Tag Archives: Britain

What A Deal

Historic Cycle Network Sign

Sometimes we’ll happen upon a quiet little burg that doesn’t seem to have a whole lot going on only to discover that it has a rich and varied history that stretches back a millennium. Deal is indeed one of those places.

Deal lies just 8 miles northeast of Dover where the North Sea meets the English Channel. between the Strait of Dover and the Thames Estuary. Now a resort town, in 1278 it was the busiest port in England. Historic accounts suggest that four or five hundred ships would be visible from the beach while they waited for a slight change in wind direction that would allow them to proceed into the North Sea or down the Channel towards London, which was then the largest port in the world for sailing vessels. Countless invading forces and pretenders to the throne have landed here only to be beaten back by locals on this very beach. World changing battles have played out in the waters just off shore. The Spanish Armada was twice defeated in full view of the town, first in 1588 by the English and then again in 1639 by the Dutch.

Deal was a town of many firsts. This is the possible location of Julius Caesar’s arrival in England. It was first mentioned in the Doomsday Book of 1078 and was also the first English soil that James Cook set foot on when returning from his first voyage to Australia in 1771. In literature, more protagonists, heroes and nefarious villains have sprung from this little town than you could imagine. Over the years Deal has played an important role in countless novels by some of the world’s most famous authors including Jane Austen, Daniel Defoe, Charles Dickens, Ian Fleming, Patrick O’Brian, H. G. Wells and, most recently, Anthony Horowitz.

Tudor Era Deal Castle

The Deal Pier

This is the third pier in the town’s history. The first was a wooden structure built in 1838 and then destroyed by gale force winds in 1857. It was replaced by an iron pier in 1864 that survived until being struck by a Dutch ship in 1940. The present pier was opened in 1957 by the Duke of Edinburgh and is the last remaining fully intact leisure pier in Kent.

The Deal Pier

Boatsmen

The Deal boatmen were internationally famous for their skilled seamanship and bravery in operating their locally-built craft. Only the severest weather prevents the larger working boats from being able to launch.

The Time Ball Tower

This device was used by ships at sea and in the harbor to set their marine chronometers to ensure proper navigation. Ships navigators and captains would watch the tower through their telescopes. At exactly 1pm each day a signal was sent from Greenwich to the tower and the ball would quickly drop.

The Deal Time Ball Tower

When I first saw the Time Ball Tower I thought, what a clever idea and so unusual. I could not have been more wrong. As a mechanism these date back to before Alexander the Great when the Greeks used them in their city squares. Although now they just historical oddities and have been completely replaced by electronic time pieces, there are still at least six in Australia, one in Canada, three in New Zealand, one in Poland, one in South Africa, two in Spain, eight in England and four in America including the most famous one of all, the one that drops in Time Square every New Year’s Eve.

“oh yeah, hurry on down 
Come on now, meet me on South Street, the hippest street in town”
The Orlons – 1963

The White Cliffs of Dover

These magnificent chalk cliffs hovering over the Port of Dover are much more than a geological oddity or a world renowned international tourist attraction. Like the State of Liberty is to Americans, these white ledges are an enduring symbol of British identity and pride. They represent home and hearth, warm and safety, shelter and tranquillity, all the best emotions that returning home from time away can fill you with. The sight of them rising from the mist has filled seamen, airmen and world travelers with confidence, hope and relief for ages. During World War II their significance was elevated even further. Like the iron gate of a castle, they came to represent strength, courage and an undying sense of perseverance and steadfastness.

Vera Lynn – The Forces Sweetheart

“There’ll be bluebirds over the white cliffs of Dover
Tomorrow just you wait and see
There’ll be love and laughter and peace ever after
Tomorrow when the world is free”

Perhaps no one did more to solidify the White Cliffs of Dover’s reputation as a symbol of hope during WW II than Vera Lynn. Known as the “Forces Sweetheart”, she sang hits like “We’ll Meet Again” and “(There’ll Be Bluebirds Over) The White Cliffs of Dover” to troops from air fields and munitions plants in England, across the Middle East to India and Burma.

Vera Lynn 1943

Pink Floyd Remembers

In 1978, Roger Waters thoughts turned to Vera Lynn when he wrote “Vera”, for the Wall album. Pink, a disillusioned rock star, watches the WW II film ” The Battle of Britain” and sings, “Remember how she said that/We would meet again/Some sunny day?/Vera, Vera/What has become of you?” Well, apparently quite a few people did remember Vera. She had a career that spanned over 65 years. In 2000 she was named the Briton who best exemplified the spirit of the 20th century. She lived to be 103.