A face lift for "White Cliffs"

White Cliffs, the house at the end of the Bay has become shrouded. It has been up for sale so it looks as if it is having a face lift.

Further along the cliffs towards Hope Point, Jack Chantler tells me there has been a large cliff fall. I haven't got along there to see it but it sounds as if another chunk of coastal erosion has taken place.

As promised the Dover Lifeboat crew had their fund raiser in Dover today. During the week they had been around St Margaret's Bay taking part in a full scale search, after a man from the village had been reported missing at 5pm on Thursday. He was found in a garden, suffering from hypothermia after fiver hours, but as usual all the emergency services teamed up to find him.

All the crew, supported by the Fire Brigade ( when they weren't answering calls) took turns in rowing. At 10.30 they were joined by Nazaneen Ghaffar, BBC Kent weather girl, and Steve Ladnar, from BBC Radio Kent who is one of the Lifeboat volunteers.

They took a short rest for a bit of a pose, but in total on the two machines they rowed 150 Km, the equivalent of Dover to Boulogne back to Dover and then back to Boulogne. I don't know why Nazaneen quite so cheerful, she'd just been telling us about the snow that is coming our way! While I hope I never have to use there services the crew of the Lifeboat perform a fantastic service to our community. I haven't heard what the total raised on the day was, but I'll post it later.

Rowing for the Dover Lifeboat

BBC Weather girl to row for RNLI SOS Appeal with Dover lifeboat crew

Nazaneen Ghaffar will be joining her BBC colleague and Dover Lifeboat volunteer Steve Ladner along with the rest of the crew for a marathon rowing machine challenge.

The event will take place in the Biggin Street precinct on Saturday 31st January starting at 0830hrs. The rowers aim to row the equivalent distance of Dover to Boulogne. It is hoped that Miss Ghaffar and the Lifeboat crew will be assisted by some of Dover’s retained volunteer fire fighters.

Dover Rowing Club is kindly supplying two rowing machines for the event.

Lifeboat Press Officer, Tony Hawkins explains: “Each year the RNLI holds its SoS appeal and challenges fundraisers to raise money in ingenious ways using S O S as a theme so we are asking people to ‘Support our Sculling’.”

Coxswain Stuart Richardson said “When someone suggested rowing I thought what an excellent way for the crew to get fit after the excesses of Christmas. It will also help us remember how difficult it was for the early lifeboat volunteers who would have to row heavy wooden boats for many hours through treacherous seas.“

So if you are in Dover on Saturday morning, go and see the glamorous Nazaneen and while you there make sure you put your loose change in the collecting buckets!

The Dover Lifeboat

There's been a lifeboat at Dover in most years since 1837. The current Lifeboat, 17-09 'City of London II' arrived in March 1997 and is Dover's 16th lifeboat, succeeding the Thames class lifeboat 'Rotary Service'.

Full details of the Dover Lifeboat can be found on their WEB site. I was watching the world go by at Langdon Cliffs when she came by at a good rate of knots.

Although it was a calm day at that speed she disappeared in the spray each time she went through a wave. The average number of "shouts" each year has been 38 for the last 20 years, although so far this year it is up yo 60. Martin Collins, the admin officer, tells me that there will be a fund raising event in January and I'll find out about that later.

While I was there I watched the Jackdaws flying round the cliff face. Although they are not as spectacular as Choughs, they certainly are masters of the air.

With Ravens beginning to reappear in Kent, and Choughs now back in Cornwall, it is possible to at least dream of a future when all our native crows breed in the area.

No matter what the angle and even in poor light, the white eye stands out like a small torch.