Dungeness
Dungeness is a remote and desolate headland on the most southern point of Kent. It is one of the largest shingle landscapes in the world, home to 600 plant species (a third of all the plants found in the UK) and a diverse range of wildlife and insects, the shingle ridges have built up over the last 5,000 years and their height can be used to determine the sea level at the time they were formed. Dungeness has a unique history of military use, gravel extraction, fishing and operation of the nuclear power station that looms over the skyline, much of the land now is a private estate and National Nature Reserve.
I spent a few days there over the new year of 2025. The land often felt otherworldly and reflective in its vast and extreme solitude.
Below are photographs from three different walks.
The evening walk
Along the beach to The Pilot Inn
The long walk
Find the public footpath, around the quarry, across the shingle to the water works and through Dungeness RSPB to find my family who went to the pub instead.
Despite the walk not actually being that long, the wind and seemingly never ending flat shingle made it feel like I was walking forever. I only saw one other person until reaching the first RSPB car park. All alone, in the wild of Dungeness, I felt free.
The last walk
Over the shingle to Dungeness Beach and along the shore, next to the power station and old bird hides.
Keep walking this way to reach the DANGER AREA and Lydd Ranges.