Harbour Operatives – Making Folkestone Harbour Work

The Harbour Operatives are a merry band of 8 who you will find walking around Folkestone Harbour in high vis jackets.  Lead by Steve Godfrey, their job is to make sure the site is safe, clean and in good repair.  Each day is different and also challenging at times, but the team make sure that there’s fun to be had too.  They’re also looking for new recruits, so apply here.  Folkelife met with Steve to find out what the job entails:

“It’s an incredibly varied role, and it really depends on your skill set as to the extent of what you could get up to here.  There’s the basics of keeping the area tidy, making sure the loos are clean and so on.  From there it goes in any direction.  I started here working on the Viaduct across the Harbour in 2016.  We converted that from the disused railway line to the public walkway it is today.  I got approached after that to join the team here and have helped convert shipping containers to all sorts of different types of spaces.  Creating The Board Room was fun, and I like to think we’ve done a good job too.”

day and night

“The job is a 12 hour shift, working four days on and four days off.  You’re either on nights, 6pm to 6am, or the day shift, 6am to 6pm.  You’ve seen what it’s like here during the day.  Sometimes there are events on that mean that our job is largely security and cleaning, and interacting with the public.  Then the night shift is really quite different.  There’s lots of cleaning that happens then too, but that is a good time, provided the weather is ok, to get a lot of things done.  

“We have a rota of jobs around the site involving cleaning and washing down the paintwork so things don’t rust, to maintenance of the structures on site.  Each month we jet wash, and then every three months it’s a soap wash. It’s quite regimented. This is a working harbour, so there are regulations that we need to meet to make sure we’re compliant with the setting. For example, our life buoys have to be regularly checked and maintained.”

good with people

“If you walk around in an orange high vis jacket then people tend to notice you and ask you questions.  Good public interface is important, you have to be welcoming and friendly and helpful to the general public.  We want to make sure they have a good time here.  During the day the job is quite reactive, and if there’s a big event on then we work closely with the Commercials Team to know what’s happening.  There are daily briefings to keep abreast with the security and cleanliness of the site, to make everyone’s visit here a positive one.”

diversity of skills

“We’re looking for the right person who wants to work with us.  There’s lots of training we can give so a lot of the skills needed can be learned here.  The most important thing is to be good with people, and then we can train everyone when it’s needed.  I mean, one of the jobs I really enjoyed doing was building the adventure golf area.  That was fun.  I’d never done that before.  Likewise, I can remember putting together the canopies for the Station Platform.  When that area is in full bloom, it’s really stunning and something that I’m incredibly proud of being a part of.  

“We’ve built Little Rock, The Pilot and The Boardwalk too.  There are loads of projects to get involved with.  If you look at our current team then we have people who’ve come from security backgrounds, and others who have maintenance backgrounds.  We’re working in a marine setting and so if you have experience there then that would be good, but it’s not essential. “

inspection rounds

“Every morning and evening at 6 we do inspection rounds.  This includes looking at the weather forecast and seeing what’s expected.  If there are really high winds and high tides then the site will shut.  The weather is an important factor working here.  If it’s sunny and a good day, then there will be more visitors, which will have an impact on what you can do maintenance-wise.  In the winter, the weather is going to play a part in how much we can do outside.  There have been days when a lot of time is spent monitoring the CCTV because the weather is impacting on what we can do at a practical level.”

appreciation

“I’m Folkestone born and bred and can remember not actually being on the Harbour Arm as a child, because you couldn’t get access to it, it was private.  There was a floating pontoon in the Harbour which I remember doing some crabbing from.  So being a part of the team that opened up the Viaduct and making this place accessible to the public is something special. 

“The job is stressful at times, every job is, but I have enjoyed every project I’ve been involved in at the Harbour.  It’s nice to stand back and see this area being appreciated by everyone who uses it.”