How Folkestone has changed

I went to Folkestone on Wednesday and enjoyed lunch with old friend Joe-the-Photo. The town has improved since I last spent any real time there, which was over fifteen years ago, and a time when the drug culture was moving in and bringing the town down with it.

Tontine Street looks nastier than ever, although I’m not sure how much it has declined, and how much it just looks like it has since some of the surrounding areas have improved.

But the Leas is much cleaner and the Triennial art installations dotted along it give it a measure of extra interest. Even the café above the Leas Cliffe Hall has gone a bit more upmarket. 

Some of the art installations are worth going to see in their own right. Such as the boats hanging in St Mary and St Eanswythe’s Church. There are a few blogs on the internet by people who have gone exploring properly and finding the artworks.

But most noticeable is the improvement of the little alleyways behind the High Street, which I’m sure are still creepy at night, but in the daylight are no longer seedy and reeking of bodily fluids, but lovely little picturesque sanctuaries away from the busy shopping areas. But the steep hill and cobbles mean that comfortable shoes are pretty much essential!

The pubs in the area used to be almost uniformly repulsive, but some of them have responded to the new order and risen to challenge, providing some really nice places to be a ‘lady who lunches’ and enjoy good food – but do remember, it isn’t London. For a start, some places and this includes some of the pubs, are cash only.

I think that the drug culture has now diminished and that, along with the massive injection of cash and energy into development and arts is really beginning to show. There is still a long way to go, but from one afternoon spent there, it has already become a place worth visiting, which is more than can be said for many other towns in the county.