The BBC’s recent Secret Britain programme has re-ignited interest in Langdon Bay, a fascinating part of the Dover coastline.  The programme as it’s name suggests, highlights some of the lesser known gems of the British landscape, and includes visits to Cornwall’s ‘secret’ coves, the ‘Cornish Alps’, and Dartmoor amongst other locations.

Of particular interest to us was their visit to Langdon Bay, as we already had a number of images in our Fan Bay/Langdon Bay/Crab Bay page.  We also have 360 degree panoramas of the SS Falcon shipwreck and Langdon Bay searchlight positions.

One of our site visitors Mike Verrall has made a visit to the wreck in the past few weeks and one of his images is shown here.

Last year we posted photos on the main UK Shore site of the 1926 wreck of the SS Falcon which is visible at low tide in Langdon Bay, Dover. It was with some interest then that I came across archive video footage of the event as it happened in 1926. Thanks to JohnVaughan for posting this on Youtube.

On a later trip to the site I created a 360 degree panorama of the wreck site which I would highly recommend site visitors having a look at (click on the image to the right).

Langdon Bay and the wreck are accessible to the public, but just a warning that the zig-zag cliff path is VERY steep and although there is a hand rail, make sure you wear proper walking shoes/boots and don’t go unless the weather has been dry. Access to the beach then requires a climb down a 20 foot ladder…

Also of interest in Langdon Bay are a set of World War II searchlight positions embedded in the cliff  (near the ladder down to the beach). Again, this was a subject of a 360 degree panorama, please have a look…

Kent Wildlife Trust’s first official Kent Seasearch dive survey of the year has discovered a seahorse close to Dover Harbour.

Two volunteer divers found the animal in Shakespeare Bay, southwest of the harbour, in a depth of about 15 metres. Video taken by the divers of the three-inch long animal confirmed it to be a short-snouted seahorse (Hippocampus hippocampus), the same as that reported in the Thames Estuary last month.

Seasearch diver and Marine Officer for Kent Wildlife Trust, Bryony Chapman, said: “We have had very occasional reports of seahorses washed up around the Kent coast, but we believe this is the first sighting and the first film of these elusive creatures in their natural environment in this area, so the team is very excited.”

The find follows a recent announcement that short-snouted and spiny seahorses are being given special protection under the Wildlife and Countryside Act. There is so little information about these animals that it is not clear how endangered they may be.

Kent Seasearch is run by Kent Wildlife Trust and is part of a national Seasearch programme for volunteer divers to help protect marine wildlife by recording information about habitats and species on their dives. This information will help those responsible for marine nature conservation to develop strategies which protect the UK’s marine wildlife.