Hellfire Corner

County of Kent
England
May 19, 2006


Having a couple of spare days whilst en-route to our supplier of Brass Spitfires, I had determined to visit Kent where there is a Battle of Britain Museum at Hawkinge.

Hawkinge, very near Dover and Folkestone, was the home of a forward RAF Fighter Command airfield and was in the thick of the Battle of Britain – so much so that the area came to be known as Hellfire Corner. Learning this, our trip to the museum turned into a sort of Battle of Britain pilgrimage with stops at the White Cliffs of Dover, the Battle of Britain Memorial at Capel le Ferne, the Cat and Custard Pot Pub at Paddlesworth and the White Hart Inn at Brasted.

From much earlier days I was surprised to find a Bleriot memorial, which has been created at the point near Dover castle where Bleriot completed the worlds first international flight!

It was a memorable day.

I won’t forget the radar towers at Dover, the Memorial Wall at Capel le Ferne, or the broken Merlin and Daimler Benz engines at the Museum. The engines came from aircraft wrecks, which have been recovered over the years, and each has been researched and presented according to its individual history. For some reason, those engines and their stories were the most poignant of memorials of all.

Footnote:

We stayed in a night Folkestone.
Interestingly, our hotel had the following sign in the room

IN THE INTERESTS
OF SAFTEY
HOTEL GUESTS ARE
REQUESTED TO
REFRAIN
FROM CLIMBING OUT
OF THE WINDOWS

Which probably says something about the town!

If you plan a similar journey, we’d suggest Deal, Canterbury or maybe Sandwich as preferable overnight options.