DUNGENESS
This extraordinary place is one of those haunting locations which I have been back to, many, many times. It has a rarity and wildness ; in that it is lonely, brutal and unkempt. Very very different to other places on the south east channel coast.
It's here where the land meets the sea,
flat, wilderness, desolate in it's beauty.
Pebble-dash shingle, stretches, runs free
for miles and miles.
It is here where the land merges into sky,
which covers like a blanket over your head.
Colours ever changing, as weathers break by
black to blue, grey to gold.
It is here where the wind blusters, never still
seagrass, kale, shrubs, cling and defy it.
Tall vegetation, the wind pummels and kills
gusting, rippling, no ease.
It is here where man has tried to change Nature,
Shacks, pylons litter, march across shingle.
Nuclear power stations, grey, without feature
fail to spoil and just visit.
It is here where some fear, but others delight,
lonely and empty, barren and wild.
It inspires, it enslaves, its never ending sight
Clouds, openness, no ties.
It is here where man is an alien being,
Nature supreme, outlasting, outliving.
A place of solitude, peace, calm feeling,
meditate, relax and go free
Poem by ANN RTA
Dungeness is one of the largest expanses of shingle in the world. It is of international conservation importance for its geomorphology, plant and invertebrate communities and birdlife. This is recognised and protected mostly through its conservation designations as a National Nature Reserve (NNR), a Special Protection Area (SPA), a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) and part of the Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) known as Dungeness, Romney Marsh and Rye Bay.
There is a remarkable and unique variety of wildlife living at Dungeness, with over 600 different types of plant (a third of all those found in Britain). It is one of the best places in Britain to find insects such as moths, bees and beetles, and spiders; many of these are very rare, some found nowhere else in Britain.
The short-haired bumblebee, declared extinct in the UK nearly a decade ago, but which has survived in New Zealand after being shipped there more than 100 years ago, is to be reintroduced at Dungeness. It is planned that the first bees will be introduced in the spring of 2010.
The flooded gravel pits, both brackish and fresh water, provide an important refuge for many migratory and coastal bird species. The RSPB has a bird sanctuary there and every year thousands of bird watchers descend on the peninsula to catch a glimpse of a rare bird from the bird observatory.
One of the most remarkable features of the site is an area known as 'the patch' or, by anglers, as 'the boil'. The waste hot water and sewage from the Dungeness nuclear power stations are pumped into the sea through two outfall pipes, enriching the biological productivity of the sea bed and attracting seabirds from miles around.
