Guest 714- Registered: 14 Apr 2011
- Posts: 2,594
#1
Town full of visitors today, lets hope they spent plenty. Well done to DHB, lets hope the cruise liners help the local economy.
Brian Dixon
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 23 Sep 2008
- Posts: 23,940
#2
quite a few of the cruise ship.mostly Canadians.
Guest 1266- Registered: 8 May 2014
- Posts: 381
#3
I expect the HS1 services to Deal will be busy tonight with London types like myself. A local estate agent told me properties in Deal are selling very quickly and often to cash buyers presumably on news of the launch of the full service.
Jack of Hearts
Guest 653- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 10,540
#4
There's an increasing number of people who don't want to take the expensive cruise-line day-excursions and come into Town.
We must let them know what Dover has to offer - that's why the Discover Dover leaflets were so useful, they included local attraction sites as well as local businesses and showed where they were.
I agree David that DHB have done very well in attracting the ships here, we in turn, must have a better, cleaner, more welcoming Town to offer.
The Tourism Strategy and Plan of Action would have helped in that regard, but steadfastly ignored by those who could have accepted it and moved it forward. Just like the paper on how to bring a successful street-market here.
Kent Tourism and DHB, as well as all those businesses in it, were very, very supportive.
Roger
Guest 714- Registered: 14 Apr 2011
- Posts: 2,594
#5
Change the record Roger, nothing is ever your fault is it.
As witnessed on Wednesday you lot are the problem not the solution, ask yourself why you're held in such low regard and why nothing gets done.
DHB have done a great job, all you ever do is whine and make excuses.
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
#6
very busy indeed, the dover greeters were very much in demand.
Jan Higgins
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 5 Jul 2010
- Posts: 13,931
#7
David Little wrote:
all you ever do is whine and make excuses.
Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.
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I try to be neutral and polite but it is hard and getting even more difficult at times.
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Guest 1172- Registered: 28 Jan 2014
- Posts: 179
#8
Brian Dixon- Location: Dover
- Registered: 23 Sep 2008
- Posts: 23,940
#9
#7
Guest 664- Registered: 23 Mar 2008
- Posts: 1,039
#10
No chance of us locals ever moving to Deal then if the DFL invasion cranks up...we'll languish in our disparaged "ghetto" instead...second class citizens that we are, and unable to escape.
Wasn't HS1 meant to be the saviour of Dover? Great for Deal having the service there too, but surely all the London money will bypass us as a result?
I cannot help but think that Dover's (unfair) bad reputation is working against us and discouraging these sought after salaries form moving here, but as I have said many times, Dover is one of those places that functions as a bogeyman in the national psyche, a kind of collective Goldstein figure, a-la George Orwell's "1984".
It all goes back the the late 90s and the reaction to the asylum seekers when covert racists, secretly wanting to maintain their own areas as independent white homelands and imagine that the problem could be confined to Dover, turned us into a national joke.
Something from which we have yet to recover, and a problem which I feel is often underestimated when we consider how to get the town back on its feet.
Guest 697- Registered: 13 Apr 2010
- Posts: 622
#11
Of course Dover is benefitting from the high speed train! It's just a shame that people in Dover don't talk the town up as much as people from Deal talk up their town.
Guest 664- Registered: 23 Mar 2008
- Posts: 1,039
#12
Well I do my bit, attempting to combat the prejudice wherever I can. I hope others do the same.
I do find same of the things that some people in Deal - and other neighbouring towns - say about Dover to be very rude and offensive and frequently based on ignorance. It makes you feel one down, and on the defensive. It really is as if we are regarded as the Untermensch, so that people in other towns can feel better about themselves.
Guest 1266- Registered: 8 May 2014
- Posts: 381
#13
Hi Andrew - I have used HS1 a few times and I can't help but think its been a huge own goal for Dover. Rather than have a transport system for the district you had a train service that stopped at Dover Priory (which can be quite an intimidating station) and then if you wanted to travel to Deal or Sandwich you would have to wait at least 20 mins (I have waited an hour previously) for a connecting service. This really gave the campaigners in Deal a very valid argument and resolve which ultimately was heard by the powers that be, even the train operator seems more focused on Deal now.
I personally think the money Dover and Network Rail plan to spend on a multi-storey car park at Dover Priory which probably isn't needed now would be better spent improving the incredibly slow track between Folkestone and Dover to achieve a service under 1 hour.
Jack of Hearts
Guest 714- Registered: 14 Apr 2011
- Posts: 2,594
#14
Out of interest jack, why would you consider Dover priory intimidating?
Brian Dixon- Location: Dover
- Registered: 23 Sep 2008
- Posts: 23,940
#15
yes david.
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
#16
in response to comments made by Andrew and kevin here I have to say that people like me who move here are more appreciative of our town than born and bred dovorians - not all of course.
I notice that every time that something bad happens here the internet is rife with "typical dover" or "it could only happen in dover".!!
the truth is that the crime rate is very low here and it is generally safe late at night.
the shopping side is oft criticised and compared with Canterbury and ashford which both have larger populations to call upon.
we can actually get most of what we want in dover, if the independents cannot come up with the goods then we have argos to call upon.
Guest 1266- Registered: 8 May 2014
- Posts: 381
#17
David, I can look after myself and I have visited many stations on the southeastern network but Dover Priory has some very serious problems. I have had to step in on numerous occasions when men and women have been threatened by the thugs that congregate on the platforms and I have also found the staff incredibly rude and confrontational.
Jack of Hearts
Jan Higgins- Location: Dover
- Registered: 5 Jul 2010
- Posts: 13,931
#18
I am a 71 yr old woman and have never felt intimidated at Dover Priory and have never had a problem with any of the staff, one very kindly held a train for me because I was on the wrong platform.
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I try to be neutral and polite but it is hard and getting even more difficult at times.
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Guest 1266- Registered: 8 May 2014
- Posts: 381
#19
Jan, I am very pleased to hear that and hopefully my experiences are just down to personal bad luck.
Jack of Hearts
Guest 697- Registered: 13 Apr 2010
- Posts: 622
#20
Spot on, Howard. Unfortunately, there are some people in both Dover and Deal who clearly have an agenda that seeks to actively portray Dover negatively. It's a shame that forums such as this, and social media, have allowed them to spread this nonsense.
