• Samphire Hoe
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Samphire Hoe is an amazing new piece of England made from 4.9 million cubic metres of chalk marl dug to create the Channel Tunnel.  The Hoe is owned by Eurotunnel and managed together with the White Cliffs Countryside Partnership.

This 30 hectare coastal country park has something for everyone: a stunning location, wildflowers, birds, sea angling, peace and quiet, mugs of tea and ice creams.  The further you go from the car park the wilder the site becomes.  Wildflowers and grasses were sown over about half of the site and the remainder left to colonise naturally.  In the spring and summer early spider, common spotted and pyramidal orchids can be see along with a wealth of other plants. The grassland has now developed sufficiently for cows and sheep to graze.

The newly created habitat has attracted plenty of wildlife, with butterflies, ground nesting skylarks and meadow pipits, the bushes attract stonechats and a wide variety of migrant birds.  With luck peregrine falcons can be seen hunting the cliffs.

With over a mile of sea wall there is always plenty of room for angling.  Day tickets and season tickets are available Tel. 0774 7310275. How about bringing the roller blades or scooter?

The Hoe was named after rock samphire, known to Shakespeare and mentioned in King Lear ‘half way down hangs one that gathers Samphire, dreadful trade’.

The land and cliffs where the Hoe is today have a fascinating history; from the blasting of the White Cliffs to make way for the Dover to Folkestone Railway line, the very early Channel Tunnel attempts in the 1880’s, the location of Kent’s first coal mine, and the military history of the coastal defences.

There are regular guided walks and children’s events.  For more details check out the web site www.samphirehoe.com