A Timeline History of Folkestone | ||||
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Norman Folkestone Medieval Folkestone Georgian Folkestone Regency Folkestone Early Victorian Folkestone Late Victorian Folkestone 1895 Folkestone Museum opened on Grace Hill. Edwardian Folkestone 1900 Around 200,000 passengers used Folkestone Harbour. 1902 Leas Pavilion opened on The Leas, 300 feet above the coast. 1903 Folkestone lighthouse opened on Harbour Arm. 1905 Folkestone film (including Switchback Railway!). 1909 Edward VII opened The Grand's new dance floor. 1911 Around 500,000 passengers used Folkestone Harbour. 1912 Playhouse Cinema opened on Guildhall Street Folkestone in WW1 1914 Start of First World War. Folkestone welcomed around 116,000 Belgian refugees, with some 15,000 staying in the town. Sandgate Hill Lift closed down. Interwar Folkestone 1922 Folkestone War Memorial by Ferdinand Victor Blundstone (1882–1951) completed. 1924 East Cliff and Warren Country Park opened. 1927 Leas Cliff Hall Theatre opened. 1934 Agatha Christie wrote Murder on the Orient Express at the Grand Hotel. Folkestone in WW2 1939 Start of Second Wold War. Shorncliffe again used as a staging post for troops. 1940 Dunkirk evacuation. 46 vessels called at Folkestone, landing 29,265 personnel. In turn, these troops were transported by rail on the 64 "Dunkirk special" trains from Folkestone. 1942 Christ Church, Sandgate Road, decimated when it received a direct hit during a raid. Just the tower of the church escaped destruction. 1943 Folkestone Pier damaged by a fire, 1944 V1 Flying Bomb landed on Bridge Street resulted in 3 deaths and 60 injuries. Nine houses and the Wheatsheaf Inn destroyed. Postwar Folkestone 1945 Dec: Noel Redding born at the Royal Victoria Hospital. Grew up on Cliff Road in Seabrook. In 1966 he joined the Jimi Hendrix Experience as the bass player. 1951 Saga founded by Sidney and Margery De Haan. They offered older guests off peak deals at the Rhodesia Hotel in Folkestone. It grew into an over-50s holiday giant. 1954 Folkestone Pier dismantled. 1965 Folkestone East closed. 1968 Goods yard closed. 1970 The Royal Pavilion Hotel, demolished. 1982 Venice Simplon-Orient-Express service established by James Blair Sherwood. Ran from London to Venice via Folkestone. 1984 Grand Austin mega hotel opened on site of Royal Pavilion Hotel. 1987 Brockhill Country Park opened. 1994 Opening of the Channel Tunnel impacted Folkestone’s ferry services. Modern Folkestone 2000 Regular ferry service to France ended. 2002 Creative Foundation set up by Roger De Haan. Old High Street refurbished as the Creative Quarter. 2004 Roger De Haan sold Saga. 2008 First Folkestone Triennial. Several more followed. 2010 Plan commissioned for the development of the harbour and seafront. 2011 Roger De Haan bought Folkestone Harbour for £11 million. 2015 Folkestone Harbour viaduct and station refurbished. Remaining tracks retained plus canopies and Customs House repaired. 2017 Viaduct across the harbour opened as a pedestrian route to Harbour station. Books:
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Hastings History Kent Cider Hampshire Hotels
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