Greatstone

Greatstone is a small shingle and sand settlement on the edge of Romney Marsh, with two miles of open shoreline and one of the most unusual WWII technical sites in England immediately adjacent. The beach itself is quiet by any comparison -- wide, flat, and backed by low dunes and shingle banks rather than seafront development -- and the combined visit of beach walk and Sound Mirror viewpoint makes for a day that has no equivalent elsewhere on the Kent coast.

The Denge Sound Mirrors are three concrete structures -- a 20-foot dish, a 30-foot dish and a 200-foot curved wall -- built between 1928 and 1935 as part of Britain's early warning system against air attack. Their parabolic shapes collected and magnified sound waves from across the Channel, directing them at a microphone to give around 15 minutes of advance warning of approaching aircraft. Radar made them obsolete before the Second World War began. They are now Scheduled Ancient Monuments and are managed by RSPB as part of the Dungeness nature reserve complex. The mirrors stand on an island in a gravel pit at Greatstone Lakes and are only accessible via a swing bridge on organised open days -- but the largest structure is clearly visible from the public footpath along the east side of the south lake.

The nearest practical car parking for the footpath viewpoint is at Greatstone Primary School on Baldwin Road (TN28 8SY). Walking to the viewpoint involves deep loose shingle throughout, and the beach itself has seasonal dog zones. New Romney is 2 miles north, served by the Romney Hythe and Dymchurch narrow-gauge railway.