The Kent Coastline Walk - Margate to Broadstairs

Leave the station and go down the approach road, bearing right through the standing stones then crossing All Saints’ Avenue to reach the seafront. Continue past Dreamland (A) then cross at the pedestrian lights and continue on the promenade towards the clock tower. Keep on past the clock to reach the Harbour Arm with its lighthouse, the Tourist Information Centre and the Turner Contemporary Gallery in its stark grey shed (B). As you come to the seafront, on your left is a statue of a lifeboatman, commemorating the wreck of the Margate Surf Boat 'Friend to all Nations' in 1897 with the loss of 9 of the 13 crew.(A) Dreamland started as 'The Hall by the Sea', an unwanted railway station converted into an entertainment centre and developed by 'Lord George' Sanger in 1874. The station was replaced in 1894 and in 1919 conversion into the American-style 'Dreamland' began, including the wooden rollercoaster. The existing building opened as a cinema in 1933. The site became derelict as recently as 2005, but in 2015 its restoration as a 'heritage theme park' has begun.(B) The Turner Contemporary: The gallery opened in 2011 after a gestation period of nearly 20 years, during which time exhibitions were held in what is now the Tourist Information Office, and also the old Marks and Spencer store. The gallery is apparently on the site of Mrs Booth's Guest House where Turner stayed during his trips to Margate.

Continue to the left of the Turner building then along the promenade (The Rendezvous). You pass the Winter Gardens (The big white building) (C). Shortly afterwards bear right up the ramp (signed Viking Coastal Trail) . Go through the gateway at the top then turn left down the steps to reach the Lido (D) and ahead through the car park and keep left onto the cycleway. You pass a derelict site that was once the crazy golf course and then past the Viking Ship Play Park to reach the footbridge over Newgate Gap. (C) The Winter Gardens: The theatre marks a pioneering step in the provision of entertainment by a local authority. It was opened on 1911 by Margate council to provide a superior form of entertainment, which it is still doing. The peculiar siting of the building in a hollow on Fort Green was necessary so as not to block the view of the buildings behind. The building received troops returning from Dunkirk, and was later bombed. The full history is given in the website listed below.(D) The Lido: Completed in the 1920's the Lido at Cliftonville was completed to cater for the popularity of sea bathing. The Lido was built on the existing Clifton Baths Estate, beneath which ran many passageways used by smugglers in previous centuries. The underground complex consisted of bars, cafes and an indoor warm sea water pool with nearby changing facilities. The Lido was hugely popular from it's construction right through to the 1960's. A winter storm in January 1978 which destroyed Margate Pier also wreaked havoc with the Lido, particularly the outdoor pool. After a recent proposal to build accommodation on the site was turned down a new proposal has been made to build a sea-life centre there.The various ‘Gaps’ along the coast mark points where tracks have been driven down through the chalk cliffs to give access to the beach for various purposes, including smuggling! For more information on Newgate Gap see the website below. Instead of taking the ramp up to the Lido you can keep on along the promenade as far as the Jet Ski Cafe (point 4).

This is Cliftonville, and you are on Queen's Promenade. Continue past the Oval Gardens, noting the apartments built in a quite elegant style to match the existing buildings. In direct contrast, you next pass the Thanet Indoor Bowls Centre, an ugly tin shed. Just beyond on the right, however, is one of the surprises of the walk, the Walpole Bay Hotel (E), which is well worth a visit. Return to the cycleway and go right, keeping on across the bridge at Hodges Gap and past the Coastguard Station to reach the cannon standing looking over the sea. Go down the steps to the Jet Ski Cafe. (E) The Walpole Bay Hotel is a local institution. It is being restored to its luxurious Edwardian form, and in the mean time you can visit the corridors of the hotel to see an amusing collection of art painted and printed on table napkins, and the 'museum' containing an indescribable collection of bric-a-brac including printed milk bottles, old sewing machines and a hornet's nest brought back from France. The hotel's beautiful dining room featured in a 2015 television program on UKIP. You can have a cream tea here if you wish. At the cannon you can simply keep on along the cycleway to the pumping station if you like (point 5).

At the Jet Ski cafe keep on down to the right & onto the beach. Walk along to reach the low-level promenade at the Sacketts Gap Bridge. Continue on past Friends Gap (by the boat club building) & around the headland to arrive at a fence ahead of you and the pathway up to reach the Waste Water Pumping Station (which looks more pleasant than its name implies). At the top turn left in front of the pumping station.

Keep on along the cycleway to reach the sandy Botany Bay. Stay on the cycleway past the modern Botany Bay pub to reach Neptune’s Tower (F) a folly built by the owner of Kingsgate Castle (G) which you can see ahead. Follow the cycleway past the golf links to the children’s playground (which is owned by the pub) and on to reach the road. Turn left along the road and continue past the flint-clad Captain Digby pub, the imposing Holland House, and then past the gate of Kingsgate Castle. Just after the stretch with no pavement, cut right through the hedge onto a wide pathway parallel to the road which brings you to Joss Bay, another attractive beach. At the first access point to Botany Bay, if you turn right up Botany Road you will find the Botany Bay Tea Rooms at no.165, immediately on the right. At the second access point to Botany Bay beach there are toilets, but they were boarded up in February 2015. As an alternative try the tea rooms or the pub nearby.(F) Neptunes Tower was a folly built in flint and chalk around 1760 by Henry Fox, Lord Holland, in the style of Henry VIII's castles at Walmer and Deal. Apparently it used to contain a gothic tower, which lasted until 1970. The Captain Digby pub was originally also a folly, of chapel-like form nothing like its existing state.(G) Kingsgate Castle was built by Lord Holland, apparently as stables and staff accommodation. He lived in the adjacent Holland House. Kingsgate was originally a gateway on the seashore guarding access to the houses. The name is related to a landing of Charles II on 30 June 1683, though other English monarchs have also used this cove, such as George II in 1748.Joss Bay has a toilet, which again was found closed in February 2015. After the pumping station be careful if approaching the cliff edge - there's a sheer drop. Be careful passing Kingsgate Castle – the road is narrow and there are no pavements.

Cross the road to the Car Park. (Ahead of you, improbably perched on the summit of a hill of cauliflowers, is the North Foreland Lighthouse (H), which you will visit later). Bear left through the car park then follow the cliff edge by a muddy path to reach the corner of Crescent Road and Cliff Promenade. Turn right up the hill to the main road junction then left to reach the lighthouse. Keep on down North Foreland Road, past the convent building almost hidden on the right, then high flint walls. (H) North Foreland Lighthouse: A light was first exhibited at North Foreland in 1499, but the first real lighthouse was built by Sir John Meldrum in 1636. This tower was destroyed by fire in 1683 and the present structure was built in 1691; originally the tower was 12 metres tall constructed of brick, stone and flint. North Foreland was the last Trinity Lighthouse to be automated when it was converted to automatic operation at a ceremony attended by his Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh in 1998. To simplify the route you can just go up the road from Joss Bay to the lighthouse.

Cross North Foreland Avenue then pass Lanthorne Road on your right. At the bottom of the dip in the road, you reach a safety barrier (opposite Bishop’s Avenue). Turn left here along the path leading down steps to Stone Bay. Follow the promenade along the base of the cliff, which is covered with Santolina and cabbage plants, past the cafe and beach huts. You arrive at Viking Bay and Broadstairs harbour (I). On top of the cliff is Bleak House. (I) Broadstairs Harbour (Viking Bay): For a full description of what there is to see in Broadstairs, please download the Town Trail from the website given below. Or in summer visit the Tourist Information Kiosk - Turn right up Harbour Street, go under the arch then turn first left up an alley (Eldon Place) which leads to The Parade and after 150m to the kiosk.

Turn right up Harbour Street, under the arch, then left along Albion Street then after 170m take the second right (High Street). 200m up on the left is Pierremont Park (J). At the far end of the park (the junction with Pierremont Avenue) you can get the ‘Loop’ bus back to Margate. Or keep on for another 150m to reach Broadstairs railway station. Just beyond is the Crampton Tower Museum (K). (J) Pierremont Hall was designed by Samuel Pepys Cockerell and built in 1792 by Thomas Forsyth. It knew various owners until its sale in 1896 to Leonard Posnett, who used it as a school. Most of the original 30 acres of land were developed for housing and the building was sold to Urban District Council in 1927. The young Princess Victoria stayed at Pierremont Hall in 1829 and the single storey building in the grounds was once the royal music room. The Hall itself is now used as offices, including those of Broadstairs Town Council. At the time of writing (2015) the Hall is under threat, because the council cannot maintain it. (K) Crampton Tower Museum: Thomas Russell Crampton was an English engineer born at Broadstairs and trained on Brunel's Great Western Railway. He is best known for designing the Crampton locomotive, which had much better success in France, Germany and Italy than it did in the UK. He had many engineering interests including the electric telegraph and the Channel Tunnel for which he designed a boring machine. He was instrumental in providing the town's first mains water supply, of which the tower formed part.