isnt it? Its unusual, surreal.
Vanessa: Just a few miles down the road from Dungeness beach are the famous Listening Ears, which were recently featured on the BBC program Coast. Now these structures were built in the 1920s, very top secret at the time, and they were a precursor to radar and it is possible to come out and explore around them and see them. Very very strange and weird structures and well worth a visit if you are motorhoming in the area.
Vanessa: So I have come inside out of the wind. Mike, what is so unique about Dungeness because people really know it as where the power station is, but that is doing it a disservice as there is a lot more to it is not there?
Mike: The place is unique because obviously it is a protected area, English heritage, English nature, it is a reserve so really nothing can be changed down here so you get a lot of people that come down here retired, and you get a lot of artists that come down here.
Vanessa: I agree it is a bit like a time capsule isnt it?
Mike: It is yes. Nothing changes down here and you can disappear for ten years, come back down here, and probably see everything the same.
Vanessa: Just looking around I see that you have got thousands and thousands of key rings up on the ceiling there. What is the story behind those?
Mike: They just started really with some that we have behind us here, which were my own ones and I decided to put them up and it grew from there.
Vanessa: Just to finish Mike, you are not adverse to motorhomes popping along if you have got availability on the car park space?
Mike: No we normally have quite a large area outside there. Even in the summer if somebody wants to stay overnight all they need to do is ask permission. They can park on the green outside and there is no problem at all there. You can relax for the evening and go on your journey next day.
Vanessa: Well thank you so much for the warm welcome, it has been nice talking to you. If you do come down to Dungeness do pop along into the Britannia Inn and do check out the key rings because each one tells a story. I hope you have enjoyed watching this video diary from Dungeness beach and I am going to leave you with one little fact about the area. This whole area is actually designated a desert, I bet you did not know that. So thank you very much for watching Motorholme diaries and I will see you next time and remember, change your view.
Whether you like to enjoy full summer madness and surefire weather or fancy being a little more sedate to enjoy motorhoming off season, do get out there and enjoy it.
Topics: Motorhoming in The Alps, Motorhome in The Alps, Motorhome Invest, Extreme Motorhoming, Motorhoming at Dungeness, Motorhoming at Portmeirion, Motorhoming at Harlech, Motorhoming Off Season, Motorhome Hire
