Places
Folkestone harbour station – luxury Train travel in the 1900s
Folkestone Harbour Station played an important role in the first Rail-Sea-Rail link from London to the Continent. When the trainlines were built in the 1840s, they changed the fortunes of many small towns across the country. The line was being laid from London to the coast and reached Folkestone in 1843. Folkelife explores how the train impacted on Folkestone’s fortunes in the latter part of the 19th, and early 20th centuries.
Folkestone Harbour station
The railways were being laid at great speed across the country, and it was important to reach the ports and industrial parts of the UK as well as the picturesque. Folkestone Harbour was one of the ports along the south coast that received freight, and with the advent of the railway, passengers too. As the line to Folkestone was built the town boasted three stations – Folkestone’s West, Central and East.
At the same time, great discussions were taking place as to the best route to follow to get to Dover. Should the line go above the cliffs, or along the coastline? The latter would require a tunnel through the White Cliffs near Dover. While all this discussion was taking place, South Eastern Railways decided to build a branch line from Folkestone East down to the Harbour. Later, Folkestone East became known as Folkestone Junction.
The Branch Line
There was an element of speed to this build as South Eastern Railways wanted to provide a link from London to the coast, and then the ferry link to the Continent as soon as possible. South Eastern Railways also owned Folkestone Harbour, so this made for an easy route. The Branch Line was incredibly steep, with an incline of 1 in 32 across 1 mile. The trains had an easy journey downhill to the Harbour, but going back was a different story. In order to raise the carriages, three engines were needed, two at the front, and one at the rear to push the carriages up to Folkestone Junction.
There were hints, right from the start, that Folkestone Harbour was a financial drain on South Eastern Railways, and not a sensible economic prospect for regular train and ferry travel.
Undercover all the way from London
One of the benefits of Folkestone Harbour Station was that as soon as you boarded the train at London Victoria, you need never walk out in the British weather again before crossing the Channel. Your entire route was under cover. The canopies at the Station protected you as you disembarked, and walked straight through to Customs and the Departure Lounge. Porters would look after your luggage, and on the luxury boat trains, your passports and documentation was also taken care of for you. It really was the way to travel.
extending the pier
In the late 1890s the Harbour Pier was extended. Folkestone Harbour is tidal, and a longer pier would mean that larger vessels could dock further out to sea, and crossings could be fixed to a timetable to coincide with the Boat Trains. This made Folkestone a more reliable and practical port.
Ward’s Guide to Folkestone
Mention in the famous red Ward’s guides of the boat train to Folkestone states you would pay just a little extra to get to Folkestone Harbour, than arriving at Folkestone Central for visiting the main part of the town.
In the 1935 edition, it states: “By reason of its importance as a Channel port Folkestone has good railway communication with the West of England, the Midlands and the North, through trains or through carriages, being run from a number of distant towns.” Very little is mentioned about the Orient Express, which, from 1930, the service came through from London Victoria.
vintage train travel posters
The current Poster Exhibition at Folkestone Harbour illustrates the glamour used to show Folkestone off to tourists and travellers. Advertising the end of the line was obviously good for ticket sales – your customers would need to buy the most expensive tickets to reach their destination. But the excitement and anticipation of leaving the country, maybe for the first time, must have been an exciting prospect.
With glimpses of the Continent when the weather is good, actually leaving these shores for an adventure abroad would have been more and more affordable as time went on.
Romantic Visions of Europe Were Short-lived
European travel became more affordable and open to more and more tourists but sadly, it was short-lived. There was political instability on the European Continent, with the creation of the Triple Alliance (Germany, Austro-Hungary and Italy) and the Triple Entente (UK, France and Russia) working against each other. Belgium was adamant it didn’t want to be involved, and tried to remain neutral. But when that became impossible, and Germany invaded, many refugees fled the country and came to the UK.
Over 115,000 Belgium refugees arrived through Folkestone Harbour and were housed in the town, and moved on to other towns across the UK. Many stayed for the duration of WW1, and returned home as soon as it was safe to do so.
The most famous character from this time, inspired by the refugees, but himself fictional, is Agatha Christie’s detective Hercule Poirot. And this is possibly the closest link Folkestone has with the author. Rumours are that she stayed in The Grand Hotel, but there is no mention of her in any visitor records found. Indeed, in her autobiography, she doesn’t mention visiting Folkestone. Her first trip on the Orient Express when starting from London, went via Dover and she stated that the crossing was not a comfortable one!
world war one
Folkestone Harbour Station was commandeered during WW1, as was a lot of Folkestone, for the transportation of service men and women to Europe and beyond. Nearly 10 million people came through the station, and signed the books in the Mole Café before their departure. As part of the centenary commemorations of the war in 1914, the Roger De Haan Charitable Trust (RDHCT) supported Step Short, a local charity set up to mark the events of WW1, 100 years on in the town, to digitise these records so that relatives can search for family members. Winston Churchill, Wilfred Owen and David Lloyd George appear alongside those of other soldiers and medics.
The 1920s
Folkestone got back on its feet and became the holiday destination it was before the war, and the Harbour was busy with its fleet of fishing vessels as well as the paddle steamers, ferries and freight passing through. As much as Folkestone was a wonderful place to visit, cracks were starting to show in the financial future of the Harbour and how it could support its sea-faring vessels.
The longshore drift would bring sand and silt in to the crook of the Pier which needed to be addressed. With the continual movement of large vessels, this helped stir up the silt to an extent, but every few years the harbour needed to be dredged to remove excessive buildup. Another issue was the weather. Should it be too windy a day, boats were diverted from Folkestone to Dover, which was a more sheltered harbour, built out into the sea so not affected by the tides.
World War II
Folkestone by the time of WWII was not as important a port as its neighbour Dover, and played a smaller part in wartime efforts. It was still in an integral position, being so close to Boulogne and Calais, that it was bombed heavily. Unfortunately, this contributed to it not being invested in after the war and rebuilt. Customs House was greatly reduced in size, and from the 1940s to the 1960s, foot passengers and freight were the regular users of the Station and Harbour.
economic decline
Despite the major efforts to provide a roll-on-roll-off car ferry service, the writing was on the cards for Folkestone Harbour’s demise starting from after WW2. The Goods Yard was reduced in size, fewer people were taking this route, and preferred the more reliable Dover/Calais route instead. Looking back at newspaper reports, questions were asked on a near-weekly basis about the viability of Folkestone Harbour as a passenger ferry terminal from the late 1970s onwards.
Once the Treaty of Canterbury was signed by Margaret Thatcher and Francois Mitterand in 1986, allowing for the building of an under-sea tunnel to connect the two countries, Folkestone Harbour’s fate was sealed. By 2001, the last ferries had sailed, and the trainline was being phased out.
regeneration and renewal
In 2004, Roger De Haan bought Folkestone Harbour with a view to creating a site for a University campus. In negotiations with various educational establishments, a university did not get built, and a new economic purpose for the site was sought. Sir Roger worked with the local council and the Mayor of Boulogne to find a ferry company who would run a service between the two towns – Folkestone and Boulogne – but none was willing to take on the risk.
In 2015, Folkestone’s Harbour Arm was opened to the public for its first season as an entertainment site. In the 10 years it has been open, it has become one of the major visitor destinations in Kent. It now employs nearly 300 people across the site in jobs varying from food and drink to maintenance and marketing.