“I can see the sea!”
Remembering his childhood holidays, Peter Moore evokes memories of that all-important childhood challenge: spotting the sea
When driving southwards between Folkestone and Dover, shortly after the M20 motorway has given out to the A20, you come to a point where the road unexpectantly slips over a crest and dips down towards the sea.
At once the vista is beautiful; you can see the white cliffs curling into the town of Dover beneath you, there is the bustle of the port with its ferries making their way in and out, and, on a bright summer’s day, you will be able to make out the grey smudge of France on the horizon.
Travelling over this part of the A20 reminds me of my childhood and of our family holidays. And one of my enduring memories of trips to the coast is of the crucial moment when one of the occupants of our car would first spot the sea. I’d be craning my neck this way and that out of the right hand window, as my brother did the same out of the left, all the time the anticipation building to a fury as my father promised: ‘any minute now…’
Quite predictably things would then descend into a riot as one or the other of us made a fraudulent claim which was quickly disproved, and we’d have to grit our teeth and try harder, straining our faces until we resembled guppy fish having an eye test.
Then the magical moment would arrive, a chink of silvery grey would appear from behind a bush and with useless pointing fingers my brother and I would embark upon a further furious squabble. All was well though, and soon enough even the vanquished could feel relieved that the tussle was over: the hotel couldn’t be far away, and the holiday was now officially underway.
Having had to visit Dover recently, I have come to attach a good deal of significance to the crest of that hill. It is not just for the views that it affords the general motorist, but it is also the first proper glimpse of the English Channel that one can get. So, as an ode to my childhood and in remembrance of the backseat battles, I nominate that crest as the official geographic starting point for all ferry holidays to France.
