Broadstairs Dickens Festival (Kent)

Dickens House Museum was once the home of Miss Mary Pearson Strong on whom Dickens based the character of Miss Betsey Trotwood in the novel “David Copperfield”. The house is a museum to commemorate the Dickens’ association with Broadstairs.

Viking Bay beach is the main bay of the seven Broadstairs bays, a sandy beach with clifftop promenade, harbour pier, sea water tidal swimming pool and a boardwalk. The beach has a slope on the northern end of the harbour whilst on the southern end, you have steps or a seasonal lift to get you down from the gardens at the top of the cliffs. Facilities at the beach include toilets, cafes, pubs, kiosks, restaurants, boast slipway, lift to the beach (open Easter to October), deck chairs, amusements, chalets for hire, seasonal lifeguards. As this is the main Broadstairs beach you have various parking options, a small harbour car park or street parking at the top of the cliffs.

Bleak House, formerly known as Fort House, is a large house on the cliff overlooking Viking Bay in Broadstairs. It is thought to have been built around 1816. The house was the site of the North Cliff Battery and was used as a coastal station for observing marine activity. Charles Dickens lived and worked in Bleak House during summers holidays with his family spent from 1837 to 1859.

Louisa Bay is one of the seven sandy bays of Broadstairs in Kent, this is a sandy bay with rock pools and promenade. The beach is only approximately 150m long and all but disappears at high tide. Facilities at the beach include a cafe, chalets for hire, disabled access via a steep slope, although you are only walking distance from Viking Bay and the town centre.

Stone Bay beach is a quiet, sandy bay approximately 200 meters long, with chalk cliffs, rock pools and promenade. Facilities at the beach include a cafe, chalets for hire, toilets and disabled access via Broadstairs Harbour at Viking Bay.

Dumpton Gap is a quiet, sandy bay with some rocks approximately 150 meters long with promenade and backed by white cliffs. The beach at Dumpton Gap provides a quieter option over the busier beaches of Ramsgate and Broadstairs. For the adventurous at low tide, you have an excellent walk to Ramsgate, although please check the tide times. Alternatively, you can take the West Cliff Promenade into Broadstairs. Facilities at the beach include a promenade, toilets, cafe, chalets for hire, disabled access via a steep slope.

A light was first exhibited at North Foreland, Broadstairs in 1499, but the first real lighthouse was built by Sir John Meldrum in 1636. The lighthouse consisted of a two storey octagonal tower made of timber, lath and plaster with an iron coal burning grate on top. This tower was destroyed by fire in 1683. A temporary measure of a single candle in a lantern hoisted on a pole proved, not surprisingly, ineffective and the present structure was built in 1691; originally the tower was 12 metres tall constructed of brick, stone and flint. In 1698 the lighthouse is recorded as using 100 tons of coal a year. North Foreland Lighthouse came into the hands of the Trustees of Greenwich Hospital in 1719, they used the surplus from the light dues for the upkeep of the hospital for the benefit of seamen. They enclosed the fire in a glazed lantern in 1719 but this was removed in 1730 after complaints from shipping. In 1793 a further two storeys were added to the tower and the coal fire was replaced by 18 oil lamps. Trinity House purchased the lighthouse in 1832. In 1890 a separate room known as the lantern house, was built on to the top of the tower to accommodate the light.

Revolution Skatepark first opened early in 1998, and today is an indoor skatepark and climbing centre for Skateboards, BMX, Rollerblades, Scooters and all types of Indoor Climbing.

Joss Bay Surf school is located on Joss Bay beach which is the home of Kent Surfing and one of the most popular surf spots in the South East of England. We offer Surf Lessons, SUP Lessons, Surf Hire, competitions and loads of other activities!

Joss Bay beach in Broadstairs, Kent is a 200m sandy beach sheltered by large white chalk cliffs below the North Foreland Lighthouse and is just one of the Seven Broadstairs Bays, Joss Bay is known as the home of Kent surfing and one of the most popular South East England surf spots. The beach is popular with families and not just surfers and due to being close to Broadstairs can get crowded. The flat rocks at the end of the beach can provide hours of exploration for the kids. The bay was named after an 18th-century smuggler called Joss Snelling and is one of the seven bays in Broadstairs. Activity wise, we have talked about surfing but kitesurfing is a struggle due to the cliffs behind the beach and the number of summer visitors. Facilities at the beach include surf school and surf/kayak hire facilities, toilets, cafe/restaurant, shops, deck chair/ windbreak hire, car parking, lifeguards in summer months, disabled access, seasonal children play area.

Kingsgate Bay is a quiet and secluded sandy beach approximately 150 meters long and is one of the smaller of the Broadstairs bays. A great bay for those who like to get away from it all. The bay has white chalk cliffs and some of the best examples of sea caves in the country. You have steep steps down the cliffs and then no facilities once down there but this does mean it is not so busy as the other Broadstairs beaches, although you have a pub on the cliff over looking the bay.

Botany Bay is an old fashioned sandy beach ideal to keep the family entertained. The beach is almost 200m long with chalk cliffs and stacks, rock pools to explore and gentle swimming conditions. This part of the Kent coast boasts the longest stretch of chalk cliffs in Britain with Botany Bay being the northern most of seven bays in Broadstairs. When the tide goes out you have a chalk reef which is thought to be one of the best in Britain. You can also navigate around chalk stacks to Kingsgate Bay but be aware that as the tide comes in the ends of the beaches get cut-off and so you may have to walk back along the cliff path. Facilities include toilets, seasonal kiosk (hot and cold food), disabled access, deck chairs, windbreak hire, lifeguards in summer months and parking.