White Cliffs Earthcache (Kent) EarthCache
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White Cliffs Earthcache (Kent)
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Welcome to Samphire Hoe! This is one of the newest parts of Kent
and probably the best place to view what are arguably the most
famous cliffs in Britain.
Parking is signposted from the A20 westbound. Unfortunately the
parking is pay & display, but the cliff top footpath, Sustrans
cycle route 2 and bus route D2 from Dover all pass by the entrance
tunnel through the cliff. Entrance is free and the site is open
from 7am to dusk every day. A tea kiosk is open Saturdays and
Sundays and every day from Easter to September.
The coordinates above are reached via wheelchair accessible paths
along the base of the cliffs. The land manager has asked us to
stress that visitors PLEASE KEEP TO THE
PATHS for the sake of the wildlife here.
Dover’s famous White Cliffs owe their striking appearance to their
composition of chalk, accentuated with streaks of black flint. They
are up to 350 feet high in places and are easily visible from
France on a clear day. They date back to the Cretaceous period,
approximately 136 million years ago. At that time, the area was
under water and the chalk was formed from the skeletons of tiny sea
creatures, compressed into rock under pressure from the sea. Since
then, movements in the earth’s crust have lifted the chalk out of
the sea. Chalk is very soft, so the cliffs are gradually being
eroded by the sea, continually exposing new rock.
Samphire Hoe is land formed from the material dug during the
creation of the Channel Tunnel. 4.9 million cubic metres of rock
were dug out from under the English Channel and transported the
short distance to the base of Shakespeare Cliff. The land was then
sown with wildflowers and grasses and since then, local vegetation
has naturally colonised the area, attracting a wide variety of
wildlife.
To claim this earthcache you will need to do the following:
1) Post a picture taken at the above coordinates. The picture
should ideally include the cliff, some of Samphire Hoe and your
GPSr.
2) E-mail us through our profile the answers to these two
questions. What sort of rock was dug from under the channel to form
Samphire Hoe? What is the scientific term for the bits of sea
creature skeleton that form the chalk cliffs? (you might need the
internet for this one)
Note: the owners of the site state the paths are wheelchair
accessible but there are some short sections that are gradient 1:6.
The path along the sea wall is more level but if anyone has
difficulty reaching the given coordinates we will accept pictures
taken from nearer the car park.
Additional Hints
(No hints available.)