Folkestone Walking Tour
FREE
A study in arts-led coastal regeneration
Folkestone is a case study in how major economic changes can affect a town, and the challenges and time required make adjustments. Once a modest medieval fishing port, Folkestone evolved into a high-class Victorian holiday resort, with theatres, ballrooms, ornamental gardens, cliff railways, a pier, amusements and majestic hotels. It was hit, like so many British sea-side resorts, by the advent of cheap air travel and package Mediterranean holidays. From the 1970s the economy declined, with closures, decaying buildings, asset stripping, and demolition.
The 21st century has brought a new optimism, with international and national transport infrastructure, and sustained efforts at bringing about a reinvention, starting with arts and culture. Join friends, friends yet to be made, and colleagues in this free free-form and fun walking tour lead by Robert Huxford, UDG Director, and Julia Wallace.
Things to see…
- Folkestone Creative Quarter
- Folkestone Harbour regeneration and seafront development
- Folkestone Triennial
- Napoleonic fortifications - Martello towers
- Tudor fortifications - Sandgate Castle
- Sandgate - a high street that specialised in the sale of antiques, now struggling following the
- Sea defences and coastal engineering
- Architecture, including work by C F A Voysey
- The Old High Street
And much more…
The tour will be marked by a GPS position indicator which you can follow, enabling you to dip in and out of the procession whenever you like.
Trains from London take as little as 52 minutes - meet at Folkestone Central Station ticket hall at 11.30 am