Dover's Western Heights

I've realised that it's been a jolly long time since I last blogged about a historical site, so here you go...

Yesterday we went to an exclusive English Heritage members' event at the Western Heights in Dover to see, amongst other things, the Drop Redoubt Fort and the Grand Shaft. The Western Heights is on the opposing hill to that of Dover Castle, one of our favourite places. Dover Castle is special to us, not only because we love its history spanning from the Romans to the Cold War, but because it was where we spent our first proper date day out after we'd told everyone who needed to know that we were a couple (this was a big deal and another story for another time). The secret war tunnels beneath the castle gave birth to my husband's fascination with hidden locations especially those that are underground. As this was essentially my fault - it had been my suggestion to go to Dover - I now have to be party to various adventures that take us to exciting and often scary places.

So this Sunday we went to the Western Heights. The Drop Redoubt fort is hidden high within the cliffs, built initially in the event of a Napoleonic invasion and then developed during the Victorian period. Now, I know (and indeed care) little for neither Georgian nor Victorian history. It makes great costume drama, and that's about it. Nevertheless there are occasions where my interest is stirred, and my find myself unwittingly drawn to a period that I generally make no secret of despising. This was one such occasion. We were given a tour by two eminent historians of the Western Heights Preservation Society (I say eminent because I think it would please them to be thought of as such). And it was fascinating. The tour was long - almost 4 hours - and involved lots of walking through woodland, up and down hills and steps, and occasionally crossing a road favoured by Dover's more manic drivers. It was also a gorgeous summer's day, and we were outside a lot more than we had anticipated so we both caught the sun a little, oops... I'll admit that I did switch off at times - my mind kept wandering to "Oh I should have packed sun cream...is my nose going red?," and "Why does Vodafone think I'm in France?" and "When do we next get to eat?" But for the majority of the time my attention was held, which is no mean feat.

The highlights of the tour were the Drop Redoubt and the Grand Shaft.

At the Redoubt we were met by two genuine historical artefacts - Napoleonic soldiers who had magically sprung back to life to welcome us, with just a little disdain, into their fort. They proceeded to tell us all about their regiment, uniforms, and weapons, and then fired their guns to scare the wits out of us all.

The Drop Redoubt

After that we were hurried up (more) steps to the very top of the fort to see the barracks, and to admire the views across Dover to the castle and across the Channel to France. And also to see a fake Roman monument (oh how I chuckled). After more fortness it was a trek down the hillside some way to the Grand Shaft...

The Grand Shaft is what my husband really wanted to see, and therefore what I wanted to see also. It is a triple staircase leading from Grand Shaft barracks, all now virtually disappeared, to the seafront below. In the event of an attack the soldiers could make their way down the different staircases rather than going up to the road and following that down instead. Much more swift I'm sure you'll agree. Our historians informed us that the staircases were designed and developed by a gentleman called Twiss , who completed them at £700 under budget. Wish we could employ his ilk at the council...

One set of stairs totalled 140, so that's 420 in absolute total - thank goodness you don't have to climb that many at once! There are a further 60-odd steps from where the barracks were down to the top entrance to the Shaft. By this time in the tour we were physically exhausted. We'd spent the day before traipsing around Brighton on a shopping trip, so by this point in the weekend we were well and truly ready to keel over. However, as we were quite bit younger than our fellow tourists we had to look sharp and descend the stairs like men! Well, going down is always easier than going up... When we got to the bottom my husband announced that he wished to have his photograph taken from the top. Because I love him I agreed. Half way up I thought I would die. But then a I was overcome by a strange dreamlike mist and found myself ascending as if by fairy wings... Actually I made that up, but I did, much to my amazement, make it the top much quicker than I expected and I was still able to breathe, huzzah!

View up the Great Shaft from the bottom

After that we broke off from the rest of the tour group as we'd been the only people foolish enough to travel by public transport so had no need to walk back to the car park. After the staircase I must have gotten a little lightheaded as I suddenly felt incredibly fit and began to lead us down a suspiciously overgrown footpath. Several scratches later we emerged at a dead-end. Only trees, nettles, and a tunnel... The tunnel was blocked off but just seeing it was enough to please my husband, and it was with a big grin on his face that he led us back through the brambles to the main bridleway and we somehow made it back to the station with a few minutes to spare for our train home.

We returned home with aching limbs and every muscle feeling extraordinarily toned (if only it worked like that), and decided to round off our day with Chinese takeaway and a double-bill of Lost. We slept well.

It was a good day out. The historians who led the tour did really well; they made Napeoleonic and Victorian military history interesting as they placed the defensive history of the Western Heights in context. The soldiers in costume were a great touch. My husband has found his passion for the secrets of underground Dover even more fuelled than before *loving sigh* For now he'll just have to enjoy our photos, and pore over the chapter 'The Secret State' in Underground England by Stephen Smith which he was given a couple of Christmases ago.

No plans for our next historical adventure yet, but there will be one before too long, I'm sure!

Photos my own.