Herne Bay, Kent
Encyclopedia
Herne Bay is a seaside town in Kent
, South East England
, with a population of 35,188. On the south coast of the Thames Estuary
, it is 7 miles (11 km) north of Canterbury
and 1 miles (2 km) east of Whitstable
. It neighbours the ancient villages of Herne
and Reculver
and is part of the City of Canterbury
local government
district. Herne Bay's seafront is home to the world's first freestanding purpose-built clock tower
, built in 1837; until 1978, the town had the second-longest pier
in the United Kingdom.
The town began as a small shipping community, receiving goods and passengers from London
en route to Canterbury and Dover
. The town rose to prominence as a seaside resort
during the early 19th century after the building of a pleasure pier and promenade by a group of London investors, and reached its heyday in the late Victorian era
. Its popularity as a holiday destination has declined over the past decades, due to the increase in foreign travel and regular flooding that has prevented the town's redevelopment.
between Canterbury and Reculver
at Herne.
One of the oldest buildings in Herne Bay is the late 18th-century inn, The Ship, which served as the focal point for the small shipping and farming community which first inhabited the town. During this time, passenger and cargo boats regularly ran between Herne Bay and London, and boats carrying coal ran from Newcastle
. From Herne there was easy access by road to the city of Canterbury, or to Dover, where further passage by boat could then be obtained across the English Channel
to France.
The 1801 census recorded Herne Bay, including Herne, as having a population of 1,232. During the early 19th century, a smugglers' gang operated from the town. The gang were regularly involved in a series of fights with the preventive services until finally being overpowered in the 1820s. In the 1830s, a group of London investors, who recognised Herne Bay's potential as a seaside resort, built a wooden pier
and a promenade on the town's seafront. This and the subsequent building of a railway station led to the rapid expansion of the town; between 1831 and 1841 the town's population grew from 1,876 to 3,041. The London businessmen intended to rename the town St Augustine's, but the name was unpopular with residents and the "Herne Bay" remained. In 1833, an Act of Parliament
established Herne Bay and Herne as separate towns. Local landowner Sir Henry Oxenden donated a piece of ground for the site of the town's first church, Christ Church, which was opened in 1834. In 1837, Mrs Ann Thwaytes, a wealthy lady from London, donated around £4,000 to build a 75 feet (23 m) clock tower on the town's seafront. It is believed to be the first freestanding purpose built clock tower in the world.
During the 1840s, steamboats began running between Herne Bay and London. There was a type of beach boat unique to Herne Bay and nearby Thanet
, known as the Thanet wherry
, a narrow pulling boat about 18 feet (5 m) long. These boats were mainly used for fishing; however, with the advent of tourism and the decline of fishing, they became mainly used for pleasure trips. A document dated 1840 records the town as having the following schools, all of which are now defunct: Haddington boarding school
, Oxenden House, British School, Prospect Place and Herne Street school. The village of Herne was often called Herne Street around this time. The same document also mentions the still-existing Rodney Head, The Ship and Upper Red Lion inns.
The original wooden pier had to be dismantled in 1871 after its owners went into liquidation and sea worms had damaged the wood. A shorter 100 metres (328 ft) long iron pier with a theatre and shops at the entrance was built in 1873. However, it was too short for steamboats to land at. The pier proved to be unprofitable and a replacement longer iron pier with an electric tram began to be built in 1896. At 3600 feet (1,097 m), this pier was the second longest in the country, behind only the pier at Southend-on-Sea
.
The town's heyday as a seaside resort was during the late Victorian era; the population nearly doubled from 4,410 to 8,442 between 1881 and 1901. Much of the resulting late Victorian seafront architecture is still in existence today. In 1910, a pavilion was added to the landward end of the pier. In 1912, the first "Brides in the Bath" murder by George Joseph Smith
was committed in Herne Bay. By 1931, the town's population had grown to 14,533. At the beginning of World War II
, the army cut two gaps between the landward end of the pier and the seaward terminal as a counter-invasion measure. The pier was restored however after the war. During World War II, a sea-fort
was built off the coast of Herne Bay and Whitstable, which is still in existence. The coastal village of Reculver, to the east of Herne Bay, was the site of the testing of the bouncing bomb
used by the "Dam Busters
" during the war.
1963 marked the end of steamboat services from the pier. In 1970, a fire destroyed the pier's pavilion and plans began to replace it with a sports centre, which was opened in 1976 by former Prime Minister Edward Heath
. The centre section of the pier was torn down by a storm in 1978, leaving the end of the pier isolated out at sea. It has not been rebuilt due to the cost; however, residents and businesses in the town have campaigned for its restoration.
for North Thanet
, covering northern Thanet
and Herne Bay, has been the Conservative
Roger Gale
. At the 2005 general election
, the Conservatives won a majority of 7,634 and 49.6% of the vote in North Thanet. Labour
won 32.2% of the vote, Liberal Democrats
14.4% and United Kingdom Independence Party
3.9%.
Herne Bay, along with Whitstable and Canterbury, is in the City of Canterbury
local government district. The town contains the five electoral wards of Heron, Herne and Broomfield
, Greenhill and Eddington, West Bay and Reculver. These wards have thirteen of the fifty seats on the Canterbury
City Council
. As at the 2007 local elections
, eight of those seats were held by the Conservatives
and five by the Liberal Democrats
.
. The town is 1 miles (2 km) east of the town of Whitstable
and 7 miles (11 km) north of the city of Canterbury
. The village of Herne
is just to the south, and the village of Reculver
is 1 miles (2 km) to the east. The town's suburbs are Hampton
, Greenhill
and Studd Hill in the west, Eddington
and Broomfield
in the south, and Beltinge
and Hillborough
in the east. The drowned settlement of Hampton-on-Sea
once existed beside what is now Hampton.
The landscape of the town has been largely influenced by the Plenty Brook
, which flows northward through the centre of the town and into the sea. It is thought to have been a much larger stream in ancient times
. The coastline has two distinct bay
s, separated by a jut of land created by silt from the outflow of the brook into the sea. The first buildings in the town were built along the east bay, a short distance from the brook outflow, where the road from Canterbury met the sea. The town has since spread across both bays, across the Plenty Brook valley and onto the relatively high land flanking both sides of the valley. The land to the east of the valley reaches a height of 25 metres (82 ft) above sea level
and to the west reaches 10 metres (33 ft). Cliffs are formed where this high land meets the sea.
The rising land beside the coast, between the valley and the eastern cliffs, is known as 'The Downs' (no relation to the North
or South Downs
). This area has been named a Site of Scientific Interest and a Special Protection Area
for Birds. The whole of the north east Kent coast has been designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest
. The geology
of the town consists mainly of London Clay
, overlaid with brickearth in the west. The sand and clay of The Downs are subject to landslips.
The Plenty Brook now passes through the town's drainage system
, allowing buildings to be built over the top. The brook has been prone to flooding during heavy rain, especially in inland areas, which regularly causes problems for people living in the Eddington area in southern Herne Bay.
Stormy weather can cause the sea level
by the coast to rise by up to two metres. In the past, this has caused disastrous flood
ing in the town, the worst in the town's history being in 1953. Coastal defences
were subsequently constructed including groyne
s, sea walls and shingle beach
. In the 1990s, these defences were deemed to be inadequate and an offshore breakwater
, now known as Neptune's Arm, was built to protect the most vulnerable areas of the town.
In east Kent
, the warmest time of the year is July and August, when maximum temperatures average around 21 °C (70 °F); the coolest months are January and February, when minimum temperatures average around 1 °C (34 °F). East Kent's average maximum and minimum temperatures are around 1/2 °C higher than the national average. Herne Bay is sometimes warmer than other parts of Kent
as it is backed by the North Downs
to the south. Between 1999 and 2005, Herne Bay recorded the highest daily temperature in the United Kingdom nine times. East Kent's average annual rainfall is about 728 mm (29 inches), the wettest months being October to January. This was lower than the national average annual rainfall of 838 mm (33 inches), and recent droughts have led to hosepipe bans by Mid Kent Water.
For average temperature and rainfall figures, see Wye Weather Station
, which is around 20 miles (32 km) southwest of Herne Bay.
As of the 2001 UK census
, Herne Bay area wards had a population of 35,188 and a population density of 11.3 persons per hectare
.
Of the town's 14,732 households, 48.7% were married couples
living together, 8.4% were cohabiting
couples and 8.3% were lone parents. 30.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 20.5% had someone living alone at pensionable age. 27.7% of households included children aged under 16 or a person aged 16 to 18 who was in full-time education. The average household size was 2.74.
The ethnicity of the town was 98.5% white, 0.6% mixed race
, 0.4% Asian, 0.2% black and 0.3% Chinese or other. The place of birth of residents was 96.3% United Kingdom, 0.6% Republic of Ireland
, 0.3% Germany, 0.6% other Western Europe
countries, 0.2% Eastern Europe
, 0.6% Africa, 0.3% Far East, 0.3% South Asia
, 0.2% Middle East
, 0.2% North America and 0.2% Oceania. Religion was recorded as 77.3% Christian, 0.3% Muslim, 0.2% Hindu, 0.2% Buddhist, 0.1% Jewish and 0.1% Sikh. 14.2% were recorded as having no religion, 0.3% had an alternative religion and 7.4% did not state their religion.
For every 100 females, there were 89.9 males. The age distribution was 6% aged 0–4 years, 14% aged 5–15 years, 4% aged 16–19 years, 29% aged 20–44 years, 25% aged 45–64 years and 22% aged 65 years and over. The town had a high percentage of residents over 65, compared with the national average of 16%. As a seaside town, Herne Bay is a popular retirement destination; many modern retirement complexes are located near the seafront.
The economic activity of residents aged 16–74 was 36% in full-time employment, 13% in part-time
employment, 9% self-employed
, 3% unemployed, 2% students with jobs, 3% students without jobs, 18% retired, 7% looking after home or family, 6% permanently sick or disabled and 2% economically inactive for other reasons. This was roughly in line with the national figures, except for the number of people in retirement. This figure nationally was significantly lower at 14%. Of the town's residents aged 16–74, 12% had a higher education
qualification or the equivalent, compared with 20% nationwide. According to Office for National Statistics
estimates, during the period of April 2001 to March 2002 the average gross weekly income of households in the Herne Bay area was £516 (£26,906 per year).
The advent of overseas travel and changes to holiday trends eventually caused the town's economy to decline after the 1960s; regular flooding of the Plenty Brook prevented redevelopment of the town centre. However, extensive seafront regeneration in the 1990s followed the creation of the Neptune's Arm sea defence jetty. The jetty has created a small harbour used by leisure boats and from where tourists can take sailing yacht
trips to a seal-watching site in the Thames estuary. The Victorian gardens on the seafront were then able to be fully restored. The Central Bandstand, built in 1924, was refurbished after years of disrepair and closure to the public. A swimming pool
and cinema were added to the town centre in the early 1990s
. In 2005, a wind-farm with thirty 2.75 MW wind turbine
s was built 5 miles (8 km) off the coast of Herne Bay and Whitstable, generating a total of 82.5 MW of electricity. The recent upgrades by the Council have helped improve the image of the town and raise its profile. It is hoped this will attract new investment in tourism and business by the private sector, and lead to the regeneration of the town's economy.
In 2006, Canterbury City Council began a public consultation to discuss the regeneration. A concern raised by the council is that the shopping centre
is incoherent and fails to attract the tourists that come for the seafront. Other issues raised are the lack of holiday accommodation, car parks
and clear pedestrian routes between the three main attractions in the town: the seafront, Memorial park and shopping centre. The council is considering relocating the sports centre from the pier and replacing it with other tourist attraction
s.
As of the 2001 census, the industry of employment of residents of Herne Bay was 19% retail, 14% health and social work
, 11% manufacturing, 10% construction, 9% real estate
, 8% education, 8% transport and communications, 5% public administration
, 5% hotels and restaurants, 4% finance, 1% agriculture and 5% other community, social or personal services
. Compared to national figures, the town had a relatively high number of workers in the construction and health/social care industries and a relatively low number in manufacturing and real estate. Many residents commute to work outside the town. As of the 2001 UK census, 14,711 of the town's residents were in employment, whereas there were only 8,104 jobs within the town.
One of the largest employers is the centrally located supermarket, which as of January 2006
was considering further expansion. It is one of the major attractions to the town's shopping centre, however there are fears that its expansion could lead it to become too dominant, at the cost of smaller shops in the town. Apart from tourism and retail, many jobs are also provided in the manufacturing industry
, mainly located in industrial estates
on the outskirts of the town, which produce goods such as kitchen furniture and factory machinery. A high number of construction jobs have been created by redevelopment of the seafront, which is expected to continue with the proposed regeneration of the town centre. The elderly population of the town has led to many health and social care
jobs at local care homes and at the town's Queen Victoria Memorial Hospital. As of the 2001 census, 1.9% of the town's population resided in a medical or care establishment, compared with the national average of only 0.8%.
World War II sea fort and the off-shore wind farm
. There are seaside cafés, fresh seafood restaurants, guesthouses, beach huts and numerous water-sports facilities.
The Memorial Park, situated near the centre of the town, incorporates a children's play area, a large shallow duck pond
often used for remote control
boats, basketball and tennis court
s and a large expanse of grass for field games. The park has a monument and an 'Avenue of Remembrance' as memorials to the town's residents killed during the two world wars.
Reculver
Country Park
is home to the cliff top Reculver Towers, the remains of the 12th century St Mary's Church and its distinctive twin towers. The park also contains the remains of a Roman
fort, the remains of a Saxon church, a migrating-bird watching spot and an information centre
on the geology, history and wildlife of this area of the coast. Located on the main road between Herne Bay and Canterbury
, Wildwood Discovery Park
features over fifty species of native British animals, such as deer, badgers, wild boar
and wolves.
Herne Mill, a late-18th century Kentish smock mill
overlooking the village of Herne from a hilltop, is usually open to visitors on Sunday afternoons between April and September. A concrete funnel-shaped water tower
overlooks Herne Bay from the top of Mickleburgh Hill. This water tower is now used as a base for radio transmitters
.
Herne Bay railway station
is on the Chatham Main Line
, which runs between Ramsgate
in East Kent and London Victoria. Other stations on this line include Broadstairs, Margate, Whitstable, Faversham, Gillingham, Rochester and Bromley South. Herne Bay is around 1 hour and 40 minutes from London. A National Express
coach service also runs between London Victoria and Ramsgate, around every two to three hours during daytime. A selection of trains run to London's Cannon Street station
, primarily for business commuting.
There is the Stagecoach
bus services 4/4A/4B/6/6A/6B (branded as 'The Triangle') running every 10 minutes to neighbouring Whitstable and to Canterbury, where many Herne Bay residents go to work and shop. An hourly bus service 36 runs to the seaside resort of Margate
, 13 miles (21 km) to the east of Herne Bay. The A299 road
, also known as the Thanet Way, runs between Ramsgate and Faversham via Herne Bay and Whitstable. The road merges with the M2 motorway at Faversham. In the late 1990s, the road was converted into a dual carriageway
and redirected to avoid passing through urban area
s of Herne Bay and Whitstable.
is the modern Herne Bay High
. It is a mixed ability foundation school
with about 1,500 students. In 2002, Herne Bay High was designated a specialist school
and sports college
. In 2005, 14% of the school's pupils gained at least five GCSEs
at grades A*–C including English and maths, ranking it 107th out of Kent's 120 secondary schools. Many students commute to schools in other nearby towns, especially to the grammar schools in Faversham, Ramsgate and Canterbury.
Herne Bay Junior School, situated in the town centre, has about 500 students. It was originally established in the late Victorian era and was formerly joined with the neighbouring Herne Bay Infant School
. In 2006, Herne Bay Junior School's Key Stage 2
results ranked 139th out of Kent's 386 state primary schools
. There are two smaller primary schools in the town centre: http://www.st-philip.kent.sch.uk/index.htmSt Philip
Howard Catholic School
and Grosvenor House. The latter is a school for pupils permanently excluded from mainstream schooling.
The village schools are Herne Primary School, Herne Church Of England Junior School, Herne Church Of England Infant and Nursery School
, Briary Primary School
in Greenhill
, Hampton Primary School and Reculver Church Of England Primary School. The voluntary controlled
Church of England
schools are owned by the church but like the other schools, are run by Kent County Council
. In 2006, Reculver Church Of England Primary School achieved the best Key Stage 2 performances of the schools in the Herne Bay area, ranking 133rd out of Kent's 386 state primary schools.
Canterbury College @ Herne Bay is a branch of Canterbury College
in Herne Bay town centre
, which provides a range of short information technology
courses to adults. Whitstable Adult Education
Centre runs adult learning courses at various Herne Bay locations.
Herne Bay Festival happens every August with ten days of free events including live music
, performance, creative commissions, cultural treats, family fun, workshops, competitions, walks, talks, exhibitions and family entertainment.
Other summer events include Happy Days - a programme of bandstand concerts and family entertainment, Herne Bay Carnival through the town centre, a travelling funfair at the Memorial Park and Herne Bay Bus Rally. Each summer, the council runs a gardening competition, "Herne Bay in Bloom", which encourages residents and businesses to keep the town looking well presented.
The town is home to the Herne Bay Little Theatre, a playmakers drama society and member of the Little Theatre Guild of Great Britain
who have a 72 seat theatre in Bullers Avenue. In 2007, the theatre won a large grant from the Big Lottery Fund
to renovate and extend their building and provide improved disabled access. The theatre also has an active youth theatre and between them, they put on at least eight productions every year including a pantomime
. Theatrecraft, a local theatre group, produce three shows a year including an annual pantomime at the Kings Hall theatre. Other groups and touring companies often put productions on at the open-air 'Theatre In The Park' on the grounds of Strode Park House in Herne.
The town's only cinema, the Kavanagh, is part of a Greco-inspired building that incorporates the Heron's swimming pool and the council offices. There are a number of drinking venues, especially in the town centre and on the seafront. There are nightclubs, social clubs
and many pubs, including one in the recently renovated seafront bandstand.
Herne Bay Hockey Club, Greenhill Gymnastics Club, Herne Bay Cricket Club
and Herne Bay Youth Football Club are located at Herne Bay High School
, a specialist sports college. The hockey club runs a ladies' team and five men's team, the highest of which plays in the Kent Sussex Regional 1st XI League. Herne Bay Cricket Club runs two junior teams, a men's Sunday team and two men's Saturday teams; the Saturday teams play in the Kent Cricket Feeder League East.
Herne Bay Youth Football Club has 22 teams, and over 320 players aged 6 to 18. Four teams play in the Kent Youth League and the remainder in the East Kent Youth Mini Soccer & 11 a Side Leagues.
Herne Bay Tennis Club is situated on the outskirts of town and runs multiple teams in the Kent League, East Kent League and Dover & District League. Their facilities include four all-weather courts (two floodlit), up to six astroturf courts and a purpose built clubhouse. The club offers junior coaching and runs regular club nights for players of all ages and abilities.
Herne Bay Basketball Club runs teams for men, women and juniors in the East Kent Basketball League. Herne Bay Golf Club has an eighteen-hole course on the outskirts of the town.
The Memorial Park contains a sports field, eight tennis courts and a basketball court
which can be used free of charge. Herne Bay Bowling Club is situated next to the Memorial Park and hosts several lawn bowls
Open Tournaments each year.
There is a council owned sports centre on the pier, with a rink used for roller-skating
and roller hockey. The centre has table tennis
, badminton and squash courts, a solarium, a gymnasium and a crèche. There is another privately owned gymnasium in the town centre. Herne Bay Judo Club is located near the railway station and the same venue also holds clubs for table tennis and badminton. There are also two other table-tennis clubs in the town. Bujinkai karate classes are held at Herne Bay Junior School.
Herne Bay Football Club, based at Winch's Field, play in the Kent League
Premier Division. They were Kent League champions in 1992, 1994, 1997 and 1998.
The town is the founder of the Roller Hockey
sport with the "Herne Bay Roller Hockey club" being the first to exist in the world.
Herne Bay Judo Club, located next to the town's train station has been active in the town since the 1960's. The club originated underneath the old St Marys college on station road until it moved into the purpose built dojo where it still resides.
owns Herne Bay Gazette and KM Extra, while Trinity Mirror
owns Herne Bay Times and Canterbury Adscene. KMFM Canterbury
is a radio station
on frequency 106FM which serves Canterbury, Whitstable and Herne Bay. The station was founded in September 1997 as CTFM, but was rebranded after a takeover by the KM Group. Radio Cabin is a radio station aimed only at Herne Bay listeners. It airs part-time and can only be accessed through the Internet.
period drama Upstairs, Downstairs
, the 1984 BBC seaside comedy Cockles, CBBC
's The Tweenies and the BBC
comedy Little Britain
. The town's train station
was seen in an episode of the 1970s comedy Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em
. The town has featured in movies such as Ken Russell
's French Dressing, and The Medusa Touch, starring Richard Burton
. In fiction, Jeeves
from the stories by P. G. Wodehouse
regularly holidays at the town, spending much of his time there fishing. Herne Bay was the hometown of the three main characters
in the 1990s BBC sitcom, Game On.
Since 1994, the Herne Bay/Wimereux Twinning Association has aimed to promote friendship between the people of the two towns by organising activities, such as cycling trips and quiz evenings. Herne Bay and Waltrop have been twinned since 1976, although as at February 2007, their twinning association was not in operation. However, Herne Bay Rowing Club
promote friendship with the Waltrop rowing club by organising rowing events and visiting in each other's towns.
.
Nicki Chapman
, the judge on the UK television series Popstars
and Pop Idol
, was born and raised in the town. Originally from London, Daniel Tammet
, the subject of the UK documentary The Boy With The Incredible Brain, has now moved to the town. He is an autistic savant with outstanding abilities in mathematics, sequence memorising and language learning
.
Lydia Cecilia Hill
(1913−1940), known as Cissie Hill, lived at Westcliff; she was a favourite of Ibrahim of Johor and former dancer. The Yorkshire-born writer Will Scott
lived and wrote in Herne Bay until his death in 1964. During the late 1960s, many successful rock and jazz bands were formed around the city of Canterbury, creating a subgenre of music known as the Canterbury sound
. Some of these musicians were residents of Herne Bay, including Dave Sinclair
and Richard Coughlan
of Caravan
, and Kevin Ayers
of Soft Machine
. George W. M. Reynolds
, one of the most popular British authors of the early Victorian era, moved to Herne Bay in 1854 and became one of the town's Improvement Commissioners. Héctor García Ribeyro
, the Mayor of Lima
in Peru
during the 1950s, had part of his schooling at the now defunct Herne Bay International School
. Colin Dixon, the depot manager held hostage with his family during the £53 million Securitas depot robbery
of February 2006, lived in Herne Bay at the time.
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
, South East England
South East England
South East England is one of the nine official regions of England, designated in 1994 and adopted for statistical purposes in 1999. It consists of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, East Sussex, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Kent, Oxfordshire, Surrey and West Sussex...
, with a population of 35,188. On the south coast of the Thames Estuary
Thames Estuary
The Thames Mouth is the estuary in which the River Thames meets the waters of the North Sea.It is not easy to define the limits of the estuary, although physically the head of Sea Reach, near Canvey Island on the Essex shore is probably the western boundary...
, it is 7 miles (11 km) north of Canterbury
Canterbury
Canterbury is a historic English cathedral city, which lies at the heart of the City of Canterbury, a district of Kent in South East England. It lies on the River Stour....
and 1 miles (2 km) east of Whitstable
Whitstable
Whitstable is a seaside town in Northeast Kent, Southeast England. It is approximately north of the city of Canterbury and approximately west of the seaside town of Herne Bay. It is part of the City of Canterbury district and has a population of about 30,000.Whitstable is famous for its oysters,...
. It neighbours the ancient villages of Herne
Herne, Kent
Herne is a village in South East England, divided by the Thanet Way from the seaside resort of Herne Bay. Administratively it is in the civil parish of Herne and Broomfield in Kent. Between Herne and Broomfield is the former hamlet of Hunters Forstal; Herne Common lies to the south.The hamlet of...
and Reculver
Reculver
Reculver is a hamlet and coastal resort situated about east of Herne Bay in southeast England. It is a ward of the City of Canterbury district in the county of Kent. Reculver once occupied a strategic location at the western end of the Wantsum Channel, between the Isle of Thanet and the Kent...
and is part of the City of Canterbury
City of Canterbury
The City of Canterbury is a local government district with city status in Kent, England. The main settlement in the district is Canterbury, the seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury.-History:...
local government
Local government
Local government refers collectively to administrative authorities over areas that are smaller than a state.The term is used to contrast with offices at nation-state level, which are referred to as the central government, national government, or federal government...
district. Herne Bay's seafront is home to the world's first freestanding purpose-built clock tower
Clock tower
A clock tower is a tower specifically built with one or more clock faces. Clock towers can be either freestanding or part of a church or municipal building such as a town hall. Some clock towers are not true clock towers having had their clock faces added to an already existing building...
, built in 1837; until 1978, the town had the second-longest pier
Herne Bay Pier
Herne Bay Pier was the third pier to be built at Herne Bay, Kent for passenger steamers. It was notable for its length of and for appearing in the opening sequence of Ken Russell's first feature film French Dressing. It was destroyed in a storm in 1978 and dismantled in 1980, leaving a stub with...
in the United Kingdom.
The town began as a small shipping community, receiving goods and passengers from London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
en route to Canterbury and Dover
Dover
Dover is a town and major ferry port in the home county of Kent, in South East England. It faces France across the narrowest part of the English Channel, and lies south-east of Canterbury; east of Kent's administrative capital Maidstone; and north-east along the coastline from Dungeness and Hastings...
. The town rose to prominence as a seaside resort
Seaside resort
A seaside resort is a resort, or resort town, located on the coast. Where a beach is the primary focus for tourists, it may be called a beach resort.- Overview :...
during the early 19th century after the building of a pleasure pier and promenade by a group of London investors, and reached its heyday in the late Victorian era
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
. Its popularity as a holiday destination has declined over the past decades, due to the increase in foreign travel and regular flooding that has prevented the town's redevelopment.
History
The town of Herne Bay derived its name from the neighbouring village of Herne, two kilometres inland from the bay. The word herne, meaning a place on a corner of land, evolved from the Old English hyrne, meaning corner. The village was first recorded in around 1100 as Hyrnan. The corner may relate to the sharp turn in the Roman RoadRoman road
The Roman roads were a vital part of the development of the Roman state, from about 500 BC through the expansion during the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. Roman roads enabled the Romans to move armies and trade goods and to communicate. The Roman road system spanned more than 400,000 km...
between Canterbury and Reculver
Reculver
Reculver is a hamlet and coastal resort situated about east of Herne Bay in southeast England. It is a ward of the City of Canterbury district in the county of Kent. Reculver once occupied a strategic location at the western end of the Wantsum Channel, between the Isle of Thanet and the Kent...
at Herne.
One of the oldest buildings in Herne Bay is the late 18th-century inn, The Ship, which served as the focal point for the small shipping and farming community which first inhabited the town. During this time, passenger and cargo boats regularly ran between Herne Bay and London, and boats carrying coal ran from Newcastle
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...
. From Herne there was easy access by road to the city of Canterbury, or to Dover, where further passage by boat could then be obtained across the English Channel
English Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
to France.
Herne Bay Pier
Herne Bay Pier was the third pier to be built at Herne Bay, Kent for passenger steamers. It was notable for its length of and for appearing in the opening sequence of Ken Russell's first feature film French Dressing. It was destroyed in a storm in 1978 and dismantled in 1980, leaving a stub with...
and a promenade on the town's seafront. This and the subsequent building of a railway station led to the rapid expansion of the town; between 1831 and 1841 the town's population grew from 1,876 to 3,041. The London businessmen intended to rename the town St Augustine's, but the name was unpopular with residents and the "Herne Bay" remained. In 1833, an Act of Parliament
Act of Parliament
An Act of Parliament is a statute enacted as primary legislation by a national or sub-national parliament. In the Republic of Ireland the term Act of the Oireachtas is used, and in the United States the term Act of Congress is used.In Commonwealth countries, the term is used both in a narrow...
established Herne Bay and Herne as separate towns. Local landowner Sir Henry Oxenden donated a piece of ground for the site of the town's first church, Christ Church, which was opened in 1834. In 1837, Mrs Ann Thwaytes, a wealthy lady from London, donated around £4,000 to build a 75 feet (23 m) clock tower on the town's seafront. It is believed to be the first freestanding purpose built clock tower in the world.
During the 1840s, steamboats began running between Herne Bay and London. There was a type of beach boat unique to Herne Bay and nearby Thanet
Thanet
Thanet is a local government district of Kent, England which was formed under the Local Government Act 1972, and came into being on 1 April 1974...
, known as the Thanet wherry
Wherry
A wherry is a type of boat that was traditionally used for carrying cargo or passengers on rivers and canals in England, and is particularly associated with the River Thames and also with the Broadland rivers of Norfolk and Suffolk. London passenger wherries evolved into the Thames skiff, a...
, a narrow pulling boat about 18 feet (5 m) long. These boats were mainly used for fishing; however, with the advent of tourism and the decline of fishing, they became mainly used for pleasure trips. A document dated 1840 records the town as having the following schools, all of which are now defunct: Haddington boarding school
Boarding school
A boarding school is a school where some or all pupils study and live during the school year with their fellow students and possibly teachers and/or administrators. The word 'boarding' is used in the sense of "bed and board," i.e., lodging and meals...
, Oxenden House, British School, Prospect Place and Herne Street school. The village of Herne was often called Herne Street around this time. The same document also mentions the still-existing Rodney Head, The Ship and Upper Red Lion inns.
The original wooden pier had to be dismantled in 1871 after its owners went into liquidation and sea worms had damaged the wood. A shorter 100 metres (328 ft) long iron pier with a theatre and shops at the entrance was built in 1873. However, it was too short for steamboats to land at. The pier proved to be unprofitable and a replacement longer iron pier with an electric tram began to be built in 1896. At 3600 feet (1,097 m), this pier was the second longest in the country, behind only the pier at Southend-on-Sea
Southend-on-Sea
Southend-on-Sea is a unitary authority area, town, and seaside resort in Essex, England. The district has Borough status, and comprises the towns of Chalkwell, Eastwood, Leigh-on-Sea, North Shoebury, Prittlewell, Shoeburyness, Southchurch, Thorpe Bay, and Westcliff-on-Sea. The district is situated...
.
George Joseph Smith
George Joseph Smith was an English serial killer and bigamist. In 1915 he was convicted and subsequently hanged for the slayings of three women, the case becoming known as the "Brides in the Bath Murders". As well as being widely reported in the media, the case was a significant case in the...
was committed in Herne Bay. By 1931, the town's population had grown to 14,533. At the beginning of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the army cut two gaps between the landward end of the pier and the seaward terminal as a counter-invasion measure. The pier was restored however after the war. During World War II, a sea-fort
Maunsell Forts
The Maunsell Forts were small fortified towers built in the Thames and Mersey estuaries during the Second World War to help defend the United Kingdom. They were named after their designer, Guy Maunsell. The forts were decommissioned in the late 1950s and later used for other activities...
was built off the coast of Herne Bay and Whitstable, which is still in existence. The coastal village of Reculver, to the east of Herne Bay, was the site of the testing of the bouncing bomb
Bouncing bomb
A bouncing bomb is a bomb designed specifically to bounce to a target across water in a calculated manner, in order to avoid obstacles such as torpedo nets, and to allow both the bomb's speed on arrival at the target and the timing of its detonation to be pre-determined...
used by the "Dam Busters
The Dam Busters (film)
The Dam Busters is a 1955 British Second World War war film starring Michael Redgrave and Richard Todd and directed by Michael Anderson. The film recreates the true story of Operation Chastise when in 1943 the RAF's 617 Squadron attacked the Möhne, Eder and Sorpe dams in Germany with Wallis's...
" during the war.
1963 marked the end of steamboat services from the pier. In 1970, a fire destroyed the pier's pavilion and plans began to replace it with a sports centre, which was opened in 1976 by former Prime Minister Edward Heath
Edward Heath
Sir Edward Richard George "Ted" Heath, KG, MBE, PC was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and as Leader of the Conservative Party ....
. The centre section of the pier was torn down by a storm in 1978, leaving the end of the pier isolated out at sea. It has not been rebuilt due to the cost; however, residents and businesses in the town have campaigned for its restoration.
Governance
Since 1983, the Member of ParliamentMember of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for North Thanet
North Thanet
-Elections in the 2000s:-Elections in the 1990s:-Elections in the 1980s:-Notes and references:...
, covering northern Thanet
Thanet
Thanet is a local government district of Kent, England which was formed under the Local Government Act 1972, and came into being on 1 April 1974...
and Herne Bay, has been the Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
Roger Gale
Roger Gale
Roger James Gale is a British politician. He is the Conservative Member of Parliament for North Thanet in Kent.-Early life:...
. At the 2005 general election
United Kingdom general election, 2005
The United Kingdom general election of 2005 was held on Thursday, 5 May 2005 to elect 646 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party under Tony Blair won its third consecutive victory, but with a majority of 66, reduced from 160....
, the Conservatives won a majority of 7,634 and 49.6% of the vote in North Thanet. Labour
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
won 32.2% of the vote, Liberal Democrats
Liberal Democrats
The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...
14.4% and United Kingdom Independence Party
United Kingdom Independence Party
The United Kingdom Independence Party is a eurosceptic and right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. Whilst its primary goal is the UK's withdrawal from the European Union, the party has expanded beyond its single-issue image to develop a more comprehensive party platform.UKIP...
3.9%.
Herne Bay, along with Whitstable and Canterbury, is in the City of Canterbury
City of Canterbury
The City of Canterbury is a local government district with city status in Kent, England. The main settlement in the district is Canterbury, the seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury.-History:...
local government district. The town contains the five electoral wards of Heron, Herne and Broomfield
Herne and Broomfield
Herne and Broomfield is a civil parish within the City of Canterbury. The parish is situated to the north of Canterbury in Kent. The seaside town of Herne Bay is the other side of the A299 road, Thanet Way that marks the northern boundary of the parish...
, Greenhill and Eddington, West Bay and Reculver. These wards have thirteen of the fifty seats on the Canterbury
City of Canterbury
The City of Canterbury is a local government district with city status in Kent, England. The main settlement in the district is Canterbury, the seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury.-History:...
City Council
City council
A city council or town council is the legislative body that governs a city, town, municipality or local government area.-Australia & NZ:Because of the differences in legislation between the States, the exact definition of a City Council varies...
. As at the 2007 local elections
United Kingdom local elections, 2007
The 2007 UK local government elections were held on 3 May 2007. These elections took place in most of England and all of Scotland. There were no local government elections in Wales though the Welsh Assembly had a general election on the same day. There were no local government elections in Northern...
, eight of those seats were held by the Conservatives
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
and five by the Liberal Democrats
Liberal Democrats
The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...
.
Geography
Herne Bay is located at 51°22′14"N 1°7′37"E in northeast Kent, on the coast of the Thames EstuaryThames Estuary
The Thames Mouth is the estuary in which the River Thames meets the waters of the North Sea.It is not easy to define the limits of the estuary, although physically the head of Sea Reach, near Canvey Island on the Essex shore is probably the western boundary...
. The town is 1 miles (2 km) east of the town of Whitstable
Whitstable
Whitstable is a seaside town in Northeast Kent, Southeast England. It is approximately north of the city of Canterbury and approximately west of the seaside town of Herne Bay. It is part of the City of Canterbury district and has a population of about 30,000.Whitstable is famous for its oysters,...
and 7 miles (11 km) north of the city of Canterbury
Canterbury
Canterbury is a historic English cathedral city, which lies at the heart of the City of Canterbury, a district of Kent in South East England. It lies on the River Stour....
. The village of Herne
Herne, Kent
Herne is a village in South East England, divided by the Thanet Way from the seaside resort of Herne Bay. Administratively it is in the civil parish of Herne and Broomfield in Kent. Between Herne and Broomfield is the former hamlet of Hunters Forstal; Herne Common lies to the south.The hamlet of...
is just to the south, and the village of Reculver
Reculver
Reculver is a hamlet and coastal resort situated about east of Herne Bay in southeast England. It is a ward of the City of Canterbury district in the county of Kent. Reculver once occupied a strategic location at the western end of the Wantsum Channel, between the Isle of Thanet and the Kent...
is 1 miles (2 km) to the east. The town's suburbs are Hampton
Hampton, Herne Bay
Hampton, Herne Bay is the coastal west end of Herne Bay, Kent. Formerly the site of the village of Hampton-on-Sea, the settlement is now underwater due to coastal erosion, but it was on the west side of the northern end of Hampton Pier Avenue, between the 1959 sea defences and the remains of the...
, Greenhill
Greenhill, Kent
Greenhill is an outlying suburb of the coastal town of Herne Bay, in Kent in southeast England. The erstwhile Thanet Way, now renumbered as the A2990 road, separates Greenhill from Herne Bay....
and Studd Hill in the west, Eddington
Eddington, Kent
Eddington, Kent, was a village in South East England to the south-east of Herne Bay, Kent, to the east of Beltinge and to the north of Herne. It is now a suburb of Herne Bay, in Greenhill and Eddington Ward, one of the five wards of Herne Bay...
and Broomfield
Broomfield, Herne Bay
Broomfield is a southern area of the town of Herne Bay in Kent, England. It is part of the Herne and Broomfield civil parish. Population of 7,339 ....
in the south, and Beltinge
Beltinge
Beltinge is a suburb of Herne Bay in Kent, England. It is at the eastern part of the town, just west of the ancient village of Reculver.In Beltinge, you can find:*ABC Pre-Schools*Londis Beltinge is a suburb of Herne Bay in Kent, England. It is at the eastern part of the town, just west of the...
and Hillborough
Hillborough
Hillborough is an area of eastern Herne Bay in Kent, England....
in the east. The drowned settlement of Hampton-on-Sea
Hampton-on-Sea
Hampton-on-Sea was a drowned and abandoned village in what is now the Hampton area of Herne Bay, Kent. It grew from a tiny fishing hamlet in 1864 at the hands of an oyster fishery company, was developed from 1879 by land agents, abandoned in 1916 and finally drowned due to coastal erosion by 1921...
once existed beside what is now Hampton.
The landscape of the town has been largely influenced by the Plenty Brook
Stream
A stream is a body of water with a current, confined within a bed and stream banks. Depending on its locale or certain characteristics, a stream may be referred to as a branch, brook, beck, burn, creek, "crick", gill , kill, lick, rill, river, syke, bayou, rivulet, streamage, wash, run or...
, which flows northward through the centre of the town and into the sea. It is thought to have been a much larger stream in ancient times
Ancient history
Ancient history is the study of the written past from the beginning of recorded human history to the Early Middle Ages. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, with Cuneiform script, the oldest discovered form of coherent writing, from the protoliterate period around the 30th century BC...
. The coastline has two distinct bay
Bay
A bay is an area of water mostly surrounded by land. Bays generally have calmer waters than the surrounding sea, due to the surrounding land blocking some waves and often reducing winds. Bays also exist as an inlet in a lake or pond. A large bay may be called a gulf, a sea, a sound, or a bight...
s, separated by a jut of land created by silt from the outflow of the brook into the sea. The first buildings in the town were built along the east bay, a short distance from the brook outflow, where the road from Canterbury met the sea. The town has since spread across both bays, across the Plenty Brook valley and onto the relatively high land flanking both sides of the valley. The land to the east of the valley reaches a height of 25 metres (82 ft) above sea level
Above mean sea level
The term above mean sea level refers to the elevation or altitude of any object, relative to the average sea level datum. AMSL is used extensively in radio by engineers to determine the coverage area a station will be able to reach...
and to the west reaches 10 metres (33 ft). Cliffs are formed where this high land meets the sea.
North Downs
The North Downs are a ridge of chalk hills in south east England that stretch from Farnham in Surrey to the White Cliffs of Dover in Kent. The North Downs lie within two Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty , the Surrey Hills and the Kent Downs...
or South Downs
South Downs
The South Downs is a range of chalk hills that extends for about across the south-eastern coastal counties of England from the Itchen Valley of Hampshire in the west to Beachy Head, near Eastbourne, East Sussex, in the east. It is bounded on its northern side by a steep escarpment, from whose...
). This area has been named a Site of Scientific Interest and a Special Protection Area
Special Protection Area
A Special Protection Area or SPA is a designation under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds.Under the Directive, Member States of the European Union have a duty to safeguard the habitats of migratory birds and certain particularly threatened birds.Together with Special...
for Birds. The whole of the north east Kent coast has been designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest
Site of Special Scientific Interest
A Site of Special Scientific Interest is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom. SSSIs are the basic building block of site-based nature conservation legislation and most other legal nature/geological conservation designations in Great Britain are based upon...
. The geology
Geology
Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...
of the town consists mainly of London Clay
London Clay
The London Clay Formation is a marine geological formation of Ypresian age which crops out in the southeast of England. The London Clay is well known for the fossils it contains. The fossils from the Lower Eocene indicate a moderately warm climate, the flora being tropical or subtropical...
, overlaid with brickearth in the west. The sand and clay of The Downs are subject to landslips.
The Plenty Brook now passes through the town's drainage system
Sewage
Sewage is water-carried waste, in solution or suspension, that is intended to be removed from a community. Also known as wastewater, it is more than 99% water and is characterized by volume or rate of flow, physical condition, chemical constituents and the bacteriological organisms that it contains...
, allowing buildings to be built over the top. The brook has been prone to flooding during heavy rain, especially in inland areas, which regularly causes problems for people living in the Eddington area in southern Herne Bay.
Stormy weather can cause the sea level
Sea level
Mean sea level is a measure of the average height of the ocean's surface ; used as a standard in reckoning land elevation...
by the coast to rise by up to two metres. In the past, this has caused disastrous flood
Flood
A flood is an overflow of an expanse of water that submerges land. The EU Floods directive defines a flood as a temporary covering by water of land not normally covered by water...
ing in the town, the worst in the town's history being in 1953. Coastal defences
Coastal management
In some jurisdictions the terms sea defense and coastal protection are used to mean, respectively, defense against flooding and erosion...
were subsequently constructed including groyne
Groyne
A groyne is a rigid hydraulic structure built from an ocean shore or from a bank that interrupts water flow and limits the movement of sediment. In the ocean, groynes create beaches, or avoid having them washed away by longshore drift. In a river, groynes prevent erosion and ice-jamming, which...
s, sea walls and shingle beach
Shingle beach
A shingle beach is a beach which is armoured with pebbles or small- to medium-sized cobbles. Typically, the stone composition may grade from characteristic sizes ranging from two to 200 mm diameter....
. In the 1990s, these defences were deemed to be inadequate and an offshore breakwater
Breakwater (structure)
Breakwaters are structures constructed on coasts as part of coastal defence or to protect an anchorage from the effects of weather and longshore drift.-Purposes of breakwaters:...
, now known as Neptune's Arm, was built to protect the most vulnerable areas of the town.
In east Kent
East Kent
East Kent and West Kent are one-time traditional subdivisions of the English county of Kent, kept alive by the Association of the Men of Kent and Kentish Men: an organisation formed in 1913...
, the warmest time of the year is July and August, when maximum temperatures average around 21 °C (70 °F); the coolest months are January and February, when minimum temperatures average around 1 °C (34 °F). East Kent's average maximum and minimum temperatures are around 1/2 °C higher than the national average. Herne Bay is sometimes warmer than other parts of Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
as it is backed by the North Downs
North Downs
The North Downs are a ridge of chalk hills in south east England that stretch from Farnham in Surrey to the White Cliffs of Dover in Kent. The North Downs lie within two Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty , the Surrey Hills and the Kent Downs...
to the south. Between 1999 and 2005, Herne Bay recorded the highest daily temperature in the United Kingdom nine times. East Kent's average annual rainfall is about 728 mm (29 inches), the wettest months being October to January. This was lower than the national average annual rainfall of 838 mm (33 inches), and recent droughts have led to hosepipe bans by Mid Kent Water.
For average temperature and rainfall figures, see Wye Weather Station
Wye weather station
Wye Weather Station is a Met Office weather station in Wye, Kent, England.The station is above mean sea level.These are average temperature and rainfall figures taken between 1971 and 2000 at the station:-References:...
, which is around 20 miles (32 km) southwest of Herne Bay.
Demography
| Herne Bay Compared | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 UK census United Kingdom Census 2001 A nationwide census, known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday, 29 April 2001. This was the 20th UK Census and recorded a resident population of 58,789,194.... |
Herne Bay | Canterbury District City of Canterbury The City of Canterbury is a local government district with city status in Kent, England. The main settlement in the district is Canterbury, the seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury.-History:... |
England |
| Total population | 35,188 | 135,278 | 49,138,831 |
| Foreign born | 3.7% | 5.1% | 9.2% |
| White | 99% | 97% | 91% |
| Asian | 0.7% | 1.6% | 4.6% |
| Black | 0.2% | 0.5% | 2.3% |
| Christian | 77% | 73% | 72% |
| Muslim | 0.3% | 0.6% | 3.1% |
| Hindu | 0.2% | 0.4% | 1.1% |
| No religion | 14% | 17% | 15% |
| Over 65 years old | 22% | 19% | 16% |
| Unemployed | 2.9% | 2.7% | 3.3% |
As of the 2001 UK census
United Kingdom Census 2001
A nationwide census, known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday, 29 April 2001. This was the 20th UK Census and recorded a resident population of 58,789,194....
, Herne Bay area wards had a population of 35,188 and a population density of 11.3 persons per hectare
Hectare
The hectare is a metric unit of area defined as 10,000 square metres , and primarily used in the measurement of land. In 1795, when the metric system was introduced, the are was defined as being 100 square metres and the hectare was thus 100 ares or 1/100 km2...
.
Of the town's 14,732 households, 48.7% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
living together, 8.4% were cohabiting
Cohabitation
Cohabitation usually refers to an arrangement whereby two people decide to live together on a long-term or permanent basis in an emotionally and/or sexually intimate relationship. The term is most frequently applied to couples who are not married...
couples and 8.3% were lone parents. 30.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 20.5% had someone living alone at pensionable age. 27.7% of households included children aged under 16 or a person aged 16 to 18 who was in full-time education. The average household size was 2.74.
The ethnicity of the town was 98.5% white, 0.6% mixed race
Multiracial
The terms multiracial and mixed-race describe people whose ancestries come from multiple races. Unlike the term biracial, which often is only used to refer to having parents or grandparents of two different races, the term multiracial may encompass biracial people but can also include people with...
, 0.4% Asian, 0.2% black and 0.3% Chinese or other. The place of birth of residents was 96.3% United Kingdom, 0.6% Republic of Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
, 0.3% Germany, 0.6% other Western Europe
Western Europe
Western Europe is a loose term for the collection of countries in the western most region of the European continents, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a geographic entity—the region lying in the...
countries, 0.2% Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
, 0.6% Africa, 0.3% Far East, 0.3% South Asia
South Asia
South Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries to the west and the east...
, 0.2% Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
, 0.2% North America and 0.2% Oceania. Religion was recorded as 77.3% Christian, 0.3% Muslim, 0.2% Hindu, 0.2% Buddhist, 0.1% Jewish and 0.1% Sikh. 14.2% were recorded as having no religion, 0.3% had an alternative religion and 7.4% did not state their religion.
For every 100 females, there were 89.9 males. The age distribution was 6% aged 0–4 years, 14% aged 5–15 years, 4% aged 16–19 years, 29% aged 20–44 years, 25% aged 45–64 years and 22% aged 65 years and over. The town had a high percentage of residents over 65, compared with the national average of 16%. As a seaside town, Herne Bay is a popular retirement destination; many modern retirement complexes are located near the seafront.
The economic activity of residents aged 16–74 was 36% in full-time employment, 13% in part-time
Part time
A part-time job is a form of employment that carries fewer hours per week than a full-time job. Workers are considered to be part time if they commonly work fewer than 30 or 35 hours per week...
employment, 9% self-employed
Self-employment
Self-employment is working for one's self.Self-employed people can also be referred to as a person who works for himself/herself instead of an employer, but drawing income from a trade or business that they operate personally....
, 3% unemployed, 2% students with jobs, 3% students without jobs, 18% retired, 7% looking after home or family, 6% permanently sick or disabled and 2% economically inactive for other reasons. This was roughly in line with the national figures, except for the number of people in retirement. This figure nationally was significantly lower at 14%. Of the town's residents aged 16–74, 12% had a higher education
Higher education
Higher, post-secondary, tertiary, or third level education refers to the stage of learning that occurs at universities, academies, colleges, seminaries, and institutes of technology...
qualification or the equivalent, compared with 20% nationwide. According to Office for National Statistics
Office for National Statistics
The Office for National Statistics is the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority, a non-ministerial department which reports directly to the Parliament of the United Kingdom.- Overview :...
estimates, during the period of April 2001 to March 2002 the average gross weekly income of households in the Herne Bay area was £516 (£26,906 per year).
Economy
Yacht
A yacht is a recreational boat or ship. The term originated from the Dutch Jacht meaning "hunt". It was originally defined as a light fast sailing vessel used by the Dutch navy to pursue pirates and other transgressors around and into the shallow waters of the Low Countries...
trips to a seal-watching site in the Thames estuary. The Victorian gardens on the seafront were then able to be fully restored. The Central Bandstand, built in 1924, was refurbished after years of disrepair and closure to the public. A swimming pool
Swimming pool
A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, or simply a pool, is a container filled with water intended for swimming or water-based recreation. There are many standard sizes; the largest is the Olympic-size swimming pool...
and cinema were added to the town centre in the early 1990s
1990s
File:1990s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: The Hubble Space Telescope floats in space after it was taken up in 1990; American F-16s and F-15s fly over burning oil fields and the USA Lexie in Operation Desert Storm, also known as the 1991 Gulf War; The signing of the Oslo Accords on...
. In 2005, a wind-farm with thirty 2.75 MW wind turbine
Wind turbine
A wind turbine is a device that converts kinetic energy from the wind into mechanical energy. If the mechanical energy is used to produce electricity, the device may be called a wind generator or wind charger. If the mechanical energy is used to drive machinery, such as for grinding grain or...
s was built 5 miles (8 km) off the coast of Herne Bay and Whitstable, generating a total of 82.5 MW of electricity. The recent upgrades by the Council have helped improve the image of the town and raise its profile. It is hoped this will attract new investment in tourism and business by the private sector, and lead to the regeneration of the town's economy.
In 2006, Canterbury City Council began a public consultation to discuss the regeneration. A concern raised by the council is that the shopping centre
Shopping mall
A shopping mall, shopping centre, shopping arcade, shopping precinct or simply mall is one or more buildings forming a complex of shops representing merchandisers, with interconnecting walkways enabling visitors to easily walk from unit to unit, along with a parking area — a modern, indoor version...
is incoherent and fails to attract the tourists that come for the seafront. Other issues raised are the lack of holiday accommodation, car parks
Parking lot
A parking lot , also known as car lot, is a cleared area that is intended for parking vehicles. Usually, the term refers to a dedicated area that has been provided with a durable or semi-durable surface....
and clear pedestrian routes between the three main attractions in the town: the seafront, Memorial park and shopping centre. The council is considering relocating the sports centre from the pier and replacing it with other tourist attraction
Tourist attraction
A tourist attraction is a place of interest where tourists visit, typically for its inherent or exhibited cultural value, historical significance, natural or built beauty, or amusement opportunities....
s.
As of the 2001 census, the industry of employment of residents of Herne Bay was 19% retail, 14% health and social work
Social work
Social Work is a professional and academic discipline that seeks to improve the quality of life and wellbeing of an individual, group, or community by intervening through research, policy, community organizing, direct practice, and teaching on behalf of those afflicted with poverty or any real or...
, 11% manufacturing, 10% construction, 9% real estate
Real estate
In general use, esp. North American, 'real estate' is taken to mean "Property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals, or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this; an item of real property; buildings or...
, 8% education, 8% transport and communications, 5% public administration
Public administration
Public Administration houses the implementation of government policy and an academic discipline that studies this implementation and that prepares civil servants for this work. As a "field of inquiry with a diverse scope" its "fundamental goal.....
, 5% hotels and restaurants, 4% finance, 1% agriculture and 5% other community, social or personal services
Personal Services
Personal Services is a 1987 British comedy film directed by Terry Jones and written by David Leland. It is the story of the rise of a madam of a suburban brothel which caters to older men. The story is inspired by the real experiences of Cynthia Payne, the legendary "House of Cyn" madam. The film...
. Compared to national figures, the town had a relatively high number of workers in the construction and health/social care industries and a relatively low number in manufacturing and real estate. Many residents commute to work outside the town. As of the 2001 UK census, 14,711 of the town's residents were in employment, whereas there were only 8,104 jobs within the town.
One of the largest employers is the centrally located supermarket, which as of January 2006
January 2006
January 2006: ← – January – February – March – April – May – June – July – August – September – October – November – December – →-1 January 2006 :...
was considering further expansion. It is one of the major attractions to the town's shopping centre, however there are fears that its expansion could lead it to become too dominant, at the cost of smaller shops in the town. Apart from tourism and retail, many jobs are also provided in the manufacturing industry
Manufacturing
Manufacturing is the use of machines, tools and labor to produce goods for use or sale. The term may refer to a range of human activity, from handicraft to high tech, but is most commonly applied to industrial production, in which raw materials are transformed into finished goods on a large scale...
, mainly located in industrial estates
Industrial park
An industrial park is an area zoned and planned for the purpose of industrial development...
on the outskirts of the town, which produce goods such as kitchen furniture and factory machinery. A high number of construction jobs have been created by redevelopment of the seafront, which is expected to continue with the proposed regeneration of the town centre. The elderly population of the town has led to many health and social care
Health and Social Care
In the UK, Health and Social Care is a broad term that relates to integrated services that are available from health and social care providers...
jobs at local care homes and at the town's Queen Victoria Memorial Hospital. As of the 2001 census, 1.9% of the town's population resided in a medical or care establishment, compared with the national average of only 0.8%.
Landmarks
The seafront has a 2 miles (3 km) shingle beach, which has been awarded a European Blue Flag and the yellow and blue Seaside Award for its safety and cleanliness. The seafront features a Victorian bandstand and gardens, amusement arcades, and children's play areas. Landmarks by the seafront include the clock tower, the sea defence jetty, the off-shoreOffshore construction
Offshore construction is the installation of structures and facilities in a marine environment, usually for the production and transmission of electricity, oil, gas and other resources....
World War II sea fort and the off-shore wind farm
Wind farm
A wind farm is a group of wind turbines in the same location used to produce electric power. A large wind farm may consist of several hundred individual wind turbines, and cover an extended area of hundreds of square miles, but the land between the turbines may be used for agricultural or other...
. There are seaside cafés, fresh seafood restaurants, guesthouses, beach huts and numerous water-sports facilities.
The Memorial Park, situated near the centre of the town, incorporates a children's play area, a large shallow duck pond
Duck pond
A duck pond is a pond for ducks and other water fowl. Duck ponds provide habitats for water fowl and other birds, who use the water to bathe in and drink....
often used for remote control
Remote control
A remote control is a component of an electronics device, most commonly a television set, used for operating the television device wirelessly from a short line-of-sight distance.The remote control is usually contracted to remote...
boats, basketball and tennis court
Tennis court
A tennis court is where the game of tennis is played. It is a firm rectangular surface with a low net stretched across the center. The same surface can be used to play both doubles and singles.-Dimensions:...
s and a large expanse of grass for field games. The park has a monument and an 'Avenue of Remembrance' as memorials to the town's residents killed during the two world wars.
Reculver
Reculver
Reculver is a hamlet and coastal resort situated about east of Herne Bay in southeast England. It is a ward of the City of Canterbury district in the county of Kent. Reculver once occupied a strategic location at the western end of the Wantsum Channel, between the Isle of Thanet and the Kent...
Country Park
Country park
A country park is an area designated for people to visit and enjoy recreation in a countryside environment.-History:In the United Kingdom the term 'Country Park' has a special meaning. There are over 400 Country Parks in England alone . Most Country Parks were designated in the 1970s, under the...
is home to the cliff top Reculver Towers, the remains of the 12th century St Mary's Church and its distinctive twin towers. The park also contains the remains of a Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
fort, the remains of a Saxon church, a migrating-bird watching spot and an information centre
Visitor center
A visitor center or centre , visitor information center, tourist information center, is a physical location that provides tourist information to the visitors who tour the place or area locally...
on the geology, history and wildlife of this area of the coast. Located on the main road between Herne Bay and Canterbury
Canterbury
Canterbury is a historic English cathedral city, which lies at the heart of the City of Canterbury, a district of Kent in South East England. It lies on the River Stour....
, Wildwood Discovery Park
Wildwood Discovery Park
Wildwood Discovery Park is a woodland discovery park in north-east Kent, England. It features over fifty species of native British animals such as deer, badgers, wild boar and wolves...
features over fifty species of native British animals, such as deer, badgers, wild boar
Boar
Wild boar, also wild pig, is a species of the pig genus Sus, part of the biological family Suidae. The species includes many subspecies. It is the wild ancestor of the domestic pig, an animal with which it freely hybridises...
and wolves.
Herne Mill, a late-18th century Kentish smock mill
Smock mill
The smock mill is a type of windmill that consists of a sloping, horizontally weatherboarded tower, usually with six or eight sides. It is topped with a roof or cap that rotates to bring the sails into the wind...
overlooking the village of Herne from a hilltop, is usually open to visitors on Sunday afternoons between April and September. A concrete funnel-shaped water tower
Water tower
A water tower or elevated water tower is a large elevated drinking water storage container constructed to hold a water supply at a height sufficient to pressurize a water distribution system....
overlooks Herne Bay from the top of Mickleburgh Hill. This water tower is now used as a base for radio transmitters
Transmitter
In electronics and telecommunications a transmitter or radio transmitter is an electronic device which, with the aid of an antenna, produces radio waves. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which is applied to the antenna. When excited by this alternating...
.
Transport
Herne Bay railway station
Herne Bay is a railway station on the Chatham Main Line in North Kent serving the town of Herne Bay. Train services are provided by Southeastern.- History :...
is on the Chatham Main Line
Chatham Main Line
The Chatham Main Line is a British railway line that runs from either London Victoria to Dover Priory / Ramsgate or London St Pancras to Faversham, with both services travelling via Medway...
, which runs between Ramsgate
Ramsgate
Ramsgate is a seaside town in the district of Thanet in east Kent, England. It was one of the great English seaside towns of the 19th century and is a member of the ancient confederation of Cinque Ports. It has a population of around 40,000. Ramsgate's main attraction is its coastline and its main...
in East Kent and London Victoria. Other stations on this line include Broadstairs, Margate, Whitstable, Faversham, Gillingham, Rochester and Bromley South. Herne Bay is around 1 hour and 40 minutes from London. A National Express
National Express
National Express Coaches, more commonly known as National Express, is a brand and company, owned by the National Express Group, under which the majority of long distance bus and coach services in Great Britain are operated,...
coach service also runs between London Victoria and Ramsgate, around every two to three hours during daytime. A selection of trains run to London's Cannon Street station
Cannon Street station
Cannon Street station, also known as London Cannon Street, is a central London railway terminus and London Underground complex in the City of London, England. It is built on the site of the medieval Steelyard, the trading base in England of the Hanseatic League...
, primarily for business commuting.
There is the Stagecoach
Stagecoach Group
Stagecoach Group plc is an international transport group operating buses, trains, trams, express coaches and ferries. The group was founded in 1980 by the current chairman, Sir Brian Souter, his sister, Ann Gloag, and her former husband Robin...
bus services 4/4A/4B/6/6A/6B (branded as 'The Triangle') running every 10 minutes to neighbouring Whitstable and to Canterbury, where many Herne Bay residents go to work and shop. An hourly bus service 36 runs to the seaside resort of Margate
Margate
-Demography:As of the 2001 UK census, Margate had a population of 40,386.The ethnicity of the town was 97.1% white, 1.0% mixed race, 0.5% black, 0.8% Asian, 0.6% Chinese or other ethnicity....
, 13 miles (21 km) to the east of Herne Bay. The A299 road
A299 road
The A299, better known as the Thanet Way, is a major road in the county of Kent, England, and runs from Brenley Corner near Faversham to Ramsgate via Whitstable and Herne Bay. It is predominantly used for freight traffic to Ramsgate Harbour and local traffic to Thanet.Most of the A299 was...
, also known as the Thanet Way, runs between Ramsgate and Faversham via Herne Bay and Whitstable. The road merges with the M2 motorway at Faversham. In the late 1990s, the road was converted into a dual carriageway
Dual carriageway
A dual carriageway is a class of highway with two carriageways for traffic travelling in opposite directions separated by a central reservation...
and redirected to avoid passing through urban area
Urban area
An urban area is characterized by higher population density and vast human features in comparison to areas surrounding it. Urban areas may be cities, towns or conurbations, but the term is not commonly extended to rural settlements such as villages and hamlets.Urban areas are created and further...
s of Herne Bay and Whitstable.
Education
Herne Bay's secondary schoolHigh school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
is the modern Herne Bay High
Herne Bay High School
Herne Bay High Specialist School and Sports College is a mixed ability Foundation school, with designated Sports College status, situated in Herne Bay, Kent, England. The school currently has on roll over 1,500 students.-History :...
. It is a mixed ability foundation school
Foundation school
In England and Wales, a foundation school is a state-funded school in which the governing body has greater freedom in the running of the school than in community schools....
with about 1,500 students. In 2002, Herne Bay High was designated a specialist school
Specialist school
The specialist schools programme was a UK government initiative which encouraged secondary schools in England to specialise in certain areas of the curriculum to boost achievement. The Specialist Schools and Academies Trust was responsible for the delivery of the programme...
and sports college
Sports College
Sports Colleges were introduced in 1997 as part of the Specialist Schools Programme in the United Kingdom. The system enables secondary schools to specialise in certain fields, in this case, PE, sports and dance. Schools that successfully apply to the Specialist Schools Trust and become Sports...
. In 2005, 14% of the school's pupils gained at least five GCSEs
General Certificate of Secondary Education
The General Certificate of Secondary Education is an academic qualification awarded in a specified subject, generally taken in a number of subjects by students aged 14–16 in secondary education in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and is equivalent to a Level 2 and Level 1 in Key Skills...
at grades A*–C including English and maths, ranking it 107th out of Kent's 120 secondary schools. Many students commute to schools in other nearby towns, especially to the grammar schools in Faversham, Ramsgate and Canterbury.
Herne Bay Junior School, situated in the town centre, has about 500 students. It was originally established in the late Victorian era and was formerly joined with the neighbouring Herne Bay Infant School
Infant school
An Infant school is a term used primarily in the United Kingdom for school for children between the ages of four and seven years. It is usually a small school serving a particular locality....
. In 2006, Herne Bay Junior School's Key Stage 2
Key Stage 2
Key Stage 2 is the legal term for the four years of schooling in maintained schools in England and Wales normally known as Year 3, Year 4, Year 5 and Year 6, when pupils are aged between 7 and 11. The term is applied differently in Northern Ireland where it refers to pupils in Year 5, Year 6 and...
results ranked 139th out of Kent's 386 state primary schools
Primary education
A primary school is an institution in which children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as primary or elementary education. Primary school is the preferred term in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth Nations, and in most publications of the United Nations Educational,...
. There are two smaller primary schools in the town centre: http://www.st-philip.kent.sch.uk/index.htmSt Philip
Philip the Apostle
Philip the Apostle was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus. Later Christian traditions describe Philip as the apostle who preached in Greece, Syria, and Phrygia....
Howard Catholic School
Catholic school
Catholic schools are maintained parochial schools or education ministries of the Catholic Church. the Church operates the world's largest non-governmental school system...
and Grosvenor House. The latter is a school for pupils permanently excluded from mainstream schooling.
The village schools are Herne Primary School, Herne Church Of England Junior School, Herne Church Of England Infant and Nursery School
Nursery school
A nursery school is a school for children between the ages of one and five years, staffed by suitably qualified and other professionals who encourage and supervise educational play rather than simply providing childcare...
, Briary Primary School
Briary Primary School
Briary Primary School - previously named Briary County Primary School, founded in 1973, is a small school which resides in Greenhill, Kent. The school teaches children from aged 4-11 their Primary education and prepares them for secondary education...
in Greenhill
Greenhill, Kent
Greenhill is an outlying suburb of the coastal town of Herne Bay, in Kent in southeast England. The erstwhile Thanet Way, now renumbered as the A2990 road, separates Greenhill from Herne Bay....
, Hampton Primary School and Reculver Church Of England Primary School. The voluntary controlled
Voluntary controlled school
A voluntary controlled school is a state-funded school in England, Wales and Northern Ireland in which a foundation or trust has some formal influence in the running of the school...
Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
schools are owned by the church but like the other schools, are run by Kent County Council
Kent County Council
Kent County Council is the county council that governs the majority of the county of Kent in England. It provides the upper tier of local government, below which are 12 district councils, and around 300 town and parish councils. The county council has 84 elected councillors...
. In 2006, Reculver Church Of England Primary School achieved the best Key Stage 2 performances of the schools in the Herne Bay area, ranking 133rd out of Kent's 386 state primary schools.
Canterbury College @ Herne Bay is a branch of Canterbury College
Canterbury College, Kent
Canterbury PEN IS College is a major provider of Further and Higher Education courses and training in Kent, England with more than 12,000 students each year Canterbury PEN IS College is a major provider of Further and Higher Education courses and training in Kent, England with more than 12,000...
in Herne Bay town centre
Town centre
The town centre is the term used to refer to the commercial or geographical centre or core area of a town.Town centres are traditionally associated with shopping or retail. They are also the centre of communications with major public transport hubs such as train or bus stations...
, which provides a range of short information technology
Information technology
Information technology is the acquisition, processing, storage and dissemination of vocal, pictorial, textual and numerical information by a microelectronics-based combination of computing and telecommunications...
courses to adults. Whitstable Adult Education
Adult education
Adult education is the practice of teaching and educating adults. Adult education takes place in the workplace, through 'extension' school or 'school of continuing education' . Other learning places include folk high schools, community colleges, and lifelong learning centers...
Centre runs adult learning courses at various Herne Bay locations.
Culture
Concert
A concert is a live performance before an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, a choir, or a musical band...
, performance, creative commissions, cultural treats, family fun, workshops, competitions, walks, talks, exhibitions and family entertainment.
Other summer events include Happy Days - a programme of bandstand concerts and family entertainment, Herne Bay Carnival through the town centre, a travelling funfair at the Memorial Park and Herne Bay Bus Rally. Each summer, the council runs a gardening competition, "Herne Bay in Bloom", which encourages residents and businesses to keep the town looking well presented.
The town is home to the Herne Bay Little Theatre, a playmakers drama society and member of the Little Theatre Guild of Great Britain
Little Theatre Guild of Great Britain
The Little Theatre Guild of Great Britain is an Umbrella organisation promoting and supporting independent amateur theatre companies which have control over their own premises and produce drama of a high quality for the benefit of their communities...
who have a 72 seat theatre in Bullers Avenue. In 2007, the theatre won a large grant from the Big Lottery Fund
Big Lottery Fund
The Big Lottery Fund is a grant-making non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom created by the Government to administer the funding of "good causes" following the creation of the National Lottery. It has an annual expenditure of £630 million...
to renovate and extend their building and provide improved disabled access. The theatre also has an active youth theatre and between them, they put on at least eight productions every year including a pantomime
Pantomime
Pantomime — not to be confused with a mime artist, a theatrical performer of mime—is a musical-comedy theatrical production traditionally found in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Jamaica, South Africa, India, Ireland, Gibraltar and Malta, and is mostly performed during the...
. Theatrecraft, a local theatre group, produce three shows a year including an annual pantomime at the Kings Hall theatre. Other groups and touring companies often put productions on at the open-air 'Theatre In The Park' on the grounds of Strode Park House in Herne.
The town's only cinema, the Kavanagh, is part of a Greco-inspired building that incorporates the Heron's swimming pool and the council offices. There are a number of drinking venues, especially in the town centre and on the seafront. There are nightclubs, social clubs
Social clubs
A social club may refer to a group of people or the place where they meet, generally formed around a common interest, occupation or activity . Note that this article covers only two distinct types of social clubs, the historic gentlemen's clubs and the modern activities clubs...
and many pubs, including one in the recently renovated seafront bandstand.
Sports
The town is a popular destination for water sports; it has clubs for sailing, rowing and yachting. The town has hosted the Zapcat powerboat racing championships. Fishing is popular on the pier and Herne Bay Angling Association competes nationally in beach and boat fishing competitions.Herne Bay Hockey Club, Greenhill Gymnastics Club, Herne Bay Cricket Club
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
and Herne Bay Youth Football Club are located at Herne Bay High School
Herne Bay High School
Herne Bay High Specialist School and Sports College is a mixed ability Foundation school, with designated Sports College status, situated in Herne Bay, Kent, England. The school currently has on roll over 1,500 students.-History :...
, a specialist sports college. The hockey club runs a ladies' team and five men's team, the highest of which plays in the Kent Sussex Regional 1st XI League. Herne Bay Cricket Club runs two junior teams, a men's Sunday team and two men's Saturday teams; the Saturday teams play in the Kent Cricket Feeder League East.
Herne Bay Tennis Club is situated on the outskirts of town and runs multiple teams in the Kent League, East Kent League and Dover & District League. Their facilities include four all-weather courts (two floodlit), up to six astroturf courts and a purpose built clubhouse. The club offers junior coaching and runs regular club nights for players of all ages and abilities.
Herne Bay Basketball Club runs teams for men, women and juniors in the East Kent Basketball League. Herne Bay Golf Club has an eighteen-hole course on the outskirts of the town.
The Memorial Park contains a sports field, eight tennis courts and a basketball court
Basketball court
In basketball, the basketball court is the playing surface, consisting of a rectangular floor with tiles at either end. In professional or organized basketball, especially when played indoors, it is usually made out of a wood, often maple, and highly polished...
which can be used free of charge. Herne Bay Bowling Club is situated next to the Memorial Park and hosts several lawn bowls
Bowls
Bowls is a sport in which the objective is to roll slightly asymmetric balls so that they stop close to a smaller "jack" or "kitty". It is played on a pitch which may be flat or convex or uneven...
Open Tournaments each year.
There is a council owned sports centre on the pier, with a rink used for roller-skating
Roller skating
Roller skating is the traveling on smooth surfaces with roller skates. It is a form of recreation as well as a sport, and can also be a form of transportation. Skates generally come in two basic varieties: quad roller skates and inline skates or blades, though some have experimented with a...
and roller hockey. The centre has table tennis
Table tennis
Table tennis, also known as ping-pong, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight, hollow ball back and forth using table tennis rackets. The game takes place on a hard table divided by a net...
, badminton and squash courts, a solarium, a gymnasium and a crèche. There is another privately owned gymnasium in the town centre. Herne Bay Judo Club is located near the railway station and the same venue also holds clubs for table tennis and badminton. There are also two other table-tennis clubs in the town. Bujinkai karate classes are held at Herne Bay Junior School.
Herne Bay Football Club, based at Winch's Field, play in the Kent League
Kent League
The Kent League is an English football league for teams based in Kent and south east London, which was established in 1966. It was also the name of a similar league which existed from 1894 until 1959.-History:...
Premier Division. They were Kent League champions in 1992, 1994, 1997 and 1998.
The town is the founder of the Roller Hockey
Roller hockey
Roller Hockey is a form of hockey played on a dry surface using skates with wheels. The term "Roller Hockey" is often used interchangeably to refer to two variant forms chiefly differentiated by the type of skate used. There is traditional "Roller Hockey," played with quad roller skates, and...
sport with the "Herne Bay Roller Hockey club" being the first to exist in the world.
Herne Bay Judo Club, located next to the town's train station has been active in the town since the 1960's. The club originated underneath the old St Marys college on station road until it moved into the purpose built dojo where it still resides.
Media
There are five local weekly newspapers: YourCanterbury, the paid-for Herne Bay Gazette and Herne Bay Times, providing news related only to the town, and the free KM Extra and Canterbury Adscene, providing news on the wider Canterbury district area. The KM GroupKM Group
The KM Group, formerly known as the Kent Messenger Group until 2008, is a multimedia company based in the county of Kent in South East England...
owns Herne Bay Gazette and KM Extra, while Trinity Mirror
Trinity Mirror
Trinity Mirror plc is a large British newspaper and magazine publisher. It is Britain's biggest newspaper group, publishing 240 regional papers as well as the national Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and People, and the Scottish Sunday Mail and Daily Record. Its headquarters are at Canary Wharf in...
owns Herne Bay Times and Canterbury Adscene. KMFM Canterbury
KMFM Canterbury
KMFM Canterbury is an Independent Local Radio serving the City of Canterbury and the surrounding areas in Kent, South East England. It is part of the KMFM group of radio stations in the county, which are part of the KM Group.-History:...
is a radio station
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
on frequency 106FM which serves Canterbury, Whitstable and Herne Bay. The station was founded in September 1997 as CTFM, but was rebranded after a takeover by the KM Group. Radio Cabin is a radio station aimed only at Herne Bay listeners. It airs part-time and can only be accessed through the Internet.
Filmography
Due to the town's traditional seaside appearance, it has often been used as a setting for television programmes and films. The seafront has been featured in programmes such as the ITVITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
period drama Upstairs, Downstairs
Upstairs, Downstairs
Upstairs, Downstairs is a British drama television series originally produced by London Weekend Television and revived by the BBC. It ran on ITV in 68 episodes divided into five series from 1971 to 1975, and a sixth series shown on the BBC on three consecutive nights, 26–28 December 2010.Set in a...
, the 1984 BBC seaside comedy Cockles, CBBC
CBBC
CBBC is one of two brand names used for the BBC's children's television strands. Between 1985 and 2002, CBBC was the name given to all the BBC's programmes on TV for children aged under 14...
's The Tweenies and the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
comedy Little Britain
Little Britain
Little Britain is a British character-based comedy sketch show which was first broadcast on BBC radio and then turned into a television show. It was written by comic duo David Walliams and Matt Lucas...
. The town's train station
Train station
A train station, also called a railroad station or railway station and often shortened to just station,"Station" is commonly understood to mean "train station" unless otherwise qualified. This is evident from dictionary entries e.g...
was seen in an episode of the 1970s comedy Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em
Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em
Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em was a BBC situation comedy, written by Raymond Allen and starring Michael Crawford and Michele Dotrice.The series followed the accident-prone Frank Spencer and his tolerant wife Betty through Frank's various attempts to hold down a job, which frequently end in...
. The town has featured in movies such as Ken Russell
Ken Russell
Henry Kenneth Alfred "Ken" Russell was an English film director, known for his pioneering work in television and film and for his flamboyant and controversial style. He attracted criticism as being obsessed with sexuality and the church...
's French Dressing, and The Medusa Touch, starring Richard Burton
Richard Burton
Richard Burton, CBE was a Welsh actor. He was nominated seven times for an Academy Award, six of which were for Best Actor in a Leading Role , and was a recipient of BAFTA, Golden Globe and Tony Awards for Best Actor. Although never trained as an actor, Burton was, at one time, the highest-paid...
. In fiction, Jeeves
Jeeves
Reginald Jeeves is a fictional character in the short stories and novels of P. G. Wodehouse, being the valet of Bertie Wooster . Created in 1915, Jeeves would continue to appear in Wodehouse's works until his final, completed, novel Aunts Aren't Gentlemen in 1974, making him Wodehouse's most famous...
from the stories by P. G. Wodehouse
P. G. Wodehouse
Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, KBE was an English humorist, whose body of work includes novels, short stories, plays, poems, song lyrics, and numerous pieces of journalism. He enjoyed enormous popular success during a career that lasted more than seventy years and his many writings continue to be...
regularly holidays at the town, spending much of his time there fishing. Herne Bay was the hometown of the three main characters
Protagonist
A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
in the 1990s BBC sitcom, Game On.
Twin towns
Herne Bay is twinned with the towns of-
WimereuxWimereuxWimereux is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France.-Geography:Wimereux is a coastal town situated some north of Boulogne, at the junction of the D233 and the D940 roads, on the banks of the river Wimereux. The river Slack forms the northern boundary of...
in Nord-Pas-de-Calais, (France) -
WaltropWaltropWaltrop is a town in the district of Recklinghausen, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated on the Datteln-Hamm Canal, approx. 15 km east of Recklinghausen and 15 km north-west of Dortmund.-Division of the town:...
, (Germany).
Since 1994, the Herne Bay/Wimereux Twinning Association has aimed to promote friendship between the people of the two towns by organising activities, such as cycling trips and quiz evenings. Herne Bay and Waltrop have been twinned since 1976, although as at February 2007, their twinning association was not in operation. However, Herne Bay Rowing Club
Rowing club
A rowing club is a club for people interested in the sport of Rowing. Rowing clubs are usually located near a body of water, whether natural or artificial, that is large enough for manoeuvering of the shells . Clubs usually have racks to store boats and a dock to put them in the water...
promote friendship with the Waltrop rowing club by organising rowing events and visiting in each other's towns.
Notable people
The actor and presenter Bob Holness lived in the town as a child and attended Herne Bay Primary School until moving to AshfordAshford, Kent
Ashford is a town in the borough of Ashford in Kent, England. In 2005 it was voted the fourth best place to live in the United Kingdom. It lies on the Great Stour river, the M20 motorway, and the South Eastern Main Line and High Speed 1 railways. Its agricultural market is one of the most...
.
Nicki Chapman
Nicki Chapman
Nicki Chapman is an English television presenter who also works in the British pop music industry. She was also a judge on the ITV reality shows Popstars, with Nigel Lythgoe and Paul Adam, and Pop Idol, along with Simon Cowell, Pete Waterman and Neil Fox...
, the judge on the UK television series Popstars
Popstars
Popstars is an international reality television franchise and a precursor to the Idol series. The series first began in New Zealand in 1999 when producer Jonathan Dowling formed the five member all-girl group TrueBliss...
and Pop Idol
Pop Idol
Pop Idol is a British television series which debuted on ITV on 6 October 2001. The show was a talent contest to decide the best new young pop singer in the United Kingdom, based on viewer voting and participation. Two series were broadcast - one in 2001-02 and a second in 2003...
, was born and raised in the town. Originally from London, Daniel Tammet
Daniel Tammet
Daniel Tammet is a British writer. His best selling 2006 memoir, Born On A Blue Day, about his life with high-functioning autism and savant syndrome, was named a "Best Book for Young Adults" in 2008 by the American Library Association.Tammet's second book, Embracing the Wide Sky, was named one of...
, the subject of the UK documentary The Boy With The Incredible Brain, has now moved to the town. He is an autistic savant with outstanding abilities in mathematics, sequence memorising and language learning
Language acquisition
Language acquisition is the process by which humans acquire the capacity to perceive, produce and use words to understand and communicate. This capacity involves the picking up of diverse capacities including syntax, phonetics, and an extensive vocabulary. This language might be vocal as with...
.
Lydia Cecilia Hill
Lydia Cecilia Hill
Lydia Cecilia Hill , known as Cissie Hill or Cecily Hill, was an English cabaret dancer notable for being a favourite of Ibrahim, Sultan of Johor and for being briefly engaged to him. A new Art Deco house, Mayfair Court, was funded for her in Herne Bay, Kent, by the Sultan...
(1913−1940), known as Cissie Hill, lived at Westcliff; she was a favourite of Ibrahim of Johor and former dancer. The Yorkshire-born writer Will Scott
William Matthew Scott
William Matthew Scott , pen name Will Scott, was a British author of stories and books for adults and children, published from 1920 to 1965. Towards the end of his life he was best known for The Cherrys series, written for children and published between 1952 and 1965...
lived and wrote in Herne Bay until his death in 1964. During the late 1960s, many successful rock and jazz bands were formed around the city of Canterbury, creating a subgenre of music known as the Canterbury sound
Canterbury Scene
The Canterbury scene is a term used to loosely describe the group of progressive rock, avant-garde and jazz musicians, many of whom were based around the city of Canterbury, Kent, England during the late 1960s and early 1970s...
. Some of these musicians were residents of Herne Bay, including Dave Sinclair
Dave Sinclair
David Sinclair , is a keyboardist who has been part of the progressive rock Canterbury Scene...
and Richard Coughlan
Richard Coughlan
Richard Coughlan is an English musician, best known as the drummer and percussionist of the Canterbury scene progressive rock band Caravan. He was one of the founding members of Caravan in 1968 and has remained with the band for its over 35-year existence...
of Caravan
Caravan (band)
Caravan are an English band from the Canterbury area, founded by former Wilde Flowers members David Sinclair, Richard Sinclair, Pye Hastings and Richard Coughlan. Caravan rose to success over a period of several years from 1968 onwards into the 1970s as part of the Canterbury scene, blending...
, and Kevin Ayers
Kevin Ayers
Kevin Ayers is an English singer-songwriter and was a major influential force in the English psychedelic movement...
of Soft Machine
Soft Machine
Soft Machine were an English rock band from Canterbury, named after the book The Soft Machine by William S. Burroughs. They were one of the central bands in the Canterbury scene, and helped pioneer the progressive rock genre...
. George W. M. Reynolds
George W. M. Reynolds
George William MacArthur Reynolds was a British author and journalist.He was born in Sandwich, Kent, the son of Captain Sir George Reynolds, a flag officer in the Royal Navy. Reynolds was educated first at Dr. Nance's school in Ashford, Kent, and then passed on to the Royal Military College,...
, one of the most popular British authors of the early Victorian era, moved to Herne Bay in 1854 and became one of the town's Improvement Commissioners. Héctor García Ribeyro
Héctor García Ribeyro
Héctor García Ribeyro was a Peruvian politician born in Lima, Peru on February 16, 1909 and died in Arequipa, Peru on May 12, 1963. He was the mayor of Lima from 1956 to 1962 prior to that he had been a Council Member in the Lima City Council from 1939 to 1945 and Mayor of Ancon from 1952 to...
, the Mayor of Lima
Lima
Lima is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín rivers, in the central part of the country, on a desert coast overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Together with the seaport of Callao, it forms a contiguous urban area known as the Lima...
in Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
during the 1950s, had part of his schooling at the now defunct Herne Bay International School
International school
An International school is loosely defined as a school that promotes international education, in an international environment, either by adopting an international curriculum such as that of the International Baccalaureate or Cambridge International Examinations, or by following a national...
. Colin Dixon, the depot manager held hostage with his family during the £53 million Securitas depot robbery
Securitas depot robbery
The Securitas depot robbery was the largest cash robbery in British history, that took place on the evening of 21 February 2006 from 18:30 GMT until the early hours of 22 February...
of February 2006, lived in Herne Bay at the time.