We moved along the foreshore – slow walking on the yielding shingle surface – and found more fishing boats hauled out of the water and onto the shelving beach.
In the foreground, here, we see an attempt at a roadway. Surely this caterpillar vehicle is no longer serviceable? The one we see through its scoop looks rather better.
It is time to see the backdrop. So far we had faced northeast and looked away from the huge complex to the southwest. But here is that complex – the nuclear power stations at Dungeness.
There are two power stations here. The original, of the type known as a magnox, must surely be life expired. The newer one, an advanced gas cooled reactor, or AGR, is certainly still operating. I remember leaflets from the time the Magnox one was starting up which suggested that electricity would be produced so cheaply that it wouldn’t be worth the cost of sending bills to people. What a shame that never happened. And now, like it or not, we may be at the dawn of a new nuclear power age because there is a complete absence of greenhouse gas emission from such a power station.
On the left of the photo is the old lighthouse. I can offer you two stories for why a new one was built. The first tells us that Dungeness is a growing spit of shingle and the old lighthouse was now well inland – and that’s true. Story two is the reason, though, for a new beacon. The power station shielded the light for navigators approaching from the Rye direction.
Here, away from the sea line, we see more odds and ends. In the foreground is a winch that can be used (or maybe could have been once) to haul boats out of the water. Beyond is an old railway truck which probably found use as a fisherman’s hut. Yes, there was once a real railway to Dungeness. Actually, there still is for nuclear products are transported by train. In the distance there are some of the houses which line the road.
This fishing boat has been pulled well away from the shore but another, was near the edge.
This boat had only recently been hauled in and bits were out to dry including a net on the rope going inland. It was the owner of this boat we chatted with. He was concerned that his net was in our way. Like the boat below, it gives some idea of the steepness of the beach.
Let’s return to FR3, on its slope and with drying nets and sheets.
Let’s finish this set with the hard life of the line fisherman.
It’s a mix of the two songs, ‘Gone fishing’ and ‘Lazybones’.
