South Foreland Lighthouse

[Gareth Williams]

I'm in discussion with the manager at South Foreland about the possibility of us flying kites in support of their Easter egg trail over the weekend of 13th and 14th April. I'll keep you posted on developments.

[Gareth Williams]

I've now had a meeting with The National Trust about flying at South Foreland Lighthouse. They would like us to attend on Sunday 14th April, to mark the end of their Easter Trail, which will have run since the start of the Easter school holidays. The event is scheduled to run from 11am to 5pm, and I have applied for height clearance of 500ft for the day.

Access is completely different to previous years. Since taking over the land surrounding the site, they now have improved access from Upper Road. There is a gate at the start of the drive, which is controlled electronically from the lighthouse. They have therefore asked if we can arrive in convoy, to save them having to keep opening and closing the gate. Therefore I need to know who will be attending. My plan is to meet somewhere at about 10:30, then drive to the lighthouse. I need to find somewhere suitable for us to meet, but if anyone with local knowledge has an idea, then please let me know. Once on site, please drive carefully along the road, as there are likely to be dog walkers, etc. who may be oblivious to our approach. Once at the lighthouse, they have suggested that we drive around the front of the lighthouse to park in the area we have parked in the past (assuming it is dry and firm enough), or on the gravel if it is still boggy.

There are two flying areas available to us. We cannot use any form of ground anchor in the area within the boundary of the lighthouse. Therefore, I suggest we have kites flown from hand in this area. The field to the side of the lighthouse is available for us to fly kites that need to be anchored. I've attached a map that shows the area around the lighthouse and also the access route to the parking area. I've attached another map that shows the entrance to the site. For what3words users the entrance is at ///laying.head.brownish. For those using latitude and longditude, it is 51.137893, 1.348539. The address for the lighthouse is St. Margarets Bay, Dover, Kent CT15 5NA

Attachments:

[peter]

I will be unable to get there until about 12.30. Will they let me in or will I be too late?

[Gareth Williams]

Mar 2, 2024 16:04:53 GMT peter said:

I will be unable to get there until about 12.30. Will they let me in or will I be too late?

I'll get back to you

[lighthouseleprechaun]

Gareth - see the message I have sent to you through the members only section.

[evets]

Sorry Gareth I'll be in the Lake district that day.

[rokbottom]

I hope to make it. GK 13 ETZ. ( new REG )

Len

[Gareth Williams]

Slight change of plan. Lighthouse Janet has kindly offered to "man" the gate for our arrival in the morning, so there is no longer the need to meet up beforehand. If we could all plan to arrive around the 11AM time so that Janet isn't left in the cold/rain for too long. Also, it would still be handy to know who is coming, so we know how long yo wait for stragglers.

[stevesue]

We will be attending

[Gareth Williams]

Popping this to the top. At the moment I have Len, Peter, and Steve and Sue attending. A few more would be good.

Gareth

[ekim]

Sorry, as feared we have a family event to attend so will not be there.

Mike

[Gareth Williams]

Just a few final notes on this.

Janet and I aim to be at the gate at about 10.50am. We will stay there to let people in until about 11.15. Please observe the 10mph limit on the drive to the lighthouse, and please ge aware of pedestrians, dogs, etc. Which may be oblivious to your presence.
If you are late arriving, please contact me on my mobile phone and I will find someone yo let you in. There may ge a bit of a wait.
At the lighthouse please park on the gravel by the double gates. There should be a member of staff there to direct you.
Please remember that no ground stakes can be used in the area around the lighthouse.

Looking forward to dome decent weather...

[Gareth Williams]

Thanks to all who came along to South Foreland today to deal with tricky conditions, that turned decidedly chilly as the afternoon progressed. A pretty good show despite all of that.