Dungeness National Nature Reserve
Dungeness National Nature Reserve is one of the UK’s oldest and most famous nature reserves and offers rare and fabulous wild life watching in a unique setting. The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) occupies four square miles of Dungeness and is regarded by many as their best site in the country. You can watch rare species of birds in protected hides, with other bird lovers, on an invigorating hike.
Dungeness Lighthouse
Climb the Old Lighthouse, which is an historic grade II listed building, for a spectacular view of the English Channel. Bring binoculars to get some sense of how it provided welcome land light to ships navigating the perils of the English Channel.
Dungeness' Cottages
Many of the cottages were originally disused railway carriages which were sold to the workers of the then Southern Railway for around £10, as summer houses. The house opposite the Britannia pub is what remains of Queen Victoria’s personal carriage. Today many fishing families still live here, as well as newcomers. We found parts of a railway carriage’s roof when we rebuilt Wi Wurri. Some rebuilt cottages have near perfect 1930s railway carriages cleverly integrated into their structure.
Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch Railway
The Romney, Hythe & Dumchurch railway claims to be the world’s smallest public railway with a gauge of just 15 inches and one third full-size steam locomotives. Six stations span the line which takes an hour to complete, and the line terminates in Dungeness. You can visit the railway cafe for refreshments, or indeed the Britannia pub.
The Britannia & The Pilot Inn
(The latter is at the entrance of the Dungeness estate) serve excellent fish and chips all day. From Thursday to Sunday Kelly Thomas runs her excellently reviewed Snack Shack, which includes fish butties and lobster rolls.
Hikes & Walks
Dungeness offers excellent places for walking starting with a trip to Prospect Cottage where the film-maker Derek Jarman created his famous garden. Given its flat and unique landscape Romney Marsh has many other places to walk including the Greatstone Lakes. You can view and print Ordnance Survey maps showing public footpaths, cycle paths and other rights of way.
Fishing
Beach casting or boat fishing off the coast of Dungensss is some of the best on the south coast to the extent that some anglers come from as far afield as France. Several local people will take you out boat fishing and bait and tackle are readily available.
Historical Buildings
You can visit some of the many ancient Anglo-Saxon churches in the district, including St Thomas a Becket at Fairfield which was built in the twelfth century as a monument to the Archbishop of Canterbury who was murdered in 1170. This iconic church has been used as a location for several films including the BBC's 2012 Great Expectations.
Another memorable church is St Mary in the Marsh, where the author of the famous children's book, the Railway Children, is buried in the graveyard. Edith Nesbitt spent the final years of her life in St Mary's Bay. One of her great friends was Noel Coward who lived in the Star Inn. Today the Inn is still an excellent and reasonably priced place to eat.
Shopping
There is an excellent local Sainsbury's just outside New Romney. The High Street boasts a terrific butcher, fruit and veg shop, a reasonably stocked deli and much more.
But go to Rye, one of the original Cinque ports, a pleasant car or bike ride away for some more quirky shops along the partially cobbled High Street. You can make a detour to see the house where the famous American writer, Henry James, spent his last days (guided tours operate throughout the year).
A more serious shopper could take a day trip to Ashford to the Designer Outlet where you can pick up discounted clothes by Ralph Lauren, Gap, FatFace, French Connection and more.